Probe prompted by funds paid to mayor’s family for purchases

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A law firm hired by the North Slope Borough Assembly is investigating borough purchases that include expenses for Mayor Charlotte Brower’s five grandchildren to fly to California for a basketball camp.

The payments also include tens of thousands dollars for cakes and crafts by the mayor’s office and other departments from two of Brower’s daughters, The Alaska Dispatch News (https://bit.ly/1MpLv1c) reported.

The law firm Perkins Coie was appointed at Brower’s request. She has said she did not approve borough purchases from family members. She did not respond Thursday to written questions or an interview request but issued a statement through a spokeswoman.

“I made the request for the Assembly to hire independent counsel to review the borough’s internal policies in order to maintain the public’s confidence and trust,” the statement said. “Until the investigation is complete, it needs to be allowed to run its course without prejudice or comment on any of the circumstances under review.”

According to documents obtained by the newspaper, the borough spent $8,400 to cover the cost of the five grandchildren to fly from Barrow to Santa Barbara for the five-day “Michael Jordan Flight School” camp.

In a letter, Brower’s daughter, Mary Jo Olemaun, described the camp as a “once in a lifetime event” for her three children and the two children of her sister, Crystal Tula’i.

In a July 7 memorandum to the assembly, Brower said staff members had approved purchases of goods from her family members “without my knowledge or approval” under a policy that allowed no-bid payments for goods less than $10,000.

In February, after learning of the payments, Brower said, she changed the policy to require three informal bids before the borough could buy goods from employees or families.

The borough paid more than $500 for some of the cakes. They were eaten at holiday celebrations, employee retirement parties, and the mayor’s birthday party, the documents said.

One $18,844 payment covered six invoices from Tula’i dated Nov. 24, 2014, for cakes and pies for the borough’s “Thanksgiving feast.” Last August, the mayor’s office paid Tula’i $40,880 to cater a “community wide feed” and ceremony with former Gov. Sean Parnell.

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Information from: Alaska Dispatch News, https://www.adn.com