{{short description|American politician}} {{For|his father|Walter C. Monegan Jr.}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Walt Monegan | image = Walt Monegan 2007.jpg | caption = Monegan in 2007 | office = Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety | governor = Bill Walker | deputy = William H. Comer | term_start = April 1, 2016 | predecessor = Gary Folger | governor1 = Sarah Palin | term_start1 = 2006 | term_end1 = July 11, 2008 | office2 = Commissioner of Alaska Department of Corrections<br>{{small|Acting}} | governor2 = Bill Walker | term2 = 2015–2016 | successor2 = Dean Williams | predecessor2 = Rod Taylor | office3 = Chief of Police of Anchorage, Alaska | term3 = February 2001–2006 | 1blankname3 = Mayor | 1namedata3 = George Wuerch<br>Mark Begich | birth_name = Walter Carleton Monegan III | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1951|05}} | birth_place = Seattle, Washington | father = Walter C. Monegan Jr. }} '''Walter Carleton Monegan III''' (born May 1951) is an American politician and the former Police Chief of Anchorage, Alaska, and later Commissioner of Public Safety for the state of Alaska. His dismissal in July 2008 by Alaska governor Sarah Palin drew considerable attention, particularly in the wake of Palin's selection as the Vice-Presidential nominee of the Republican Party the following month. Monegan accused Palin of not telling the truth about the reasons for his dismissal.
In April, 2016, Alaska Governor Bill Walker reappointed Monegan as the Commissioner of Public Safety.<ref>{{cite news|title=Alaska's former top cop Monegan, ousted in Troopergate, gets second crack at job|first=Nathaniel|last=Herz|work=Alaska Dispatch News|date=14 April 2016}}</ref>
==Early life== Walter Carleton Monegan III was born in Seattle, Washington in May 1951, the son of Elizabeth Hickling (née Clark) and Walter Carleton Monegan Jr. Monegan never knew his father, who died heroically in the Korean War on September 20, 1950, at age 19. The elder Monegan would be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.<ref>{{cite news|title=It's Small World for Ex-Marines Who Remember|first=Linda|last=Billington|work=Anchorage Daily News|location=Anchorage|page=F1|date=June 22, 1991}}</ref><ref>[https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/citations24.html], Korean War Medal of Honor Recipients for the U.S. Army. Retrieved 18 April 2014.</ref>
Monegan grew up in the small village of Nyac, between Aniak and Bethel in rural Southwest Alaska.<ref name="bio">also Seattle Washington [http://www.muni.org/apd1/chiefmoneganbio.cfm "Chief Of Police Biography, Walt Monegan"], Anchorage Police Department. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512004749/http://www.muni.org/apd1/chiefmoneganbio.cfm |date=May 12, 2008 }}</ref> Monegan has described himself as part Irish and part Alaska Native, with combined Tlingit and Yupik ancestry.<ref name="LisaD">Demer, Lisa. "Mayor taps 27-year police department veteran", ''Anchorage Daily News'' (2001-01-31).</ref> After graduating high school in Anacortes Washington He attended Alaska Methodist University for a year, and then joined the Marine Corps in 1970.
==Highlights of criminal justice career== The Anchorage Police Department hired Monegan as a patrolman in January 1974. He 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. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in organizational administration from Alaska Pacific University.<ref name="bio" />
In February 2001, Monegan was appointed Chief of Police by Anchorage Mayor George Wuerch.<ref name="LisaD" /> 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.<ref name=monegan>{{cite news | first=Kyle | last=Hopkins | title=State's top cop, Walt Monegan, is fired | date=2008-07-12 | publisher=The McClatchy Company | url=http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/463204.html | work=Anchorage Daily News | access-date=2008-08-21 | archive-date=2008-08-20 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820100643/http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/463204.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>
After the November 2015 dismissal of Commissioner of Corrections Rod Taylor, Monegan was appointed by Governor Bill Walker as the interim commissioner, serving until January 28, 2016, when he was replaced by Dean Williams.<ref>[http://www.adn.com/article/20160128/former-youth-center-superintendent-named-new-alaska-corrections-chief Walker picks former youth center superintendent as new corrections chief], ''Alaska Dispatch News'', Nathaniel Herz, January 28, 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2016.</ref>
==Personal life== 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 Fran Trantham, his second wife was Dr. Georgene Moldovan.<ref name="Matier">Matier, Phillip and Ross, Andrew. [https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/M-R-Official-fired-by-Palin-bears-no-grudge-3269279.php "Official fired by Palin bears no grudge"], ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (2008-09-15).</ref>
