Police Chief: Palin Fired Me For Campaign Contributors

The Washington Independent reported on Monday that another Sarah Palin firing scandal had been overlooked:

Early in her tenure as mayor, the city council threatened to recall her over accusations that she fired the city's police chief, Irl Stambaugh, and the library director, Mary Ellen Emmons, without warning. She accused them in a letter saying: "I do not feel I have your full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla. Therefore I intend to terminate your employment ..." (The Anchorage Daily News, via nexis)

Ultimately, Palin let the library director have her job back; though Stambaugh's position was not returned. The police chief took the matter to court, where a judge sided with Palin, saying city law allows the mayor to fire the police chief without cause.

ABC News today gives more information on this scandal. The police chief says he was fired because her campaign contributors, including bars and the NRA, didn't like his work:

After taking over as Mayor of the small town of Wasilla, Palin fired the longtime local police chief. The former police chief, Irl Stambaugh says he was fired because he stepped on the toes of Palin's campaign contributors, including bar owners and the National Rifle Association.

Stambaugh's lawyer, William Jermain, says the chief tried to move up the closing hours of local bars from 5 a.m. to two a.m. after a spurt of drunk driving accidents and arrests.

"His crackdown on that practice by the bars was not appreciated by her and that was one reason she terminated Irl," said Jermain.

Comments

[JayDDrew]

09:24 PM on 09/03/2008

Ok, so (1) Obama went to church and listened to a preacher who overstated the truth. (2) Obama served on a board with someone who has been accused of being a terrorist, but never killed anyone. (3) There is a questionable land deal with a shady character.
That's about it.
I will now begin to list the out-of-the-ordinary occurences in Sara Palin's public life. I anticipate bleeding fingers, eyeball cramps and the eventual loss of my sanity before I am done...........

[PaxChristi]

08:40 PM on 09/03/2008

Gov. Palin is just what We, the People need another ruthless Veep, Dick Cheney was not enough?

[nutty4tahoe]

06:18 PM on 09/03/2008

What this story doesn't say is that Sarah Palin tried to fire the librarian because Palin wanted the library to remove some books that Palin didn't deem appropriate. The librarian stood her ground. Palin tried to fire her but bad publicity made her back off.

As governor, Palin fired one of her aides when Palin's husband discovered the aide was dating the ex-wife of one of Todd Palin's good friends.

Sarah Palin appears to be drunk on power. If she gets elected, the Bush administration's firing of all those attorneys in the Justice Dept. will be just the beginning. Palin will try to set us all back into the Stone Age with 19th century beliefs shoved down our throats and she will fire anyone who tries to stand in her way. Count on it, she's already shown her cards.

[RevSpaminator]

09:32 PM on 09/03/2008

Hm, she's kinda like Cartman. "Respect My Authoritay!"

[jsarets]

06:17 PM on 09/03/2008

So Palin is soft on crime. What goes around comes around!

[emilyjacobs]

05:40 PM on 09/03/2008

My goodness, who hasn't this woman tried to fire?

[Head-Liner]

05:33 PM on 09/03/2008

To all women................Palin will not give you a choice..........But ..................I ...........mean But..............you do have "Choice" on who is going to be our next President and Vice President!!!
(she cannont take that choice "freewill" away)


Vote OBAMA/BIDEN Let's take back our country

[LemonMeringue]

05:33 PM on 09/03/2008

She fired the librarian because she refused to ban books at Palin's behest.

100 citizens took charge and rallied the town in favor of the librarian, whereupon palin backed down.

http://www.andrys.com/palin-kilkenny.html

I'd like to know what books Sarah Palin wanted to ban.

[hippybaby1970]

08:50 PM on 09/03/2008

science books.

[Anie]

06:00 PM on 09/04/2008

It seems to have been a bit like the White House (her idea, though it wasn't usually done in that little town of course), where a new administration asks for resignations and then interviews the people. I've since read that the librarian had chosen to sign a loyalty oath to the old mayor, which made things somewhat problematical, though I can't imagine why once a new mayor was in.

What I've found so far is that she asked the librarian, in the interview, if she'd be willing to remove certain books (without naming them) if asked, and the librarian seems to have indicated she wouldn't. Nothing is clear on that. No one's been able to contact her for some reason.

That question would make my hair stand on end. But it wasn't, as some others have said, refusal to remove certain or specific books and she never did ask for this in her tenure there or since.

[suec03]

05:22 PM on 09/03/2008

Good for that police chief, trying to reduce incidents of drunk driving. I wonder whether Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has ever commented on that incident or whether they have ever issued a report card on Gov. Palin, including when she was mayor.

[pattio66]

05:13 PM on 09/03/2008

Wow, Sarah Palin is the gift that keeps on giving...Babygate, Troopergate, abuses of power, having her state-paid lawyer tell the Alaska Senate they have no right to investigate her abuses of power, etc... the gift list just keeps going. The one thing I'm most interested in, can anyone verify that she cc's Todd Palin on her state business e-mails? If so, why would she do that? Can she be trusted to keep our top-secret information secret? If this is true, there's no way she should be allowed anywhere NEAR the White House! And if this is true, how can she possibly be considered a "strong woman?" There's more to being President than being photogenic!!

[chronic]

05:11 PM on 09/03/2008

*CHANGE 08*

[hopefulinpa]

05:00 PM on 09/03/2008

Sounds just like Bush firing generals who did not say what he told them to say about Iraq or how about and that is only some of the firings that have gone on in this administration... No wonder McCain picked her she is a Bush clone too. LOOK MOM .... TRIPLETS

[Sparklez]

04:51 PM on 09/03/2008

Lol


Please keep it coming

She is a JOKE

[YouDisgustMe]

04:59 PM on 09/03/2008

couldn't have said it better myself

[Nofoolhere]

04:45 PM on 09/03/2008

LURKING FASCISM!!! There it is. It doesn't come with drums, bagpipes and trumpets. It comes with simple but firm abuses of power by those entrusted with it by the citizens then afflicted. We dare not permit this infection to flourish in the White Hose after January 20, 2009. SLEEPERS AWAKE!!

[Oldbuck]

04:41 PM on 09/03/2008

Where there is smoke there is fire. This lady is a reformer what a joke you are supposed to win employees over not fire everyone who disagrees with her. If this is the type of government that she and McCain are going to bring we are in trouble.

[tbone99]

12:22 AM on 09/04/2008

Sounds like the DOJ under Bush

[rollingdivision]

04:40 PM on 09/03/2008

Just because the previous politician was your buddy and appointed you doesn't mean the next politician elected has to keep you. And if your politics are different and you didn't support the new guy you should expect to go.