Assemblyman's residency questioned

June 3, 1993

By Michael Gerhardt
Arctic Sounder

Questions concerning Northwest Arctic Borough Assemblyman Elmer Armstrong's residency status have been brought out again, this time at an open forum at last week's assembly meeting.

Armstrong was elected two years ago to a Kotzebue seat on the assembly, but has been living in Selawik, where he is a pastor for the Friends Church.

Elected officials must resign from office if they no longer physically reside in their election district, according to the borough charter.

Concerns were also raised at the meeting over whether the borough has been paying for Armstrong to travel to, and stay in, his home district for assembly meetings.

Kotzebue Mayor Willie Goodwin Jr. and City Manager Jeff Smith, at separate times during the meeting, said there were problems with Armstrong living in Selawik while continuing to represent Kotzebue.

Armstrong, who will be up for re-election this fall, said he thought questions about his residency status were politically motivated.

"If I need to resign from this assembly position, I will do so," Armstrong told the assembly after the issue was brought up for the second time during the meeting. "I just don't feel I should be a stumbling block to anybody interested in my position."

"This question was brought up by certain people and I think it's all politics," he said.

Armstrong was assigned by Friends Church Superintendent Robert Sheldon to become Selawik's pastor at some point in the past two years. Armstrong first notified the borough in October 1992 that he had temporarily moved to Selawik. At that time, he said that he would be returning to Kotzebue last March.

However, the issue of Armstrong's residency status was raised in August 1991, when a legal opinion was offered on his temporary assignment.

In a telephone conversation last Monday, Armstrong said he had returned to Kotzebue in the summer of 1992, but refused to say whether he had lived in Selawik during the previous winter. He referred further questions to Borough Mayor Chuck Greene.

Greene last week said Armstrong had first moved to Selawik in the fall of 1992.

Sheldon was in Anchorage and could not be reached for comment.

"I didn't appoint myself to that position," Armstrong told the assembly last week. "Like I stated, I'd be there temporarily. I have property here, I have a home, I have a box at the post office in the Kotzebue election district."

Armstrong said he has remained in Selawik past March because of all the recent deaths in the village.

The issue of Armstrong's residency has been discussed by the borough assembly several times in the past. There are disagreements over the intent of language in the charter dealing with residency requirements.

Greene called the charter provisions "fairly spelled out" and said that Armstrong's job in Selawik is not a violation of the charter.

"If you're temporarily reassigned as a pastor, that's an attempt by one of our assemblymen to help out the people in the borough," he said.

A legal opinion offered in 1991 by the borough attorney said that because Armstrong was being temporarily reassigned and because he was maintaining a home in Kotzebue, he would still qualify as physically residing in his election district.

The issue was again raised at last week's assembly meeting during discussion of the borough's 1994 budget.

Goodwin called in to the meeting by telephone to ask if the budget included per diem pay for Armstrong while he was in Kotzebue for meetings.

Greene responded that the borough was not paying Armstrong a per diem.

The borough has been picking up Armstrong's travel expenses to and from Kotzebue for assembly meetings, Greene later said.

The borough pays about $100 each time Armstrong travels to Kotzebue for a meeting, about once a month, he said.

During audience comments later in the meeting, Smith asked that the assembly request an independent legal opinion on the residency requirements of the charter.

Smith, a former assembly member, feels the charter is clear in its residency provisions and that Armstrong should resign.

"If this isn't a direct violation of the charter — and I think it is — it's a violation of the spirit," Smith said after the meeting.

The borough should be following the provisions of the charter because it was what the people of the region wanted, Smith said.

When the charter was drafted in 1987, people said they were tired of electing representatives and then having them move to other areas, he said.

Representing a constituency calls for more than just maintaining a residence, Smith said.

"You can't live in a mailbox. You can't just maintain a residence. You've got to physically reside in the district."

"The people have the right to have their elected officials accessible to them," Smith said. "If you represent us and you live somewhere else, are you really representing us?"

The intent of language in the charter has been disputed before, Smith said, and the issue of residency needs to be resolved.

During the assembly meeting, several members agreed, saying the issue had been simmering far too long without being resolved.

"We have been aware of Elmer's position," said assembly member Helen Bolen. "We need to deal with it."

Greene said he would follow the wishes of the assembly on the issue.

"We'll go ahead and review it again and if the assembly wants to make changes again, that's their prerogative," he said.