The Assembly's acceptance of City Clerk Gruenstein's resignation is disappointing and only serves to hurt the city. The resignation reflects what is all too common in politics: an ill-conceived and rash reaction to a problem that allows officials to claim they did something but that doesn't actually solve any problems.

City Clerk Gruenstein has successfully overseen multiple elections in the last two administrations. Anyone who has worked with her knows that she has been a fantastic clerk for this city.

In the wake of the recent election, it was Ms. Gruenstein who called for an independent investigation into what went wrong, how it went wrong and how it could be avoided. No doubt she knew that she had not done anything incorrect in her job duties.

Instead of getting an investigation to ensure proper accountability and improvement for the future, this city is losing an outstanding employee who has given it nearly a decade of exceptional service and our city is worse off for it.

-- Michael Ebell

Anchorage