State Personnel Board investigation
[edit]Initiation
On September 1, Palin essentially filed an ethics complaint against herself, asking the state Personnel Board to review the case.[125] Her lawyer asked the state Legislature to drop its investigation, saying that by state law, the board had jurisdiction over ethics issues.[126] Palin also asked that the Board review the matter as an ethics complaint.[82]
The Personnel Board is a three-member panel appointed by the governor, and confirmed by the legislature.[127] Members serve a six-year term,[128] and not more than 2 members may be of same political party.[129] The three people on the current board were first appointed by Frank Murkowski (R), Palin's gubernatorial predecessor; Palin reappointed one member in 2008.[130] Another member donated $400 to Palin's 2006 campaign for governor.[131] As governor, Palin has the authority to remove members of the board, for cause.[132] The Personnel Board hired Anchorage trial lawyer Timothy J. Petumenos, a registered Democrat who contributed to Palin's opponent for governor in 2006,[133] as its investigator. In 2002, his firm handled the $15 million bond issue for Wasilla's hockey complex, a pet project of then-mayor Palin.[134]
In response to the request from Palin's attorney, French responded that "We're going to proceed. If they want to proceed, that's perfectly within their right but it doesn't diminish our right to do so."[91][135]
On September 3, Nicki Neal, director of the state Division of Personnel and Labor Relations, said that the board would meet soon in executive session — closed to the public — to begin its work. Palin had asked for the ethics case to be open. Neal said she would check into how that relates to the board meetings.[136] Neal is one of the persons listed as a potential witness in the Branchflower investigation.[14]
