Monegan could not be reached for comment, but he recently told the Anchorage Daily News that he was never directly told by Palin or anyone to fire Wooten. But he maintained that Palin, members of her administration and her husband, Todd Palin, raised the issue about Wooten's employment numerous times.
LOL!! This is a non-issue, especially since Monegan admits that she didn't order him to fire Wooten.. If anything, it amplifies her stance that government employees must be accountable to the people and that Monegan's failure to address the concerns about his demonstrated unprofessional behavior only reveals his own lack of standards for his officers.
The guy (Wooten) was reprimanded a dozen times for violating regulations since 2001, well before Palin became Governor. He has a track record of misbehavior and unprofessional conduct, and Monegan apparently did nothing about it.
So yeah.. Wooten's her former Brother in Law, but she was writing to Monegan about Wooten's behavior BEFORE she was Governor, and he took no action to remove him from his position. Someone has to say something, and in a small town, many people are afraid to speak up because state police tend to stick together and anyone complaining might find themselves targeted for retaliation.
So if it's the Mayor of Wasilla (Palin) taking up the cause, and providing objective and factual examples of Wooten's behavior, Monegan was negligent in failing to act. And since he's a political appointee who serves "at will" of the Governor, if he creates an environment were officer misbehavior goes unpunished, then he deserves to be told to resign.
Hawk |
