An ordinance that gives the Anchorage Assembly vast authority to remove a duly elected mayor will be the subject of a public hearing on Tuesday, May 24, at the Assembly’s regularly scheduled meeting, which takes place on the ground floor of the Loussac Library at 5 pm.
The ordinance, offered by Assembly Vice Chairman Chris Constant, would give the majority on the Assembly who oppose the current mayor the ability to make charges against him, set up a hearing officer of the Assembly’s choosing, conduct an inquisition, and then hold a vote on removing the mayor from office.
Mayor Dave Bronson was elected in May of 2020. By fall, Constant was on the record telling the public that there wasn’t really enough egregious conduct to recall him, as some opponents wanted to do. But he began to explore a way to conduct a coup, and on May 4 had a working framework.
The ordinance was introduced May 10 and an Assembly work session was held Friday. The video for that work session is at this YouTube link.
Constant and the Assembly majority’s attorney Dean Gates says the ordinance is simply fulfilling what was laid out in the city’s charter, and which the Assembly now considers only partially complete. There is a method for removing a sitting member of the school board, but the Assembly has no current way to remove a mayor.
Read the final draft ordinance at this link.
The Assembly’s attorney Dean Gates said that when the current ordinance was created it was because of some problem with a school board member, a recall that was underway, and the desire to remove that person from office and “I guess they just didn’t think of the other elected officials at the time, I don’t really have any other reason I can see that they only did two, and not the rest. I don’t think they thought of it because of the political climate and issues that were going on at the time that were sort of the impetus for 1993 ordinance,” he explained to the Assembly on Friday.
Gates said that during his research of the discussions surrounding the creation of the city charter, there was discussion about removing elected officials and that the term “elected officials” was settled on for the charter, without specifying the mayor. This ordinance goes further to target the mayor.
New Assemblyman Randy Sulte questioned what offense could be considered substantial enough to remove the mayor: Would the misuse of a paper clip suffice, he asked Gates, who said he did not think that would qualify as substantial.
Much of Attorney Gates’ answers to the Assembly during the work session involved what he guessed the charter authors meant, and what he imagines would happen under the ordinance.
The Assembly has, in the past several month, contracted with the former municipal attorney and city manager Bill Falsey to serve as its second attorney, and Falsey sat in the work session on Friday next to Gates, serving as his minder. Falsey, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2021, is the presumed author of the ordinance to remove the mayor.
Opponents of the ordinance view it as a coup attempt by a leftist and disgruntled assembly — Assemblyman Constant, Assemblyman Forrest Dunbar, Assemblywoman Austin Quinn-Davidson, and Assembly Chairwoman Suzanne LaFrance, primarily. All of them have conflicts of interest with the ordinance: Dunbar unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2021, while Quinn-Davidson served an extended term as mayor after the resignation of former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, and her 8-month unelected term was in violation of city charter. LaFrance would become the acting mayor if the group found a way to remove Bronson from office.
The Assembly meeting starts at 5 pm. Initial public appearances begin at about 5:15 pm, with the public allowed three minutes each to address the body. That portion of the meeting ends at 6 pm, with the ordinance hearing scheduled for later in the evening at an unspecified time. Agenda is here.
The Assembly meetings are broadcast on the municipality’s YouTube channel, at this link.
