Assembly accepts Begich review, but questions linger

Starr said he wants to know if any state laws were broken.

The Assembly, at its regular meeting at Loussac Library, voted unanimously to accept an independent investigator's review of the Begich administration's last months. The investigator leveled criticism at both the administration and the Assembly.

Starr said before the meeting he is drafting a proposal to have the state attorney general's office look at the situation.

Other Assembly members mentioned other possible follow-up action. Chairman Dick Traini said he'd like the Assembly to have its own budget analyst. Assembly member Debbie Ossiander said the Assembly could enact a law that would establish repercussions when city code or the city charter is not followed.

But none of the Assembly members made official proposals to do anything further.

Begich left the mayor's job in January 2009 after he was elected U.S. senator.

During the last few months of his mayoral term, the national economy headed into a tailspin. City investment revenues tumbled. During the same period, Begich pushed through four long-term labor contracts that some said were overly generous, and the 2009 city budget was approved.

Two weeks after Begich left, Acting Mayor Matt Claman announced a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall.

The audit report said both the Begich administration and the Assembly failed to practice "prudent fiscal management" in some cases.

The administration didn't produce monthly financial reports required in the city code and the Assembly didn't demand them, the auditor said. There were also criticisms of the Begich administration's method of estimating the year-end fund balance and its handling of budgeting for retirement for some city employees.