Santa will find naughty boy in Juneau

“Those are my principles. If you don’t like them, I have others.”
Groucho Marx

All is not joyous in Juneau this holiday season. As for the second Christmas in a row one of Gov. Frank Murkowski’s hand picked consiglieres has crashed through the state’s ethical guardrails. Coal this Christmas appears eminent.

Alaska’s Attorney General Gregg Renkes stands accused of violating state ethics laws. Some have called for an investigation into possible insider trading violations as well. The accusations surround a resource development project he pushed for a Denver based coal company.

Documents have revealed Renkes was actively trading company stock at the same time he was negotiating a deal for the company with the Taiwanese government. The law regarding potential conflicts of interest is very clear. Alaska statute 39.52.120 reads; “A public officer may not use an official position for personal gain”.

Judging from what’s already public, that statute appears to have been broken. The attorney general used his inside knowledge for personal gain. And can it really be a rush to judgment since this is the second ethics scandal in a year?

Last year at this time, another one of the governor’s top political appointees was under the ethics microscope. Randy Ruedrich, who was also accused of violating ethics laws, pled out and paid a fine. Later the governor blamed the media.

We need to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself. After all, these allegations of misconduct aren’t levied against a mid level manager accused of dipping into petty cash. This is the Attorney General. His entire job is making sure the laws of Alaska are being followed.

This is one investigation that demands public scrutiny.

To begin, I’d like to hear from the governor why he didn’t question the intensity to which Renkes had him pitching KFX. The state’s official correspondence to the Taiwanese government reads like a corporate press release. It was more suitable to be sent on KFX stationary.

The May 7th letter - that was written by Renkes and signed by the governor- mentions KFX and its financing partners fourteen times. At several points in the letter the governor offers specific representations about the KFX process. And in one paragraph, he speaks directly for the out of state partners. “The KFX/Kanturk partners have told me they are willing to propose the following”, as he goes on to list the KFX proposal crafted by Renkes.

All told, the letter included so many direct representations and warranties about KFX; the state was arguably exposing itself by acting as a corporate spokesman. Meanwhile, Renkes was accumulating stock.

In October, when the conflict became public, the governor did the right thing by appointing an investigator. But now with the seriousness of these allegations known, state law provides for a better process.

According to state law, whenever the Governor, Lt. Governor or Attorney General is accused of misconduct, the responsibility for conducting the investigation belongs to the personnel board. This ensures maximum public accountability.

Seeking to initiate the process, Democrat Eric Croft and Republican Sarah Palin filed a joint complaint. The complaint against the attorney general includes actively trading the stock while negotiating the deal for KFX and failing to disclose his conflict to the governor. The executive branch responded by attacking the messengers.

Chief of Staff Jim Clark dismissed the complaint as political opportunism. “Where were they two months ago?” he asked rhetorically. Well, two months ago, Croft, Palin and every other Alaskan were being misled.

At an October 4 press conference, Renkes said he was a minor player in the deal. He claimed he had respected legal boundaries by remaining at arms length. But recently released documents prove that to be untrue.

In fact, through emails, letters and meeting accounts it’s quite clear that without Renkes pushing the coal deal; there wouldn’t have been a coal deal.

State ethics laws were specifically designed to prevent public officials from personally profiting on deals like the one Renkes was pushing. And while due process is important, so is maintaining the reputation of the State of Alaska.

Gregg Renkes has failed to respect the same law he was hired to uphold. He should resign.