Walter Carleton "Walt" Monegan, III (born May 1951) is the former Police Chief of Anchorage, Alaska and Public Safety Commissioner of Alaska. His dismissal in July 2008 by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin drew considerable attention, particularly after Palin's selection as the Vice-Presidential nominee for the Republican Party in August 2008. Monegan accuses Palin of not telling the truth about the reasons for his dismissal.
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Walt Monegan was born in Seattle, Washington in 1951 to Elizabeth Clark Monegan and the late Walter C. Monegan, Jr., who was awarded the Medal of Honor following his heroic death in the Korean War on September 20, 1950.[1]
Monegan grew up in the small village of Nyac in Western Alaska.[2] Monegan has described himself as part Irish, and part Alaska Native.[3] He attended Alaska Methodist University for a year, and then joined the Marine Corps in 1970.
The Anchorage Police Department hired him as a patrolman in January 1974. Monegan worked in every division of the Anchorage Police Department, including Internal Affairs, Crime Prevention, Communications, and Detectives. He also attended the Traffic Institute at Northwestern University, as well as the National Crime Prevention Institute at the University of Louisville, and he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in organizational administration from Alaska Pacific University.[2]
In February 2001, Monegan was appointed Chief of Police by Anchorage Mayor George Wuerch.[3] He served in that position until 2006. Later that year, Governor Sarah Palin appointed him Public Safety Commissioner. He held the latter position until his dismissal on July 11, 2008.[4]
Monegan is married to Terryene Mihara. They have four adult children from previous marriages and reside in the Anchorage suburb of Chugiak. Monegan's first wife was Georgene Moldovan.[5]
Governor Palin's Chief of Staff, Mike Nizich dismissed Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan on July 11, 2008 for the reason (according to Palin's spokesperson Sharon Leighow) that "the governor wanted to take DPS in a different direction" [6] Nizich then offered Monegan the job as director of the ABC Board which he turned down. Anchorage blogger Andrew Halcro broke the story that Monegan was fired due to his refusal to fire the governor's ex-brother-in-law a week later.[7] Monegan said that he had resisted persistent pressure from the Governor, her husband, and her staff, including State Attorney General Talis Colberg, to fire Palin’s ex-brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten; Wooten was involved in a child custody battle with Palin’s sister that included an alleged death threat against Palin's father.[8][9] Monegan stated he learned an internal investigation had found all but two of the allegations to be unsubstantiated, and Wooten had been disciplined for the others three years prior.[9] He told the Palins that there was nothing he could do because the matter was closed and Trooper Wooten had already been disciplined.[10] When contacted by the press for comment, Monegan first acknowledged pressure to fire Wooten but said that he could not be certain that his own firing was connected to that issue;[9] but as the governor's story changed, he came to believe that the dispute over Wooten was a major reason for his firing.[11] Subsequent to Palin's VP pick, the McCain campaign claimed Monegan was fired for insubordination and called him a "rogue" but gave no explanation why Monegan had been offered the job of Director of the ABC Board if that were the case.
On October 10, 2008, the Alaska Legislative Council unanimously voted to release, without officially endorsing,[12] the Branchflower Report in which Stephen Branchflower found that "Governor Sarah Palin abused her power as Governor ... [and] Walt Monegan's refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten ... was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety."[13]
On 6 February 2009 the Alaska State Senate found ten Palin administration officials, together with Todd Palin, in contempt for refusing to attend hearings in the Branchflower investigation to which they had been subpoenaed. Three days later, Talis Colberg resigned his position as Attorney-General and left the State's employ.
The Associated Press reported on November 3, 2008 that an independent investigation subsequently conducted by the Alaska Personnel Board cleared Governor Palin of any abuse of power. The Personnel Board's three members were first appointed by Palin’s predecessor, and Palin reappointed one member in 2008.[14]
In December 2008, Monegan announced his run for Mayor of Anchorage. The Monegan for Mayor campaign was launched in January 2009.[15] Monegan received 8.73% of the vote, coming in fourth.[16]