Anchorage Daily News

The legislative ethics committee has dismissed a complaint against Kodiak state Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux but said it strongly felt she created an "appearance of impropriety" by having the City of Unalaska pay for her former staffer's trip to that community.

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Gabrielle LeDoux

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LeDoux is currently running in the Republican primary for U.S. House against incumbent Congressman Don Young and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell.

LeDoux and the former aide, Christine Marasigan, went to Unalaska/Dutch Harbor for a three-day "legislative fly-in" in August 2007. Such trips are meant to give state legislators and staff a sense of local needs.

The legislative ethics committee said LeDoux "was not candid with the City of Unalaska," about the fact Marasigan wasn't a legislative staffer at the time.

The committee's ruling, which was made public on Tuesday, also expressed concern that LeDoux used legislative staff for Marasigan's travel arrangements.

But the ethics committee dismissed the complaint because no state funds were used and the staff time was minimal. It's confidential who filed the complaint.

LeDoux said Marasigan was on "temporary layoff status" at the time of the August trip and was planning on rejoining her staff in either October or January. It's not uncommon for staffers to be laid off in the summers between legislative sessions.

"As it turned out she never came back, because she stayed in Anchorage to run my (congressional) campaign," said LeDoux, reached while campaigning in Petersburg. "And so she wasn't actually employed when she went out to Dutch Harbor with me."

LeDoux said she understood her aide had told the City of Unalaska that Marasigan was on layoff status.

"But the bottom line is, I didn't make it clear as I should have made it, and the buck stops with me," LeDoux said.

LeDoux gave the City of Unalaska $2,004 in February as reimbursement for Marasigan's trip. That was one month after the legislative ethics complaint was filed.

LeDoux said she paid the money back because when Marasigan didn't rejoin her staff the City of Unalaska "didn't really get the benefit of the bargain."

LeDoux said she should have told the city in writing that Marasigan was on layoff status to avoid confusion.

"I'm running my campaign based on ethics and I want to be totally candid about it," LeDoux said.

Find Sean Cockerham online at adn.com/contact/scockerham

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