Anchorage Assembly member questions insurance payment to former mayor's family
by The Associated Press
Mar 10, 2010 | 1194 views | 4 4 comments | 4 4 recommendations | email to a friend | print
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A member of the Anchorage Assembly wants to know if the city insurance payment to the family of late Mayor George Sullivan is legal.

The Anchorage Daily News reports Harriet Drummond is introducing a resolution calling for a review of the $193,000 payment.

The city made a one-of-a-kind agreement 30 years ago to continue to insure Sullivan after he had served 14 years as mayor. He died in September at the age of 87.

Sullivan's son Dan Sullivan is the current mayor. He says Drummond is playing politics with his father's death.

Drummond's resolution is expected to come up for debate March 23.

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yksin
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March 10, 2010
This AP story is so abbreviated that it fails to disclose numerous questionable facts about this so-called "insurance" payment. Chief among them is that former mayor George Sullivan was supposed to be covered (per the 1982 Anchorage Assembly) by the Municipality's group insurance plan with Aetna, but in fact wasn't because he wasn't an employee. Sometime between 1982 & 2002, someone decided to just take the Sullivan family's "premiums" even though MOA is not nor has ever been an insurance company -- but without ever informing the Assembly, which is the only body which had the legal power to decide how to handle Sullivan's insurance once it became clear Aetna wouldn't cover him. There is no legal contract.

Furthermore, turns out the Mayor Dan Sullivan, George's son, both requested this "insurance" payout in his capacity as mayor, but also is recipient of this payout as the head of the trust that is receiving it.

For details, see http://www.henkimaa.com/2010/03/05/sullygate/
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Plebeian
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March 10, 2010
How much time and money are they going to spend "reviewing" it?

Sure, the City of Anchorage made a stupid deal way back. But rather than spending time figuring out ways out of it (costing SIGNIFICANT City employee hours, review costs, etc.), just make sure it doesn't happen again, and pay the bill that was agreed to so long ago.

Maybe this person doesn't realize the cost of an inquiry in Government. Either that or they're just trying to make a name for themselves.
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Charliebussell
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March 10, 2010
Ms. Drummond is clearly off base and should be using her elected position to 'enforce' a contractrual agreement. She then needs to be working at ways to reduce the size of government and making it work better...Right now she represents the problem side of issues but needs to move to the solution side of issures...
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dukit22
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March 10, 2010
This is silly. Insurance policies are supposed to be simple. If there is a beneficiary, and the death is not questioned, then the pay-out should not be questioned either.

Dan is right, political grandstanding.
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