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PALMER -- City manager Bill Allen got a unanimous vote of confidence last week following the second closed-door session related to concerns a city councilman raised over how he was spending city money.
Allen, who can spend up to $5,000 on discretionary items each year, was criticized recently by Palmer City Councilman Richard Best for charging things such as entertainment for Foraker Group board members visiting Palmer in 2008 and hotels and meals related to an Alaska Airlines trip to Seattle. He also drew fire for giving what Best called overly generous raises to some city employees. But in a press release issued late Friday, Palmer Mayor John Combs said, "It was determined that Mr. Allen did not exceed his discretionary funding for meals, travel and entertainment. His interactions with current or potential board members of various groups and business executives were accepted as beneficial to the city of Palmer now and in the future." Allen is out of the office this week and did not return a message left at his home. In a Sunday story in the Frontiersman, he was quoted as saying "there were some reasons that caused confusion, there were some accounting issues. I can see where (Best) was coming from." Best voiced his criticism at a council meeting earlier this summer, and the council met twice with Allen to discuss his spending. And then it cast its vote Aug. 11 clearing Allen. According to City Clerk Janette Bower, Councilman Michael Chmielewski "moved to express a vote of confidence for the city manager and request that he proceed with his work, with the instructions given to him regarding taking care of issues such as following the code, keeping the council informed and increasing the use of the public process." Best agreed with the motion. "There are volumes in those three sentences," he said. "It was a move forward." Combs said the council concluded that Allen is doing what he was hired to. When the city looked for a new manager in 2007, city leaders wanted to hire someone with the power to propel the city forward, he said. Allen got the job in part because he sits on several pertinent Alaska boards such as the Foraker Group, the Alaska Airlines Community Advisory Board and Mat-Su Health Foundation, Combs said, and in part because he has a reputation for getting things done. "He has a lot of influence with a lot of influential people and he's bringing attention to Palmer," Combs said. Those board memberships were part of what Best questioned, however. A $715.21 bill to the city for travel to an Alaska Airlines meeting in Seattle was one bill Best pointed out. Combs said the costs actually covered an extra day Allen spent in Seattle aftere an Alaska Air meeting. Allen reimbursed the city for the expense, he said. As for a $572 bill to the city for four meals for Foraker Group members and a trip for them to Martin Buser's kennel in Big Lake, Combs said some elbow-rubbing is part of the job. In some ways it has paid off, Combs said. The Palmer Skateboard Association, which Combs worked with, secured a $50,000 grant from Mat-Su Health Foundation to build a skateboard park last year. Allen sits on the board. And thanks to Allen's Rolodex, Palmer is getting a lot more exposure among the state's elite, Combs said. Allen organized a tour of a local farm and of the city business park for visiting dignitaries from Anchorage during a recent Colony Christmas celebration. Before taking the job with Palmer, Allen was director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development office, also located in Palmer. He resigned from that job in July 2007, just before the federal Office of Special Counsel announced he had violated federal personnel policies by having his secretary work on Mat-Su Assembly business at the federal office. Allen formerly served on the Mat-Su Assembly. Allen denied charges of wrongdoing outlined by the Office of Special Council, calling them "character assassination" from a disgruntled employee.