Kodiak mayor won't rush a rule change that could seat assembly winner Jeremy Williamson

Kodiak Island Borough Mayor Jared Griffin on Thursday declined to fast-track a change to the borough's conflict-of-interest rule that could clear the way for assembly winner Jeremy Williamson to be seated.

Williamson finished third in the Oct. 6 race for three seats, 15 votes ahead of the next candidate, but he hasn't been sworn in. Borough code bars assembly members from holding personal services contracts with the borough, including through a company they or a spouse own at least half of.

Under the clerk's guidance, a winner with such a contract has 30 days after the election to choose: give up the contract and take the seat, or keep the contract and decline it. If the conflict isn't resolved in that window, the seat is declared vacant. The clerk has said the assembly would then fill it by appointment for one year.

At Thursday's work session, Assembly member Scott Arndt asked to introduce an ordinance Nov. 5 that would exempt competitively awarded contracts, with a public hearing at a special meeting Nov. 12. Mark Vizcocho seconded it, but putting it on an agenda that fast also took the mayor's OK.

Griffin said the assembly is free to rethink the rule, but not this way.

"What I do not think is that we should change the rules in the middle of a pending qualification matter in order to affect the outcome for one particular person," he said.

The rule was in place before anyone filed, Griffin said, and no one can know who chose not to run because of it. He called that "an election integrity issue" and said any change should apply to future elections.

The clerk sent candidates a notice about the rule Sept. 30, a week before the election. The notice said the rule had been in the spotlight since a Sept. 8 candidate forum.

Williamson told the assembly the code is "deeply ambiguous." Read literally, he said, even an assembly member's stipend is a services contract, "meaning under a strict literal reading, no one could ever legally sit on this assembly." Voters wanted to end "backroom deals with high-priced consultants," he said, not to bar local businesses doing "open competitively bid road maintenance work." He urged members to seat him.

Arndt said he voted for the 2013 ballot measure behind the rule because of "severe corruption within the borough" involving professional service contracts. The rule "got a lot more convoluted than what I realized," he said.

Resident Michael Bach urged the assembly not to change the rules for one person. He noted that 948 voters approved the measure in 2013, more than the 602 who voted for Williamson.

Assembly member Jeremiah Gardner said he "almost seconded" Arndt's request so the public could weigh in, "not because I necessarily support the end goal."

"I like Mr. Williamson. I think he'd be a great addition to the assembly," Gardner said. "However, the job up here isn't about what I like." He said the contract at issue, held by AIM Maintenance, is with a service district, and he couldn't decide whether that counts as a contract with the borough.

Griffin said he'll ask the assembly Nov. 5 to vote on releasing a public version of a legal opinion members received.