Anchorage Assembly to take up censure, and even elimination, of fellow member Martinez over alleged misuse of journey funds

A gaggle of Anchorage Assembly members is looking for censuring a fellow member over his alleged misuse of marketing campaign funds and metropolis assets, whereas one other group needs an investigation into whether or not he must be faraway from the physique.

That’s after the Alaska Public Offices Commission fined East Anchorage Assembly member George Martinez greater than $5,000 in June, ruling that his use of marketing campaign cash to pay for a flight to Florida in December was unlawful.

Martinez informed the fee he used the flight time to conduct a marketing campaign technique assembly. Commissioners dominated the flight was an improper use of marketing campaign funds. They additionally reported that Martinez had refused to reply direct questions on whether or not he’d earned private airline membership factors from the flight.

South Anchorage Assembly member Keith McCormick is considered one of three sponsors of an ordinance that will censure Martinez for the violations. The censure, co-sponsored by Midtown Assembly member Erin Baldwin Day and North Anchorage’s Sydney Scout, could be a proper expression of disapproval by the Assembly.

“If we allow unruly conduct to go on, or we are silent in it, that is this body giving its tacit consent,” McCormick stated throughout an Assembly assembly on July 7.

Other Assembly members are sponsoring a decision calling for an investigation into Martinez’s use of metropolis cash as an Assembly member to see if his elimination from the physique is warranted.

After the APOC ruling, Eagle River Assembly members Jared Goecker and Donald Handeland reviewed a few of Martinez’s journey data and stated some journey was not associated to metropolis enterprise. They allege Martinez charged the town per diem prices for days he was not appearing as an Assembly member.

“All of his travel needs to be investigated,” Goecker stated. “We need to give the municipal attorney’s office subpoena power so they can get whatever documents they need to get. We need to get to the bottom of this and figure out what exactly is going on, because this looks really really bad.”

Martinez didn’t reply to a request for remark.

Goecker and Handeland had initially proposed a decision to begin the method to take away Martinez. But after consulting with metropolis attorneys, Goecker stated, they’re pushing an alternate decision that will have the municipal lawyer’s workplace conduct an investigation.

Though the ruling from APOC was what precipitated the Assembly members’ preliminary scrutiny of Martinez’s journey, Goecker stated the investigation could be restricted to actions taken by Martinez as an Assembly member and wouldn’t be associated to marketing campaign spending.

South Anchorage Assembly member Zac Johnson joined Handeland and Goecker in cosponsoring the alternate decision.

In the greater than 30 years since Assembly members have had the ability to take away one other member, it’s by no means been completed.

Assembly members will take up each resolutions throughout their subsequent assembly on Tuesday.