The city's original parking lot deal with developer Mark Pfeffer doesn't look any better now than it did in September 2007, when we said that it gave Mayor Mark Begich a black eye.
A political ally and campaign donor, Pfeffer got $29,000 a month for 67 parking spaces in the first deal done in February 2007. Later that year, Ray Metcalfe, who's running against Begich in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, said his analysis showed that was well over the going rates for parking.
The Anchorage Community Development Authority projected that the $29,000 a month would let the city break even.
Not even close.
In August 2007, the city lost about $20,000 on the deal. All told, taxpayers have taken a $100,000 bath on this one.
But was this, as Metcalfe argues, a case of corruption?
There's no evidence of that. No smoking gun. Just a political water pistol.
This was a bum deal that drew attention both for the depth of the financial bath and the players involved, Begich and Pfeffer. Suspicion was natural because of their connection and because such a bad deal wasn't typical of the mayor, an experienced real estate hand and deal maker known for both his business and political acumen.
But there was no attempt to hide anything. And a few months of $20,000 losses got the development authority and Pfeffer to renegotiate the deal. The early results exposed the authority's projections as a costly embarrassment; Pfeffer couldn't keep the same generous terms at public expense.
In retrospect, the mayor said Tuesday, of course he would have wanted a better deal. He pointed out that he didn't make the deal; the parking authority did, but he said he backed the deal at the time because he thought it made sense. The demand for downtown parking, with spaces lost to the convention center, lent a sense of urgency. And, Begich said, he wanted the city, rather than Diamond Parking, to run the lot in order to keep rates down and to keep the city in control of as much downtown parking as possible.
In retrospect, the development authority's lone dissenting voice to the original deal, Ronald Baird, had the right idea. He was skeptical of the $29,000-a-month price tag and wanted a closer look.
The development authority has renegotiated the deal a second time. The present terms appear to make sense for the city -- $10,000 a month for 84 spaces. In addition, Pfeffer has rights for up to 570 city parking spaces -- but if Pfeffer can't fill them, according to the mayor, he either has to give them up or strike a deal with the city that opens the spaces and lets the city charge for them in addition to payments from Pfeffer.
Begich said the new deal is the kind of business he'd do with any downtown developer.
Provided the taxpayer is covered and Pfeffer gets no preferential treatment, that could work.
The original terms of the parking deal soaked the city. Metcalfe did a service in exposing a bum deal that raised suspicions. But he hasn't revealed corruption.
BOTTOM LINE: Parking deal was bad. Now it's better. Scandal? No.
Bailey's fate
Paid suspension is too light
Why is Gov. Sarah Palin's aide Frank Bailey still collecting a state paycheck?
A recorded phone call proves that Bailey used his official position to try to get the Alaska troopers to fire officer Mike Wooten. Bailey made it clear he was acting on the governor's concerns about trooper Wooten, who happens to be her estranged former brother-in-law. Wooten was suspended but not fired for what his supervisor determined was "a significant pattern of judgment failures" and "a course of conduct totally at odds with the ethics of our profession."
Gov. Palin said Bailey made the recorded call about Wooten without her knowledge or authority. If so -- and that's the best-case scenario for Gov. Palin -- Bailey is a reckless freelancer who should be fired.
The facts here are not in dispute. With the behavior documented on the recording, he has discredited her avowed goal of running an ethically responsible administration, and he should be fired.
Suspending Bailey with pay is a pointless half-measure. Instead of being fired and taken off the state payroll, he is basically getting a paid vacation at public expense. Suspending him is actually worse than taking no action at all.
There's no reason for Gov. Palin to pussyfoot around with Bailey's case. This is not one of those state personnel matters where you have to move heaven and earth to sack the offending employee. Bailey, a former campaign aide, is a political appointee and can be fired at will.
Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan also served at the pleasure of the governor, and she got rid of him. She cited performance issues, rather than his refusal to re-open Wooten's case for further disciplinary action.
So Gov. Palin's ethically compromised aide Frank Bailey gets to stay on the state payroll, despite doing dirty work on the governor's behalf, but she gives the hook to the ethically upright public safety commissioner who refused to do Bailey's bidding.
What kind of message does that send to Alaskans?
BOTTOM LINE: What Frank Bailey did should be a firing offense.