Anchorage Superior Court’s Judge Patrick McKay has declared the Alaska Legislature’s lease for its Anchorage office building violates the law and is not an extension of the previous lease.
His ruling today(Thursday) sided with attorney Jim Gottstein’s arguement that the $40 million lease was a new agreement which should have been put out for a competitive public bidding process.
Gottstein owns the building adjacent to the Anchorage LIO and filed the lawsuit against the State, representing himself in the case.
The State Legislative Affairs Agency had argued that it was okay to sign the lease for building without pursuing new bids because the new lease was essentially an extension of the old lease.
Judge McKay’s ruling states it was not an extension.
