By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
Girdwood Board of Supervisor Chairman John Gallup was asked to step down from his position on the GBOS due to his employment as a teacher with the Anchorage School District. The city charter states that a municipal employee can not run for certain boards and commissions of which the GBOS is one.
On Monday, May 14, Gallup was notified by the Mayor’s office that he was ineligible to serve on the GBOS due to his employment with the Anchorage School District.
Gallup has worked as a public school teacher for Clark Middle School for 17 years. By law, he could not serve in an elected position while working for the municipality.
“Until this morning (May 15) I believed that I was a School District employee and not a municipal employee,” said Gallup. “Because my line of supervision goes to the School Board and the hierarchy in the school district. Everybody acted in good faith; I talked to the Mayor for two years. If I’d known that there was an ethics violation, I would never run.”
Gallup has served as chair of the GBOS for one year and served two years on the GBOS.
A letter sent to the mayor’s office April 23 by a GBOS member questioned Gallup’s dual role as an employee with the Anchorage School District and a member of the GBOS. The issue came up after Gallup told a candidate for the GBOS that she was not eligible due to her employment with the city.
Gallup’s comment sparked an inquiry by the board member regarding Gallup’s position with the municipality, which, in turn, led to his release by the Mayor’s office.
“It may be that there’s a mechanism for the Mayor to appoint me to fill out the remainder of my term, if the board pleases,” Gallup said.
The GBOS is now in the process of soliciting resumes for interested candidates to fill Gallup’s vacancy.