Court Opinion

ID: 9531644
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:13:36.883484+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:33.580657
License: Public Domain

RABINOWITZ, Justice,
dissenting.
The court declines to address the question of whether section 2.3 is constitutionally infirm because it excepts dual office holding which occurs “with the approval of four or more members of the council,” observing that the presence of this waiver clause has no effect on the constitutional inquiry. In my view this provision allowing exceptions renders section 2.3 invalid under article I, § 1 of the Alaska Constitution. Thus, I dissent from the majority’s holding that section 2.3, as it stands, is “narrowly drawn to serve compelling governmental interests” and from the further conclusion that the high standards imposed pursuant to a strict scrutiny analysis have been met.
By its own terms, section 2.3 does not purport to serve a “compelling state interest.” The “waiver clause” renders untenable any contention that it promotes an important objective. Whether section 2.3 addresses per se evils, such as “pyramids of power,” or is intended to operate preven-tively, forestalling the development of potential conflict of interest problems, it makes no sense to permit four city council members to exercise unguided discretion in determining when the interests served by section 2.3 are or are not met. Neither interest should be subsumed to such a waiver clause. Thus, on its face, section 2.3 fails to satisfy the “compelling state interest” requirement.
Furthermore, section 2.3 is not framed to produce the close means/ends relationship which must exist if it is to withstand strict scrutiny analysis. This, too, is a result of the fact that four or more members of the city council are permitted to exercise unfettered discretion in granting or denying “waivers.” There is no assurance that the council’s discretion will be applied only when dual office holding would result in an individual accumulating numerous positions or would create conflict of interest situations.1 Thus, I would hold section 2.3 invalid on the ground that it is not designed to promote the realization of its purported objectives with the consistency necessary to satisfy a strict scrutiny analysis.2

. The majority declines to consider Acevedo’s argument regarding the arbitrariness and irrationality of section 2.3 because he failed to cite authority or portions of the record in support of his claim. This position is untenable. Since the irrationality of section 2.3 is apparent on the face of the provision, evidence regarding its actual application is unnecessary to support Acevedo’s claim.

. The court’s assertion that its decision finds support in a large body of case law is questionable. The “waiver clause,” which I conclude is fatal to section 2.3, was not present in any of the provisions examined by those courts, which *138generally were blanket prohibitions on dual office holding or partisan activity while in public employ. None of the prohibitory clauses permitted exceptions to be made by majority vote of the office-holder’s peers.
Although it may be arguable that the last sentence of section 2.3 (the waiver provision) is severable from the remainder of the section, the parties did not raise this argument. Therefore, I do not reach the question of whether section 2.3 would be constitutional independently of the waiver clause.