Anchorage Daily News

Along with his Troopergate findings, Personnel Board investigator Tim Petumenos released a second report Monday, this one on a lesser known ethics complaint accusing Gov. Sarah Palin of political favoritism.

Petumenos said Palin didn't do anything wrong, but recommended ethics training for one of her longtime aides, Frank Bailey, because of a series of "troubling" e-mails.

Filed by former state employee Andree McLoed, the complaint accused Palin and her team of using their influence to win a state job for a Fairbanks campaign supporter, Tom Lamal. Petumenos recommended dismissing the complaint for everyone except for Bailey, Palin's director of boards and commissions.

McLeod said she's not satisfied with the findings: "The e-mails, which were the basis for the complaint, speak for themselves."

She's talking about governor's office e-mails she obtained through a public records request. They include a note Bailey sent to the governor along with the director of the governor's Anchorage office and a previously unknown recipient who -- according to the new report -- was Palin's husband, Todd.

"This was a long battle but (Deputy Commissioner of Administration Kevin Brooks) pushed it through the road blocks to get Tom Lamal hired into a classified (position) in FAI with DOT," Bailey wrote. "Great! Long time coming," replied Palin's chief of staff, according to the complaint.

"The e-mails written by Mr. Bailey appear to reflect an improper motivation by Mr. Bailey to specifically get Mr. Lamal hired," Petumenos wrote.

Palin put Bailey on paid leave on Aug. 19 after a tape surfaced of Bailey telling a trooper lieutenant that the governor and her husband couldn't understand why Palin's former brother-in-law still had a job. Bailey returned to work a month later.

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