Richard Best, who has been on the Palmer City Council since 2006, resigned Tuesday, effective immediately. He had come under pressure for recent actions that drew criticism from his fellow council members.
At the next full council meeting, Mayor Steve Carrington is expected to accept the resignation formally and begin the process of appointing a replacement. Carrington himself is facing a recall from a citizen who believes he acted improperly in the matter of the recently fired city manager.
Best has had other controversies during his tenure, and most recently faced charges for driving under the influence, charges that were dropped in a plea agreement that included losing his license for three months.
Try again. He has an open case in Anchorage for a DUI in 2022 that is still ongoing. He recently changed his plea on 3/14/25. This is most likely why he resigned. It was his second DUI he received in 2024 that was dropped with the plea agreement. The statements that were made about him he takes issue with have more to do with things he’s been saying publicly about the city of Palmer and his fellow council members while on official city business (like at AML) and at district functions that he has been facing criticism for.
What Best NEVER does is accept responsibility for his poor decision making. Resigning was a cop out, but at least it saved the city of Palmer from having to recall him. That was coming. This guy was trying to get the city to spend $30,000 to investigate OTHER council members and the city attorney for political purposes. He’s been playing political games in Palmer for nearly 20 years, and his antics have finally caught up with him.
Watch his open court case. He’s likely overplayed that hand and reaping the consequences. That’s the real story, if you care to go dig a little deeper. If you don’t, someone else will beat you to the real scoop.
His resignation is an attempt to spare himself embarrassment for what’s coming.
Thanks for the info.