State officials won't say who ordered $441,000 contract with grandson of Dunleavy donor
It seems that no one in the Dunleavy administration is willing to identify just who it was that ordered the creation of a no-bid contract worth up to $441,000 with the grandson of a man who invested $350,000 to help get Gov. Mike Dunleavy elected.
Last spring, without a good justification, the state gave Clark Penney a multi-year deal at $8,000 a month, refusing to open the process to potential competitors on the grounds that doing so would delay the so-called “Open for Business” strategy. Clark is the grandson of Dunleavy benefactor Bob Penney.
Commerce commissioner Julie Anderson, listed on this March 12 document as one of those who would provide oversight to Clark, was asked at a legislative hearing Thursday if she had chosen Clark for the no-bid deal.
She said she did not choose Clark and she did not know who made the decision or why,
As I have written here before, had his name been Clark Nickel, he would not have received a dime.
Anderson said the committee would have to ask Tom Boutin, the executive director of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, about the contract. Anderson is a member of the AIDEA board.
“So on contract matters I would have to defer to Tom Boutin on that,“ said Anderson. “But he (Clark) does work with the Alaska Development Team. I know he does work with AIDEA and he works with the governor’s office. That’s pretty much what I can provide on the contract itself.”
Rep. Zack Fields asked multiple times about who picked Clark, but Anderson wouldn’t say. “No. I just have to refer you back to AIDEA on that one.”
Fields and Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins asked Boutin last May about the contract, in letters that also went to Anderson, and Boutin declined to explain.
“So AIDEA is saying ‘not us’ and now you’re saying, ‘not me,’ so it’s sort of a circular thing and there’s not an answer other than you’re pointing to AIDEA and AIDEA is pointing ‘not us,’” Kreiss-Tomkins told Anderson.
“I can see why you’re confused,” said Anderson.
There is no need for all of this confusion, which has been created by Anderson, Boutin and others.
Anderson could clarify the contract situation because she had an important role in setting up Clark’s contract and knows more than she said at the hearing Thursday.
On March 7, she sent this email to Clark with the draft contract description “to show you as the task force lead, and adjust scope where necessary then return to me for final review. I am working with AIDEA to get a short term contract in place which will allow us time to do a long term contract process. Please return it as soon as possible.”
A March 11 email said the commerce department asked AIDEA to provide economic development services.
On March 12, the commerce department sent out a draft copy of the contract, with Anderson copied on the email. On March 15, this email noted that the contract would be AIDEA’s responsibility, not that of the commerce department—there had been some confusion on that matter.
Boutin, who signed the contract March 20, could also help end the confusion, but I’m not sure that he wants to do that. Last spring he said that he was not in charge of Clark’s contract though he had signed it.
“You may receive or have received inquiries regarding the contract with Mr. Clark Penney that AIDEA signed on March 20,” Boutin wrote to Anderson and other members of the AIDEA board May 9.
“This contract was not taken to the board for approval nor did it need to be, so you have not seen the contract. The contract pertains to Mr. Penney’s work as Managing Director, of the New Industry Development Team, which is not part of AIDEA. To the best of my knowledge the AIDEA board has not been briefed on the Team (nor have I by the way, but that is not something I will say outside of our board; certainly I could have asked for a briefing and received one.”
On that same day, Boutin wrote to Anderson to say he thought the governor’s office was supervising Penney’s work. He suggested that Matt Shuckerow, then the governor’s press secretary, should lie to the press and duck any questions.
“Also, today Matt Shuckerow called me about press calls he is receiving, and he mentioned that the team is in commerce. I told him I thought it is in the Gov's office, and we each said we are not sure we know. But no matter,” Boutin wrote to Anderson. (Shuckerow was right. The “team” was working under Anderson in the commerce department.)
“To date the press calls are few and far between, and entirely manageable. I told Matt that if I were him I would tell the press there are 128 boards and commissions (or how many there are now), and he cannot possibly know of all the contracts and projects of every one of them; this is an AIDEA contract and he could tell the press to call AIDEA,” Boutin wrote to Anderson.
Anderson wrote that day that she believed she had explained the Alaska Development Team to Boutin the preceding week.
“I thought I had explained the team to you when you first came on board and you met with the team and DNR last week, is there something further that you would like to know? I apologize if something was missed, we will be having a team meeting next Thursday if you would like to attend to learn more about the team, or I am happy to answer any questions you may have,” Anderson wrote on May 9.
She also wrote that she had talked to the governor’s press secretary and asked him to refer anyone from the press to Karsten Rodvik, the public relations man for AIDEA, to “ensure we have a unified clear message.”
On May 20, Boutin wrote to Anderson to coordinate on a response to the questions from Fields and Kreiss-Tomkins on the letter seeking information on the Clark contract.
On June 27, this state email mentions that the money source for Clark’s contract was to be moved to AIDEA operating funds. On that same day, Boutin wrote that it was “not my call” on whether Clark’s contract would be extended into the fiscal year that began in July, but that it would be up to Anderson’s commerce department to make that decision.
On July 2, AIDEA responded to various questions from the Anchorage Daily News about the Clark contract. The Daily News acquired nearly all of the documents linked to this blog post through a public records request.
“It is my understanding there is no connection between any election campaign and this Penney Capital Inc., contract,” the agency said.
“Was the contract awarded at the request of the Dunleavy administration?” the newspaper asked.
“The contract was executed at the request of the executive director,” read the Boutin-approved reply.
The question remains, one that legislators should keep asking: Why is no one in the Dunleavy administration willing to say who ordered that Clark receive the no-bid deal?
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