==Public Safety Commissioner dismissal== {{main|Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal}} <!---- ATTENTION ----- This is a SUMMARY section and is not meant to cover every detail of the case. Please add new specifics to the main article, not here. Thank you! ------ ATTENTION -----> 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" <ref name="Top cop">{{cite news |first=Kyle |last=Hopkins |title=State's Top Cop, Walt Monegan, is Fired |url=http://www.adn.com/front/story/463204.html |work=Anchorage Daily News |date=July 12, 2008|access-date=2008-12-28 }}</ref> 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 a week later after his refusal to fire Palin's ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper.<ref name="Why Walt got Fired">{{cite news |first=Andrew |last=Halcro |title=Why Walt Monegan Got Fired |url=http://www.andrewhalcro.com/why_walt_monegan_got_fired |work=Andrew Halcro Blog |date=July 18, 2008 |access-date=2008-12-28 |archive-date=2008-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080901074619/http://www.andrewhalcro.com/why_walt_monegan_got_fired |url-status=dead }}</ref> Halcro was a two-term state representative and ran against Palin for governor in 2006, joining in the debates, finishing third with 9.47% of the votes, after Palin (48.33%) and former Governor Tony Knowles (40.97%).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.elections.alaska.gov/Core/Archive/06GENR/data/results.htm |title=Alaska Division of Elections November 7, 2006|publisher=Alaska Division of Elections |date=2006-11-07 |access-date=2019-04-22}}</ref>
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.<ref name="Demer">{{cite news|last=Demer|first=Lisa|url=http://www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/510080.html|title='Troopergate' inquiry hangs over campaign: 'Troopergate' inquiry hangs over campaign|work=Anchorage Daily News|date=August 30, 2008|access-date=2008-09-05|quote=For the record, no one ever said fire Wooten. Not the governor. Not Todd. Not any of the other staff. What they said directly was more along the lines of 'This isn't a person that we would want to be representing our state troopers.'|archive-date=2008-09-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905015703/http://www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/510080.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="monegan1a">{{cite news |first=Megan |last=Holland |title=Monegan says he was pressured to fire cop |date=July 19, 2008 |url=http://www.adn.com/politics/story/469135.html |work=Anchorage Daily News |access-date=2008-07-22 |archive-date=2008-07-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080722043255/http://www.adn.com/politics/story/469135.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<ref name="monegan1a" /> He told the Palins that there was nothing he could do because the matter was closed and Trooper Wooten had already been disciplined.<ref name="grimaldi">{{cite news|title=Long-Standing Feud in Alaska Embroils Palin|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=James V.|author=Grimaldi, James V. and Kindy, Kimberly |date=August 31, 2008|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/30/AR2008083002366.html?hpid=topnews|access-date=2008-08-31}}</ref> 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;<ref name=monegan1a /> but as the governor's story changed, he came to believe that the dispute over Wooten was a major reason for his firing.<ref name="Demer1">{{cite news|last=Demer|first=Lisa|url=http://www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/510080.html|title='Troopergate' inquiry hangs over campaign|work=Anchorage Daily News|date=2008-08-30|access-date=2008-09-05|quote=Monegan said he believes his firing was directly related to the fact Wooten stayed on the job.|archive-date=2008-09-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905015703/http://www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/510080.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.
===Finding of investigations=== On October 10, 2008, the Alaska Legislative Council unanimously voted to release, without officially endorsing,<ref>Spence, Hal. [http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/101208/new_295453733.shtml "Branchflower report draws mixed reactions"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106134559/http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/101208/new_295453733.shtml |date=2009-01-06 }}, ''Peninsula Clarion'' (2008-10-12): "The council voted unanimously to make the report public, but did not vote to endorse its findings."</ref> 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."<ref name="Branchflower report">{{cite web|url=http://download2.legis.state.ak.us/DOWNLOAD.pdf | title=Stephen Branchflower report to the Legislative Council | author=Branchflower, Stephen | publisher= State of Alaska Legislature | date=2008-10-10| access-date=2008-10-10}}</ref>
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.<ref name="cnn1">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/03/palin.investigation/|title=Palin asks state board to take over trooper probe|date=September 3, 2008|publisher=CNN}}</ref>
==Anchorage mayoral campaign== {{See also|Anchorage mayoral election, 2009}} In December 2008, Monegan announced his run for Mayor of Anchorage. The Monegan for Mayor campaign was launched in January 2009.<ref>{{cite news |first=Don |last=Hunter |title=Walt Monegan is planning to run for mayor |url=http://community.adn.com/adn/node/135740 |work=Anchorage Daily News |date=2008-12-18 |access-date=20 December 2008}}</ref> Monegan received 8.73% of the vote, coming in fourth.<ref>"[http://www.adn.com/cityelection/story/751872.html 2009 Anchorage City Election Results]", Anchorage Daily News.</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== {{Commons category-inline|Walt Monegan}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Monegan, Walt}} Category:1951 births Category:21st-century Alaska Native people Category:Alaska Pacific University alumni Category:American municipal police chiefs Category:Law enforcement officials from Alaska Category:Living people Category:People from Bethel Census Area, Alaska Category:State cabinet secretaries of Alaska Category:Tlingit men Category:United States Marines Category:Yupik people Category:Politicians from Seattle Category:Military personnel from Seattle