Yup, I'm getting "those" emails about the Governor and her Monegan SNAFU too

There is someone I've been talking to for awhile about the entire Monegan issue. This individual has a rather close relationship with the State Troopers through a third party and has been very agitated by Walt Monegan's treatment at the hands of the Governor. However, this person's sensitive position means that he/she has been unwilling to even let me put in a quote anonymously...until now.

I've redacted whatever I believed was necessary to maintain anonymity yet I believe I kept the clarity of the message:

"I have some serious beef with the Governor. I didn't realize the tactics she was going to use against Monegan, and much of that means I REALLY can't comment on it. Much of her basis for firing him was about recruitment - that he "didn't do enough" to get more trooper positions filled.

[phrase redacted] ****** worked for them in the recruitment division for several years, and seriously - what Palin said is offensive on so many levels. I know - and even occasionally assisted ***** on the recruitment efforts, and I can tell you they were doing more for trooper recruitment than I've seen any other company/organization do for anyone. They don't just put out newspaper ads and hope for the best.

I know you were just talking about people going "you need to talk about this" a lot to you, but I'll add another to the list. I really would talk about it [phrase redacted] but I think (it) would get noticed in the wrong way."

I cannot even imagine how many folks in DPS and the Troopers have been holding in frustration like this. Talk about a morale killer.

Walt Monegan hasn't earned these people's loyalty through charm. Walt Monegan earned their loyalty because he made it clear THROUGH HIS ACTIONS that his employees and the people of Alaska were his priorities and he was willing to do the job that needed to get done to solve the root of the problems...not just slap a bandaid on them and call it good.

That kind of integrity lost him his job.

****UPDATE****

Andrew Halcro has some interesting "rumors" on his blog about the Monegan firing.

However, the part I noticed most was showing how Palin contradicted herself when she said the recruiting was one of the issues leading to his firing:

"Unfortunately as my term progressed, Commissioner Monegan was not making headway on key goals, such as filling numerous trooper vacancies." Governor Palin 8/13/08

What she said in her State of the State speech:

"In Public Safety and Corrections, after years of positions left vacant, we've doubled academy recruits." Governor Palin 1/15/08

So after telling Alaskans that Monegan had doubled academy recruits to fill vacancies, she turns around and says she fired Monegan because he wasn't attracting recruits to fill vacancies.

My head hurts.

Yeah, I think that Alaskan's demand for Ibuprofen is going to spike in the next few months.

BREAKING: Sarah Palin accused of abuse of power

Innuendo that has been kicking around the internet for days regarding Walt Monegan's firing have finally been made public through official allegations. Per Andrew Halcro's Blog:

Monegan said no, he couldn't cut his budget because his State Troopers were already being stretched to the limit and public safety suffering. He said no, he couldn't cut his budget because fuel costs for planes, boats and patrol vehicles soaring, while crime in rural Alaska was putting more demands on the Troopers transportation system.

But more alarming than any budget battle, Monegan said no to firing a State Trooper who had divorced Governor Palin's sister because the guy was being maliciously hounded by Palin's family.

And not just that; Monegan's firing came after his Colonel had to reprimand the governor's office for meddling in department personnel affairs.

This is real, kids. I've been getting emails and reading comments inferring this for days but have had no proof. Now, there is a press conference at 2:00 PM regarding the allegations of Palin's "ex" brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten:

According to Trooper records, Sarah Palin said that in January and February of 2005, Wooten was drinking while driving. After investigating the complaint, the investigator found that Palin never actually saw what she reported.

In another complaint, Sarah's father said that Wooten made threatening remarks. Again, the investigator found there was no probable way that it could have happened.

In all cases except one, the charges were ruled unfounded after an internal investigation. And the one charge that was valid, Wooten immediately admitted to.

I'm going to the press conference so there will be more to come.