Kodiak Island Borough Assembly votes to release legal opinion on election winner's eligibility

The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly voted 5-1 Thursday to waive attorney-client privilege and release an outside lawyer's opinion on whether election winner Jeremy Williamson can take his seat. The opinion says the borough "cannot administer the oath of office and seat" an assembly member who holds a personal services contract with it.

When the assembly certified the Oct. 6 election on Oct. 15, Clerk Nova Javier swore in fellow winners Scott Arndt, Alexander Sweeney and Mark Vizcocho, but not Williamson. He won the third of three three-year seats with 602 votes, 15 more than Kaleb Callahan's 587, according to certified results.

The opinion, written by attorney Leslie Need of Landye Bennett Blumstein LLP, addresses Williamson's eligibility in relation to borough service contracts held by AIM Maintenance LLC, according to a staff report in the Nov. 5 meeting packet. State corporation records list Williamson as a member of the company. Borough code bars assembly members from holding personal services contracts with the borough, including through a business that they or their spouse own at least half of. Voters added that rule in a 2013 ballot measure.

The public version of the opinion names neither Williamson nor the company. It says snow removal and road maintenance contracts count, that the clerk rather than the assembly decides eligibility and that stepping aside on specific votes would not resolve the problem. A winner can end the contract and take the oath within the 30-day window or decline the seat and keep the contract, it says.

Javier's Sept. 30 notice to candidates says that otherwise "the seat will be declared vacant." Her Oct. 15 report describes a 30-day "certification window following the election." Counting from Oct. 6 would put that deadline on Thursday, though neither document gives an exact date.

Mayor Jared Griffin said Thursday's vote did not decide Williamson's eligibility or reopen the election. He said the question was whether the public should see the legal reasoning behind the decision.

Assembly member Jeremiah Gardner said he voted for Williamson and wanted him seated. "The way the code is written, he's simply not allowed to take office," Gardner said. He said any code fix needed to be done in public.

Assembly member Jeff Woods cast the lone no vote, saying the matter is likely headed to court and that releasing the opinion would weaken the borough's position. Arndt, Gardner, Vizcocho, Sweeney and Scott Smiley voted to release it.

At an Oct. 29 work session, Williamson argued the rule is so broad that even an assembly stipend would count as a service contract, meaning "no one could ever legally sit on this assembly." Arndt described a change that night exempting contracts awarded through competitive bidding.

On Thursday, Arndt proposed introducing code changes at the Nov. 19 regular meeting, with a public hearing Dec. 3.