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 Jim Clark |
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Less than a 90 minutes before officially leaving office Monday, then-Gov. Frank Murkowski announced 35 appointments to state boards and commissions.
New Gov. Sarah Palin on Tuesday called the late appointments "bizarre," spokesman Curtis Smith said.
The most controversial appointment was Murkowski's chief of staff, Jim Clark, to the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority. The appointments, however, also included Murkowski's son-in-law, Leon Van Whye, to the Alaska Railroad Corp. board of directors.
"It's an issue (Palin) will revisit when the events of the day settle," Smith said as the new governor participated in reopened gas pipeline negotiations in Anchorage.
Palin was inaugurated Monday in Fairbanks.
Murkowski made the appointments Monday, apparently while out of state. The Associated Press reported that he was unable to attend the swearing-in of the new governor because he was escorting his 21-year-old granddaughter to her birthday party in New York's Club 21 on Monday.
It's not clear how Murkowski traveled to New York. The state's jet, purchased by Murkowski in a controversial move, has remained in Juneau for the past few days.
Some election observers cited the controversial jet purchase as contributing to Murkowski's landslide defeat in the Republican primary.
The Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority is separate from the independent Alaska Gasline Port Authority, which has clashed with Murkowski on gasline development proposals.
Along with Clark, Richard Schok of Fairbanks also was appointed to the authority. In addition, auto dealer Bob Favretto of Juneau was re-appointed, bringing the group to its required seven members.
Schok is president of Fairbanks-based oil service company Flowline Alaska Inc. The company coats and insulates pipe, mostly for the oil industry, he said.
Schok said he was asked to serve on the authority by the governor, and hoped that he'd be able to contribute somehow to the development of a gasline.
"If it helps getting something built, what the heck," he said.
Favretto owns Capital Chevrolet in Juneau, along with dealerships in his hometown of Kenai and elsewhere. He also is a member of the board of the statewide Chamber of Commerce.
Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority Chief Executive Officer Harold Heinze said the authority is a public corporation, similar to the Alaska Railroad Corporation or the Permanent Fund Corporation.
"We were formed with the intent of doing whatever it took to get North Slope natural gas to market, and doing it in a way that's a benefit to Alaskans," he said.
Heinze was engineering manager for Arco Alaska when Prudhoe Bay was brought online, and later served as commissioner of natural resources under Gov. Wally Hickel.
The governor has the legal ability to remove any board member she chooses, Heinze said, as long as she states her reason for the removal in writing.
"She has every right to do that, and to have a board - and a CEO hired by the board - that she wants to have," Heinze said. "The board serves at the governor's will."
Board members are unpaid, but are reimbursed for travel expenses as though they were state employees.
Van Whye, Murkowski's son-in-law, is a management consultant who has frequently dealt with railroad issues in the past. Murkowski's appointment of a close relative is not unprecedented. The former governor opened his administration in 2002 by naming his daughter, Lisa, to the U.S. Senate seat he vacated after winning office.
The railroad is looking at extensions which would promote more business activity in Alaska, including the possibility of a rail connection with the Lower 48, and Van Whye said he wanted to be part of those discussions.
"I really look forward to helping the railroad any way I can and supporting Gov. Palin," he said.
The railroad's board of directors is paid $400 per meeting, and typically meets once a month, said Tim Thompson, railroad spokesman.
• Pat Forgey can be reached at patrick.forgey@juneauempire.com. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
