Therriault resigns, leaving unanswered questions for Parnell

After another week-plus of controversy, Gene Therriault -- the energy aide to Gov. Sean Parnell who negotiated for a $110,000 a year state job while he was still a state senator -- finally resigns.

Now, all that is left hanging is the most important question: What and how does Parnell think?

Never mind that he hired two sitting legislators -- first Therriault and then Rep. Nancy Dahlstrom -- to work for his administration in apparent violation of the state constitution. Alaska Attorney General Dan Sullivan provided the governor some cover in writing an opinion saying the constitutional provision on separation of powers between the legislature and executive branches really does apply to these cases, but....

Well, OK, the AG's opinion hinted (wink, wink): You made a mistake in not waiting a year to hire these folks, but we here in the Department of Law can understand how you might have thought it was OK because former Gov. Frank Murkowski did it three times, and a couple previous governors had done it, too.

There was the suggestion to Parnell to say, "Whoops, I was just doing what I saw others do, and I was wrong. So Dahlstrom and Therriault are going to leave for a year.''

Dahlstrom, much to her credit, read the AG's opinion and recognized this. She promptly resigned. Therriault, who'd dodged the bullet when he was first hired by Parnell almost a year earlier, said he was staying. The thinking is that he wanted to protect his retirement, which is based on a state employee's three highest paying years.

A legislative aide before becoming a state senator, Therriault was closing in on the 30 years of state service needed to qualify for full retirement. Nobody has yet spelled out how much he made as a legislative aide, but 60 percent of his $24,000 a year as a state senator is a pittance. Sixty percent of $110,000 is close to $70,000 a year. That's not a bad chunk of change to get paid for sitting around in an easy chair.

It's wholly understandable why Therriault would want to stay. It is not understandable why Parnell would fail to grasp the simple politics here and the simple solution:

The politics? "Gene, this is going to become an issue. You've got to go."

The simple solution? "I'll hire you back to any job you want, maybe even a higher paying one, after you've been gone a year; and nobody will have a thing to whine about."

Now the question for Parnell is this: "Were you so politically stupid you couldn't grasp these things, or so arrogant you just didn't care what the law said or what Alaskans might think?''

It's not a pretty question, but it does deserve an answer.