Palin's "Biggest Project" As Mayor: A Hockey Rink With Legal Troubles

Wall Street Journal:

The biggest project that Sarah Palin undertook as mayor of this small town was an indoor sports complex, where locals played hockey, soccer, and basketball, especially during the long, dark Alaskan winters.

The only catch was that the city began building roads and installing utilities for the project before it had unchallenged title to the land. The misstep led to years of litigation and at least $1.3 million in extra costs for a small municipality with a small budget. What was to be Ms. Palin's legacy has turned into a financial mess that continues to plague Wasilla.

"It's too bad that the city of Wasilla didn't do their homework and secure the land before they began construction," said Kathy Wells, a longtime activist here. "She was not your ceremonial mayor; she was in charge of running the city. So it was her job to make sure things were done correctly."

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

Comments

[Paul Peete - Huffpost Blogger]

A sports complex on land the city didn't own and as Governor, a train to a resort owned by the sates biggest crook, Ted Stevens, Sarah loves building things she's even trying to build something new on something else she doesn't own, a credible resume'!

[freemedia]

Obama was the Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) from 1995 to 2000. The Challenge received at least $49 to improve Chicago schools. The Annenberg Center determined that the CAC did not meet the goals of the project. The money spent was wasted with no lasting impact. Once again - more money in the hands of politicians does not improve school performance. At least Alaska has a building that benefits the citizens.

[editorjuno]

...and how much money did this less-than-perfect project cost the people it was designed to benefit? Palin's project left a small town already suffering from a meth epidemic with tens of millions in debt. Before she took office, Wasilla had a budget surplus! As the Pitney article points out, she's GWB in lipstick -- another overconfident mediocrity with no discernible management skills.

[Amalek]

Palin is a product of the republican revolution - the attempt to take over every little burgh in America with anti-abortion republican robots. She just follows orders from the center - as well as she can understand them.

A key message was that once in power, spend, spend, spend, so that the consituents love you and you get reelected. This is what brought us earmarks and the huge deficits. On a federal level, Clinton managed to keep them under control, but once they had the White House they went nuts.

She was pawn in this game, but she played it like the big boys.

[freemedia]

Chicago suffers from much worse.

[booker52]

Got a link to prove this???

[freemedia]

http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/content/publications.php?pub_id=60

[freemedia]

Let me know your thoughts on the report. Thanks.

[MRb1000]

You are so funny! Any dummy would know if you are going to build a building you must have the land surveyed and have a title search on the land. Come on you must have never brought a home. This lady sound like she was dumber than a box of rocks. Yeah a lot of on the job training at the publics expense because she was not humble enough to let others help with the expertise. This dose not sound like leader to me. This sound like a stubborn individual that know they may be wrong, but just do not care. She likes rolling the dice with the publics lives. Also, she dose not know or want to know her limitation. A great leader know his or her limitation and will seek help from an expert.

Would you rather have a plumber or a lawyer to defend you in court?

[grata2ude]

Your resume is quite different from the actual one.

Organizing and other work experience
1983-1984 Writer/Researcher for Business International Corporation. Helped companies understand overseas markets in the “Financing Foreign Operations” service and wrote for the “Business International Money Report”
1984-1985 Community Organizer for New York Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), promoting personal, community, and government reform at City College in Harlem.
1985-1988 Director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland on Chicago's South Side. While director grew the DCP staff from 1 to 13 and their budget from $70,000 to $400,000.
1992 Led Chicago's Project Vote! push. This effort resulted in a record number of voter registrations, over 600,000 in Chicago. 1)
Teaching
1993-2004 Visiting Law and Government Fellow, then Senior Lecturer, in Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School. Taught courses on the due process and equal protection areas of constitutional law, on voting rights, and on racism and law. Helped develop a casebook on voting rights.
Law Practice
1993-2002 Worked as an associate attorney with Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland. Represented non-profits and private individuals in urban development projects, voting rights cases, and wrongful firings. Filed major suit that forced the state of Illinois to enforce the Motor Voter Law and successfully argued a wrongful firing case before the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

[Amalek]

Aha, catholic charities. You know what the religious right thinks of Catholics. Why, if Obama is not a Muslim, then he probably is an idolator.

