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

[kellygrrrl]

I cut and paste this because apparently the woman who wrote it is being threatened and pressured
and the internets are being scrubbed fast and furious, as we know

http://my2bucks.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/a-letter-from-someone-who-has-known-sarah-palin-since-1992/

[shelobo]

Odd the sites that had ANYTHING on Palin are dissapearing ,the daughters boyfriends myspace has been blocked so I have been told ,another poster told me it has been removed period .I see very little scandaal,only Palins POWER plays,she does like power,and she uses it when needed .The Media needs to stay all over this because I have a strange feeling there IS MORE to Palin than just her pretty face as some are saying.

[shelobo]

This one hasn't been removed YET http://www.washingtonindependent.com/3671/the-reform-candidatee

[cheferic]

If the judge sided with Sarah Palin saying that the towns law allowed the mayor to fire the police chief without cause which she did as was her right ,where is the scandal?

[Ramirez]

Democrats without executive experience always believe an executive has no legal right to fire employees.

[crablover]

The Bush administration placed loyal Bushies in top positions in every federal agency, whether or not they knew anything about the agency.

Senior managers were pressured to toe the line or resign. Many competent career civil servants were forced out. Several told me stories of being intimidated by their politcally-appointed executives at the FCC, and the Energy, Interior, and State departments.

When the Republicans took control of Congress, they demanded that trade associations and lobbying firms fire employees who happened to be Democrats and replace them with Bush Republicans -- the "K Street Project."

I was myself forced out as a trade association PR manager. Four colleagues followed me to the unemployment line. I had to uproot my family and leave Washington to find another job. Meanwhile, the neo-cons established a website for "conservative job seekers." The only qualification was to swear a loyalty oath to George Bush.

Early in his first term, Bush proposed changing civil service hiring/firing practices, claiming that managers needed "flexibility" in their staffing decisions. Bush was determined to fill every civil service position with his loyalists. Thankfully, he didn't get his way, but he did manage to undermine the system and reduce the effectiveness of many government agencies. FEMA is a prime example.

I'm not bitter. I want the Republicans to own their mistakes. That's not likely to happen, as Bush will probably pardon everyone before leaving office.

As for me, I'm voting for Obama.

[TheLastPenguin]

Why don't you ask MADD?

[musicka]

Ever heard of the saying, just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you should? Sounds like a former beauty queen turned po-dunk town mayor on a power trip to me.

[truthynesslover]

I guess if you voted for bush and thunk it was o.k. for him to fire attorney generals{most republicans} because of political reasons{not filing false cases against democrats] you wouldnt understand.Its called abuse of power.

[GLaB]

Wasn't EVERYBODY on this site DEMANDING that Bush fire the Attorney General?

[shelobo]

BINGO,McHitler picked the perfect abuser of power as a running mate ,Biden best watch his attitude when he debates her ,because the WOMEN activists groups WILL be watching his every move and Obama needs to stop being 'Mister Nice Guy' and get VOTERS back on track to the REAL ISSUES.

[gtt]

She fired for retribution. As I understand the legal issue, a previous mayor had authored a change in city code that protected the chief of police from termination without cause. The code was never fully acted upon by the city, therefore, the court ruled that the police chief was not protected. It may not have been a violation of law, but it is not ethical to discharge a civil servant for reasons related to satisfying campaign contributors.

[kellygrrrl]

"A source close to the Beverly Hills baby store Petit Tresor tells CelebTV.com exclusively that a gift from Plain Mary was sent to Bristol Palin on behalf of Jamie Lynn Spears."

Great! Look, girls! you want to be famous and have famous friends? Here's how you do it!

[mike53]

Sounds like she made a lot of enemies in Alaska. Happens I suppose when you are a "reform" style politician.

[CTmom13]

She is not a reformer, this is all a ROVE GIMMICK....It proves Mccain is the farthest thing from a MAVERICK, he is so out of touch, he doesn't even have control of his own campaign, It's ROVE once again running things. We have seen how that works the last 8 years - ENOUGH!!!!!!

