Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA -- With a five-way race for Wasilla's next mayor heating up, political circles are buzzing about the youngest candidate's criminal record.

In the past four years, Steve Menard, 38, has twice been convicted of misdemeanor offenses involving drunkenness.

In 2004, he pled no contest to driving while under the influence in Fairbanks. Last September, he was convicted of being "drunk on licensed premises" after police in a downtown Anchorage bar contacted him. He wasn't driving, but a Breathalyzer test later measured his blood-alcohol level at .219, more than twice the legal limit for driving.

Asked about the incidents, Menard said they do not indicate he has a drinking problem. Besides, he said, he has addressed the issue.

"I just no longer drink anymore," he said.

Menard has high political aspirations, but to date much of his political cache comes from his family name. He previously campaigned for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough mayor's seat and interviewed to fill a state house vacancy.

His father, Curt Menard, is the current borough mayor and served for several years in the state legislature. His mother, Linda Menard was a longtime Mat-Su School Board member and is now the favored candidate to replace Republican Senator Lyda Green of Wasilla in the November election.

TWO ARRESTS

The younger Menard was arrested in July 2004 for driving while under the influence a few months before he won a seat on the Wasilla City Council.

He was working at the University of Alaska Fairbanks residence life department. According to court documents, he was pulled over at 3:33 a.m. on a street near the university after the officer noticed he had "inoperative taillights." According to court documents, the officer described Menard as smelling of alcohol and having "bloodshot, watery eyes." A breath test later showed he had a .152 blood alcohol level. The legal limit for driving is 0.08.

He was booked at Fairbanks Correctional Center and family friend John Binkley posted bail. Menard pled no contest in the case, was sentenced to three days in jail and one-year probation. He also had his license revoked for three months, paid a $1,500 fine and was ordered to attend an alcohol treatment program.

In the September 2007 incident, he was arrested during a nighttime outing with friends at the F Street Station in Anchorage.

Menard said that he and his friends had been out for a few hours and were having a "good time."

Late in the evening -- the police affidavit says 1:46 a.m. -- two Anchorage police officers stopped in at the bar.

Menard said he knew one of the officers -- they served in the military at the same time. He went up to talk to him. They had words, and the officer told him he was under arrest because he was drunk, Menard said.

"I had never even heard of that law," Menard said.

Anchorage police officer Charles Reynolds in an interview Thursday said he remembered the incident. He recognized Menard, he said, but disputes the claim that they had words.

"I was happy to see him. He spoke with me, I shook his hand," Reynolds said. "His recollection was obviously influenced by his level of intoxication."

REPERCUSSIONS

Reynolds said Menard was arrested because he exhibited signs of being drunk. The police affidavit signed by the officer who patrolled with Reynolds that night states Menard was "unstable on his feet ...fails to walk in a straight line," and had "slurred speech..."

The "drunk on premises" charge isn't a DUI and the law doesn't stipulate how much is too much, Reynolds said. It's about observation, he said.

According to state law, it's illegal for a drunken person to enter or remain in a place where alcohol is served. The law defines a drunken person as someone who "... exhibits those plain and easily observed or discovered outward manifestations of behavior commonly known to be produced by the overconsumption of alcoholic beverages."

Anchorage police regularly patrol bars late on Friday and Saturday nights in an effort to curb alcohol-related crimes, Reynolds said. The two-officer team generally makes one to two arrests under the charge each night they're out, he said.

Asked about his record, Menard said on Thursday he knew it would come up in the campaign. It's come up before. Local party officials interviewed him and other Republicans to fill Rep. Vic Kohring's seat after Kohring stepped down to fight federal corruption charges. One of the questions posed to Menard, who did not get the seat, was whether he had a criminal record. Menard said he was upfront about it then.

"It's always better to go honest and take your licks, and see where you stand afterward," Menard said.

"If people think I'm perfect or that my family's perfect, they've got the wrong impression. If this has any repercussions on my being mayor, I have no one to blame but myself. Hopefully the voters can look at my record (in office) and judge for themselves," he added.

Find Daily News reporter Rindi White online at adn.com/contact/rwhite or call 352-6709.

ADVERTISEMENT