Kenai’s City Council last week postponed legislation that would allow city employees and municipal officers to participate in land sales amid concerns that it would create an appearance of impropriety.
The ordinance, which would amend city code to add new language allowing officers — which would include elected officials and the city council — and employees to participate in property sales, was sponsored by Alex Douthit. He said during the meeting that a bar on officers or employees acquiring property from the city is “broader than necessary to protect the public interest.” He said he was motivated to introduce the measure after hearing about a city employee who qualifies for Kenai’s veterans’ discount on property but isn’t eligible to purchase property from the city.
The text of the city code, per the ordinance, bars officers or employees from bidding on or obtaining property that is “unneeded or surplussed by the city.” The ordinance would change the language to uphold a bar on acquiring “personal property items,” but not “real property sales.”
People who work for the city, in paid or unpaid roles, Douthit said, should be able to acquire city land at auction if they’re willing to pay more than other bidders.
Scott Bloom, Kenai’s city attorney, said during the meeting that the proposed change would still prohibit acquisition of property through negotiated sales or leases “not available or advertised to the general public.” That means that in any publicly advertised sale — like the recent public outcry auction of city land — officials or employees who aren’t able to obtain information unavailable to the general public about the property or sale process could submit a bid.
Sovala Kisena, another member of the council, said that to approve the ordinance would be to create at least the appearance of a lowering of ethical standards in the city. He said that elected officials, like members of the council, necessarily have more information about land that might go up for auction that members of the public might not.
“As elected officials, especially, we’re financially compensated to be present and be involved and informed of what’s going on in the city,” he said. “Members of the public, whether outside or inside the city limits, I think it’s disingenuous to say that they have the same access to that information.”
Bloom said that even were the ordinance passed as written, certain people would remain ineligible for certain city land sales because they hold special knowledge about properties, potentially including the city manager or city planner.
Deborah Sounart, another member of the council, said that while she wasn’t supportive of allowing elected officials to participate in land sales, she would be interested in allowing employees or members of unelected commissions to participate. It was to that end that the ordinance was unanimously postponed to the council’s May 21 meeting, where amendments are planned to be brought forward.
A full recording of the meeting can be found at the City of Kenai Public Meetings YouTube channel.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
