Daily Sitka Sentinel

Dapcevich Amends Suit Against City Over Bid

By Sentinel Staff

Marko Dapcevich has amended his lawsuit against the city to add Mayor Matt Hunter as a defendant, “individually and in his capacity as mayor.”

Dapcevich filed his suit on March 30, naming “City and Borough of Sitka and Mark Gorman, administrator,” as defendants. In addition to adding Hunter as a defendant, the amended complaint adds the words “individually and in his capacity as administrator” after Gorman’s name.

In his lawsuit Dapcevich claims the parties violated the Sitka Home Rule Charter in the manner in which the bid was awarded for the multipurpose dock at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park.

The lawsuit asks the court to order the city to “promptly cancel and otherwise cease and desist from advancing” the dock until “the project takes place in conformity with the CBS Charter, including the provision related to the competitive bidding process and recollection of improperly spent funds as mandated by the Charter.”

The suit also asks for an award of damages in an amount to be calculated at trial, requiring Gorman and Hunter to reimburse the city as a result of their “failure to comply with the CBS Charter.”

Dapcevich is being represented by Joe Geldhof of Juneau.

The Assembly has hired an outside attorney, Michael Gatti of Anchorage, to represent the city.

In an April 21 email letter to City Attorney Brian Hanson, Geldhof noted that on April 7 he had telephoned Hanson to say Dapcevich would settle the suit if the city would cancel the dock contract and “move forward with the project using the competitive bid process mandated by the CBS Charter.”

“Implicit in Mr. Dapcevich’s offer to settle the dispute was the promise to amend the complaint and seek damages from individual officers of CBS ...” if the settlement was not accepted, Geldhof said.

“Accordingly, as promised, Mr. Dapcevich is now pursuing a remedy that will require the Municipal Manager, the Mayor, and perhaps other CBS Assembly members to pay damages incurred by the public as a result of their individual unwillingness to follow the CBS Charter,” Geldhof said.

He said Dapcevich’s earlier offer remains in effect, and if it is not accepted “Mr. Dapcevich is prepared to slug this matter out in court to the bitter end. . .”

Hanson told the Sentinel last week that he had advised the GPIP board that the city would “immediately initiate vigorous defense of allegations made in the complaint” and added, “We’re confident in our defense.”

An item is on Tuesday’s regular Assembly meeting agenda for “litigation update,” with a possible executive session.