Palin poses as a fiscal watchdog but grabbed city funds 2 give office a pricey "bordello" makeover

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/17/palin_mayor/

Four years later, the ambitious Palin won the Wasilla mayor's office -- after scorching the "tax and spend mentality" of her incumbent opponent. But Carney, Palin's estranged former mentor, and others in city hall were astounded when they found out about a lavish expenditure of Palin's own after her 1996 election. According to Carney, the newly elected mayor spent more than $50,000 in city funds to redecorate her office, without the council's authorization.

"I thought it was an outrageous expense, especially for someone who had run as a budget cutter," said Carney. "It was also illegal, because Sarah had not received the council's approval."

According to Carney, Palin's office makeover included flocked, red wallpaper. "It looked like a bordello."

Although Carney says he no longer has documentation of the expenditures, in his recollection Palin paid for the office face-lift with money from a city highway fund that was used to plow snow, grade roads and fill potholes -- essential municipal services, particularly in weather-battered Alaska.

[ColbertWatcher]

1. "he no longer has documentation of the expenditures" Then it's gossip.

Dude, you can't go around making up shit about people; that's Palin's job!

[lapfog_1]

3. Wasn't that long ago... I'm sure the contractors that did the job have records. - n/t

[ColbertWatcher]

6. I just don't see how a city can toss their paperwork so quickly!

Isn't there some kind of law about throwing things away too soon?

Damn.

Oh, and you're probably right about contractors doing the job, heh.

[lapfog_1]

2. Scandal a day Palin.

She is a pip!

I've stopped keeping count.

[Contrary1]

4. One article called it "The Natural Look by Sarah Palin" Have your puke bags handy.

Nothing spells success like being surrounded by dead animals in your very own office.



"Sarah Heath Palin, an Outsider Who Charms"
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/us/politics/30palin.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

[mediaman007]

5. She seems to me to be someone who has discovered the "good life" at

taxpayers expense. It's OK though. She's one of them.

Let me guess, she's a watchdog, with lipstick.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

7. Palin said "I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't"

Hmmm - guess that is also why she won't acknowledge her subpoena.

More from the Salon article:

Carney confronted Mayor Palin at a City Council hearing, and was shocked by her response.

"I braced her about it," he said. "I told her it was against the law to make such a large expenditure without the council taking a vote. She said, 'I'm the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't.'"

"I'll never forget it -- it's one of the few times in my life I've been speechless," Carney added. "It would have been easier for her to finesse it. She had the votes on the council by then, she controlled it. But she just pushed forward. That's Sarah. She just has no respect for rules and regulations."

[eowyn_of_rohan]

8. K&R