How they answered that question is still unknown.
After their deliberations, council members came back to the Cowles Council Chambers and said they had asked council attorney Louisiana Cutler to prepare a draft decision reflecting their preliminary deliberations.
According to the city clerk’s office on Tuesday, that draft decision will not be made public until the next council meeting Nov. 20.
If an official is found to have “willfully and knowingly” violated any of the provisions in code, he “shall immediately forfeit his office or position.”
At the hearing Friday, nine of the 25 complainants gave testimony calling Stark’s letter an obvious breach of the ethics code.
“It is very clear to me that he knowingly disregarded the code of ethics with his Sept. 26th letter to hundreds of Homer voters,” said Debbie Poore. “He knows and understands the rules as a senior council member. … Mr. Stark’s behavior and attitude are not befitting a council member. We don’t want this kind of representation for Homer.”
Others, like Lance Petersen, a former college professor of philosophy and ethics, viewed it as an open-and-shut case.
“I too believe this is a relatively uncomplicated judging of what the code of ethics is. It’s spelled out rather specifically as others have pointed out,” Peterson said.
In his testimony, Stark pointed out that none of the complainants actually received the letter in question and said adding “councilman” after his name was inadvertent.
“What I’ve tried to do the last four years is the will of the people. Of course I’m action-oriented and I’m confident my projects benefit the citizens,” Stark said. “I obviously made a mistake in signing the letter. The sure way to never make a mistake is to never do anything — not my style.”
Stark also called Jacqueline Dentz to the stand as a witness.
“I am furious that my tax dollars are being wasted on attorney fees and extra council sessions by a complaint issued by a former councilman, John Fenske,” Dentz said. “Not to mention time wasted on ridiculousness that could be better spent on crucial serious problems facing this community.”
“I truly love and believe in the Sandy and Doug Starks of the world. Doug is a simple man and is a real person and only wants what is best for his community,” she said. “How dare anyone suggest that Doug Stark, who stands by his oath of office, who only cares about his community, willfully violated the code of ethics.”
The council’s decision as to whether Stark violated the ethics code revolved heavily around the legal definition of “willfully” and “knowingly.”
To further the complainants’ case, Bob Shavelson introduced into evidence a July 17 letter Stark wrote and sent to Kachemak City residents regarding a merger between Kachemak City and Homer.
Shavelson said that Stark did not use his title in that letter, because he understood the code of ethics and didn’t want it to be misinterpreted as coming from the city of Homer.
Therefore, Shavelson said, he willfully used his title in the political letter to help influence voters.
Council member Beth Wythe and attorney Cutler then asked Stark repeatedly if he understood the code and if he used his title to influence voters.
“Was it your intent in using your title to strengthen your ability to influence people’s decisions?” Wythe asked.
“It was merely to indicate that what I had stated in the letter had some basis in experience,” Stark replied.
Cutler asked if Stark was familiar with the inappropriate use of office provision in the code.
“As familiar as I am with everything else in the city code, and the thousands of pages of material we process,” Stark answered.
When asked by Cutler what he meant by his testimony where he said he inadvertently signed the letter, Stark replied, “At the time I signed the letter, I didn’t recall that that was something I should refrain from.”
After the complainants had a chance to rebut Stark’s testimony, the council voted unanimously to move into closed session to deliberate.
Council member Dennis Novak was recused from the entire proceedings after Cutler said quotes attributed to him in recent newspaper articles about the subject showed bias.
Mayor James Hornaday agreed, leaving council members Wythe, Mike Heimbuch, Matt Shadle, Wythe and Francie Roberts to decide Stark’s case.
The letter in question, sent to 600 Homer residents in September, urged voters to cast ballots for council candidates Val McLay and Bryan Zak and was signed “Doug Stark, Councilman.”
It further attempted to discredit council member Dennis Novak’s voting record and questioned candidate Francie Roberts’ experience.
The letter sparked a pre-election outcry among some who initiated a widespread e-mail and letter-writing campaign condemning Stark.
At the regular municipal election on Oct. 3, Roberts and Novak were voted into office.
According to the council’s code of ethics, which passed as a resolution unanimously in August, “appointed officials may not take an active part in a political campaign or other matter to be brought before the voters when on duty” or “use the implied authority of their position for the purposes of unduly influencing the decisions of others.”
Ben Stuart can be reached at ben.stuart@homernews.com.
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