Sarah Palin's Valley friends

Five members of the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce's board of directors abruptly resigned Wednesday and at least three, including the former board president, are now calling for an outside audit to investigate how money has been spent by the group's executive director.

Former board president Cheryl Combs, in a written statement about her resignation, cited concerns that Executive Director Cheryl Metiva may have "inappropriately spent" money for personal expenses and without board approval.

Two board members said they decided to resign in part because of threats from Metiva's husband, Marty Metiva.

Susan Crowder said Metiva left a message Tuesday on her voice mail at work. In the call, which she played back for a reporter, Metiva demands the board give back $1,000 he gave to the chamber from the Polar Plunge charity event in February.

"Since you do not want the money that this was uh, uh and to use it for the purpose it was designated, I demand my check back..." he states. "And if you don't give you my money back, it will not be very nice for the Chamber of Commerce board of directors."

Crowder said the board decided to give the money to charity, including the United Way of Mat-Su and the Wasilla senior center, because the event was advertised as raising money for charity.

Marty Metiva, the event organizer, wanted the money to go to the chamber.

Crowder said she considered it inappropriate for Marty Metiva to give the money from the event to the chamber, which pays his wife's salary. But Metiva said the money was actually from his own pocket.

From the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce website:

Cheryl Metiva is the Executive Director of the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce. Her leadership has grown membership and community relationships during this exciting stage in Wasilla’s development. Metiva has a strong background in the tourism industry, retail sales and community activities. In addition to being Executive Director of the GWCC, Metiva also serves on the Board of the Mat-Su Convention & Visitor Bureau, and Mat-Su Resource, Conservation & Development, Inc.

Some quotes by Cheryl Metiva when Sarah Palin was tapped by John McCain:

"She's more woman than Hillary and she's more man than Hillary," said Cheryl Metiva, who attends Wasilla Bible Church with Palin. "She's a feminist on a mission. She's very much in touch with being a wife and a mother and a girlfriend to the women in her life." Boston.com

"This is her hometown," said Cheryl Metiva, executive director of the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce, which coordinated the so-called "Rally at the Valley." KTVA

"We like to call this the Bible Belt of Alaska," says Cheryl Metiva, head of the local chamber of commerce. Churches proliferate in Wasilla today, and among the largest and most influential is the Wasilla Bible Church, where the Palins worship. TIME

Cheryl and her husband Marty are the couple in the center of the photo, taken at Sarah Palin's Inaugural Ball.

Marty Metiva ran for mayor of Wasilla last year, but lost to Verne Rupright. The couple are on the Iditarod Trail committee, which has just lost sponsorship money from Wasilla as it was omitted from the city's budget at the direction of Mayor Verne Rupright. Iron Dog also lost Wasilla's sponsorship.

I found a couple of quaint videos as well. Please note Sarah's elaborate hairstyle...

Joe Schmidt and a few other known faces appears in the second one.





Unauthorized expenditure... it reminds me of Sarah Palin when she spent $50,000 redecorating her mayor's office without council approval: "I'm the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't."

Birds of a feather flock together. Sarah Palin has been palling around with unethical people...

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