[Veratruth]

Tell em grata .... he/she probably lied anyway.

[freemedia]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Annenberg_Challenge

[Veratruth]

I bet we got some Alaska folks on here that will spell out the TRUTH for us ... I hope. Hallelujah for the internet that reaches all the way to Alaska.

[EricHayes]

Just remember: "The L is silent."

[Born Again Atheist]

Roflmao

[breakingnews]

"Wasilla residents have been subjected to attempts to unlawfully appoint council members, statements that have been shown to be patently untrue, unrepentant backpedaling, and incessant whining that her only enemies are the press and a few disgruntled supporters of Mayor Stein. ... Palin promised to change the status quo, but at every turn we find hints of cronyism and political maneuvering. We see a woman who has long since surrendered her ideals to a political machine."

[booker52]

Maybe Gov Sarah Palin has a problem reading??? Comes from banning books maybe???

[freemedia]

Can you supply information on what books she banned? Do you have proof that she banned books?

[booker52]

Here is your link on then Mayor Palin and her attempt to ban books.
http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/515512.html

[mikey970]

book banning is un-american

[Nolewoman]

She didn't ban any. She only tried to. The head librarian stopped her. Then she attempted to fire the librarian and the town would not let her. This story has been out there for a while. Where have you been?

[breakingnews]

Y'all gotta read this - her terms as Mayor - she's kinda like Hit!ler, only MEANER!!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008163431_palin070.html

[freemedia]

Obama is a fascist, only worse. Check out Stanley Kurtz' appearance on Chicago radio.

[freemedia]

Obama's campaign attempted to stifle free speech by preventing Stanley Kurtz from speaking on a Chicago radio show. Sounds like China.

[thegreatgiginthesky]

She reminds me of the former mayor of dallas Laura Miller, another m0r0n.

[LAB10]

H E double hockey sticks! And no clear title! Stupid!!!!

[larsan]

what church will baptize the baby

[freemedia]

What church baptized Obama?

[grata2ude]

how moronic are you? He's a Christian. your freemedia tag is a little screwy if you continue to propagate known lies.

[mikey970]

religious tests are not required to run for president of the united states!!! read our united states constitution and don't be ignorant !

[Amalek]

She is a fundie. They don't baptize until the child is of an age of "reason" although one might debate whether fundies ever reach that age.

[Veratruth]

Shhhhhhh The MSM, especially the FOX leader, might crucify another pastor.

[majorteddy]

Sounds like she'd fit rihgt in with Bremer and Brownie and Rumsfeld and Chertoff and George W. Bush. incompetent to the Nth power and not ashamed to brag about how great they are.

[horton79]

Boycott Rupert Murdoch's systematic smear machine! Erase your Myspace profile and encourage your children to delete theirs. Move to facebook.

[loax]

And this is the woman that has executive experience according to the Republican Party. Experience to creat havoc and cost her town more money! She is a joke!

[lizinatl]

hmmmm - do we realize that the government (thru Fannie & Freddie) now owns our homes?

[mcantwell]

THE PEOPLE OF ALASKA NEEDS YOUR HELP!
PLEASE TAKE A LOOK, THEN FIND A WAY TO HELP!
http://www.palinsalaska.com/

[clover2]

Interesting this story came from the Wall Street Journal. "Love at first sight" is not the right way to select a running mate or a rational way to select which ticket to vote for.

I wish the next topic they'd look into is the drug money that flows in and out of the town. According to Alaskans, Wasiila is the meth capital of Alaska.

[booker52]

Remember that Murdock now owns the WSJ. So truth??? Not if its coming from that rag.