By ALEX GIMARC
Former Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance is in a runoff with Mayor Dave Bronson. This is the Assembly’s second attempt to defeat Bronson. They were unsuccessful the last time around with Forrest Dunbar. It’s our job to ensure they are unsuccessful this time around too.
LaFrance has been carpet bombing local media with ads. She talks a good game but makes claims just as specious as Forest did three years ago. The difference is that she sounds almost reasonable, almost rational, something Forest couldn’t pull off.
The problem is her backers. If you take a look at her campaign web site, toward the bottom of the page is a list of 17 organizations under the “Proudly endorsed by” heading. 15 of them are unions, including one umbrella union located in Seattle (why is Seattle interested in Anchorage Muni elections?). The other two endorsements are Planned Parenthood and the Alaska Center (for the Environment).
LaFrance claims that she will be bringing people together to solve problems. Yet, her union backers, the same list of malcontents that installed the current Assembly majority, demanded, and supported the Assembly as they go scorched earth on all things Bronson over the last three years.
Remember LaFrance’s reaction to outraged homeowners who summarily rejected multiple homeless shelters in their neighborhoods? Essentially, it was sit down and shut up.
As Assembly Chair, she obstructed their testimony, used Covid as an excuse to shut down testimony, diddled the meeting schedule to actively ensure the Assembly heard no dissenting voice.
To LaFrance, the Assembly, and their leash holders among the unions, Planned Parenthood and the Alaska Center, bringing people together means agree with me and we will get along. Anything else, and you are roadkill.
LaFrance carps incessantly about crony contracts to the Mayor’s friends. Apparently, any contract that doesn’t go to anything other than a union in this town is a crony contract. Elect LaFrance and it will be a cold day in a very hot place before any contract is let for any other criteria than how much it will benefit a union.
Suzanne LaFrance complains about millions of dollars spent on lawsuits during the last three years. Yet she is silent when the very Assembly majority she was a part of overrides two vetoes in an attempt to release confidential information on Eklutna, an act that will put the Muni at risk of yet another lawsuit.
I get it. When her cronies on the Assembly put Muni taxpayers on the hook for a possible lawsuit over Bronson’s objections, override his veto, and it is his fault. Nice game, that.
She is attempting to reprise Jane Byrne’s 1979 rise to Chicago Mayor following a disastrous failure to remove snow in Chicago by the incumbent. From here, with two record snow years (Dec 2022 and the winter of 2023 -2024), Bronson has done pretty good. Reaction to the initial large snowfall was a bit slow in both years, like it is every single winter. Once they got through it, snow removal was about normal, even pretty good given the amount on the ground. The Muni even came up with some innovation in clearing snow piled on the sides of the streets, something never done before. Why did this happen under Bronson? Unions don’t innovate. Conservatives do.
Finally, we have her faux concern with the “expensive homelessness crisis,” a crisis that has five solid years of her fingerprints all over it. Not only does LaFrance give fellow Assembly member Meg Zaletel, a woman whose six-figure paycheck depends on growing the problem, a pass from conflict-of-interest complaints, but she has been completely silent when the Assembly refuses to abide by agreements made with Mayor Bronson. The Navigation Center is the latest of several bait and switch deals by the Assembly. Somehow, bad faith negotiations and failure to abide by agreements by the Assembly are Bronson’s fault. LaFrance’s response? Crickets.
Elect LaFrance and we will get more of what we saw on the Assembly when she was Chair. We will get a woman with a remarkably thin skin who responds poorly to criticism, any criticism. We will get Chris Constant’s mini-me routine, with LaFrance as someone who will rubber stamp and bury whatever foolishness the Assembly decides to do next (removal of the Eklutna dam is in the on-deck circle). And we will get a Muni government owned, operated and controlled by the unions and the political left. The government will only listen to their concerns and needs, ignoring everyone and everything else. So much for bringing people together.
If you think Ethan Berkowitz’ time as mayor was a disaster, elect LaFrance and you ain’t seen nothing yet. Be warned.
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
