Palin shook up 'old boy's network'

— -- Long before a legislative investigation into the firing of Alaska's public safety director began, Gov. Sarah Palin faced controversy for her management style.

Supporters — including the man who picked her to be his running mate, Republican presidential candidate John McCain — cite Palin as a leader willing to shake up the establishment. Others say she has been unnecessarily abrupt and dismissive of employees.

"Certainly, she had every right … to fire who she wants to and keep who she wants," said Irl Stambaugh, the former Wasilla police chief who was fired soon after Palin was elected mayor in 1996. "But it was not an appropriate way to handle everything."

As mayor, Palin asked department heads to resign and reapply for their jobs, said Taylor Griffin, a spokesman for the McCain campaign. She fired two department heads, including Stambaugh, and allowed others to resign — causing controversy in Wasilla, where elections are non-partisan.

Stambaugh said he was fired after having discussions with Palin to "iron out" their differences on policy issues, including a proposal that would have closed local bars before 5 a.m., which he supported and she did not.

Palin chose a replacement who agreed with her on the last-call issue and who told the Anchorage Daily News that, "I have a philosophy that every time there's a new law or new ordinance we lose a little more of our freedom."

Stambaugh filed a federal lawsuit in 1997 against Palin for wrongful termination that was dismissed.

Not afraid 'to break glass'

As governor, she has dealt with high-profile resignations since taking office in December 2006.

This past May, the head of the state Department of Health and Social Services, Karleen Jackson, resigned from Palin's administration, citing policy differences with the governor.

Democratic state Sen. Bill Wielechowski worked with Jackson on several health policy issues, including unsuccessful legislation to expand Alaska's State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

Wielechowski said Palin did not support the measure.

"I could sense that Karleen was very frustrated with the direction that the Palin administration had gone," Wielechowski said.

Jackson, an appointee of Palin's Republican predecessor, Republican Frank Murkowski, could not be reached for comment.

Griffin, the McCain spokesman, said that if Palin has made enemies along the way she did so by shaking up an "old boy's network" that was not serving the citizens of Wasilla or Alaska.

"She's not someone who is afraid to break glass to make things happen," Griffin said. "It's something that's brought incredible change to Alaska and it's one of the reasons we're proud to have her on the ticket."

Some of Palin's difficulties with staff stem in part from her relative inexperience in statewide politics, says Carl Shepro, a political science professor at the University of Alaska-Anchorage.

"Because her experience is as the mayor of a small city, I don't think that she really had the contacts or the experience to make a lot of the decisions that had to be made most immediately," he said.

Gerald McBeath, chairman of the political science department at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, says Palin hasn't used an ideological litmus test for her administration. She's acted decisively against employees she was having trouble with, he said.

"Many executives can't fire people who aren't working out. She has that ability," he added.

'Nothing to hide'

The Alaska Legislature is investigating allegations that Palin fired the state's public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, in July because he wouldn't dismiss a state trooper who is also her sister's ex-husband.

The trooper, Mike Wooten, was reprimanded and suspended for five days in 2006 for drinking beer while on duty and driving his marked patrol car, illegally killing a moose and using his Taser on his 10-year-old stepson, state records show.

Palin's attorney, Thomas Van Flein, this week asked a state personnel board to handle the case, arguing the board is the only legal venue to investigate the case.

"Gov. Palin holds herself to the highest ethical standards and has nothing to hide," Van Flein wrote in the memo to the Alaska attorney general.

Van Flein's memo acknowledges the governor's husband, Todd, met with Monegan, but said the couple didn't pressure him to fire Wooten.

Palin's pick to replace Monegan, former Kenai police chief Charles Kopp, resigned after two weeks on the job.

Kopp quit when it was disclosed that a 2005 sexual harassment complaint against him resulted in a reprimand by the city, according to the Anchorage Daily News.