Sullivan's life insurance deal smells fishy

Damn, I hate when I want to do my own writing, but along comes some political situation poking its thumb in my eye so hard I have no choice but to remove it.  Well, nothing for it but to roll up my sleeves and go at it.

It's a long story.  But it is kind of interesting.  Please read on.

At issue is a putative insurance payout of $193,000 from the Anchorage municipal treasury to a trust -- the George M. Sullivan Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust -- led by George M. Sullivan's son, Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan, which was approved by the Anchorage Assembly by a 9-1 vote on February 16.  The thing is fishy enough that over the past two days it's been the subject of a story apiece in the Anchorage Daily Planet (Ref #1) and the Anchorage Press (Ref #2) and no less than three stories in the Anchorage Daily News (two by Sean Cockerham (Ref #3, 4), one from the Associated Press (Ref #5).  There's also been commentary in the blogs Progressive Alaska (Ref #6), The Mudflats (Ref #7), and Immoral Minority (Ref #8).  I'm sure we'll see more -- the one I'm writing right now, f'r instance.  Haven't read ‘em? -- there's a complete list of references with links at the bottom of this post.  As is my habit when writing posts like these.

The most comprehensive reporting on the putative insurance payout comes from Sean Cockerham, who in my book continues to rank at the top of the Anchorage Daily News' dwindling reporting staff -- at the top statewide, for that matter.  As mentioned, he wrote two stories on the putative insurance payout, a brief one called "Benefits for a former official" (Ref #3) and a longer, more comprehensive one called "City life insurance payout for former mayor raises questions -- $193,000: Assembly honors ‘82 deal that puts city money into George Sullivan's trust" (Ref #4).  The latter is especially essential reading if you're at all interested in this matter.

I'll use some of its opening paragraphs to set the stage:

The Anchorage Assembly has agreed to pay $193,000 to meet the obligation for a one-of-a-kind life insurance deal the city made 28 years ago after Mayor George Sullivan left office.

Sullivan died last year at the age of 87. The assembly voted Feb. 16 to pay the money to his life insurance trust. The trustee is Sullivan's son, Dan Sullivan, the current mayor of Anchorage.

He told The Anchorage Daily News it's an odd coincidence he's dealing with this both as mayor and trustee. He's not saying who will get the money as beneficiary of the trust.

In 1982, the assembly agreed the city would continue life insurance to George Sullivan for the rest of his life at the same rate he had been paying as mayor. Until his death, George Sullivan had paid the city $19,663 in premiums, which were deposited into a city account.

The current Sullivan administration recommended to the assembly that the insurance be paid, with City Attorney Dennis Wheeler describing it in a Feb. 2 memo as a contractual obligation.

Several Assembly members said they felt they had no choice but to pay it.

"I don't believe it was an appropriate thing to do when it was done ... But what do you do? You've got to honor your commitments," said Assemblyman Dan Coffey.