McCain's new slogan is POLITICS FIRST, COUNTRY LAST

[shelobo]

Maverick was a legendary MOVIE hero gun fighter and according to the MOVIES about Maverick ,Maverick never picked a fight without just cause,and Maverick stuck around for the fight ,he didn't set it out in 'jail' and come out a Hero. Voters need to seperate the gunfighter fantasy from the REALITY of a being a bully and a spoiled military brat !

[DawnLA]

In a criminal court of law this is called an M.O. Method of Operation. (There is an actual Latin translation, but I don't know how to spell it lol)

[GLaB]

Modus operandi.

[Ramirez]

In a criminal court of law this is called "if you think you have a case then hire a lawyer and take it to civil court."

[XME]

She certainly is MORE OF THE SAME AS BUSH when it comes to trying to control everyone who works for her! Looks like another disasterous ticket to me.

[Whinger]

Absolute power corrupts absolutly!

Example: the little corporal Adolf Hitler!

[luvangelHussein330]

How was fireing the librarian worth while? Because she didn't remove all the books she didn't like?

[billkarwin]

[Former Wasilla mayor John Stein] says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html

[DRaymond]

Very close to the truth according to this interview with her predecessor she did try to have books removed. There is no mention whether this was before or after the firings, or whether in fact books were removed.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html

[barkanomics]

Wow! I hope they get this ex-police chief on TV! She's just a politician through and through, caring more about her career than the public. Geeze am I sick of this! these people are a cancer on society

[morefromLA]

No wonder she's Senator Soulmate's soul mate. Beer baron Johnny would not approve of bars closing sooner than is absolutely necessary. Yup, yup. Alaska First -- Alaska Always.

[strength]

well its been rebutted that she was part of the AIP, but her husband was

and doesnt this sound like something Bush does? So when Obama comes out with this ad, will it be sexist?

[quindy]

Her membership in Alaskan Independence Party might just put her out of this circus. I don't know how are Retardicans going to explain that one.

[Ramirez]

Palin was not a member of the Alaskan Independence Party.

[truthynesslover]

WOW you guys even lie to yourselves!!!

[Jonni Rae]

Her husband was and she attended meetings. Proof on MSNBC and video on Huffpost.

[shelobo]

So they say NOW ,when previously they said different, another political 'coverup' maybe ...

[UCFPoliSciGuy]

Will Somebody Just Give John McCain A "High-5" For This Pick.... Oh wait

Obama-Biden '08

[TotallyAmazed]

Looks like we're going to have a new scandal or mini-scandal related to this women, from here on out. Good! This is what happens when sloppy - or, in this case, minimal - background work is done, for such an important job. The Maverick must be really enjoying his new 'soulmate' by now.

[GLaB]

None of this is new. It's all been out there if you bothered looking months ago. Don't let the fact that you didn't read it on HuffingtonPost lead you to the wrong conclusion.

Just look at these so-called "scandals." She fired people - PERFECTLY LEGALLY - because they wouldn't get on her team. Woooo. She actually LAUGHED on a radio show with a shock jock. Scary! Her teenager got pregnant. Call out the FBI!

Leftists are EMBARRASSING ourselves over this stuff. Where's the graft, the payoffs, the million-dollar mansions underwritten by slumlords? Where are the $3 billion subsidies to Archer Daniels Midland? The cushy jobs with Asbestos Settlement lawyers?

Surely we can come up with something better than the ludicrous "her baby is really her GRANDSON."

[TheLastPenguin]

HIGH FIVE! Thanks John!

Obama / Biden 2008!

[GLaB]

TRAVELGATE

[truthynesslover]

You mean when the clintons fired billy ray dale because he was embezzeling money from the white house travel office and had been doing it for decades??Only republcans think that was a scandel.