A special meeting of the Anchorage Assembly has been scheduled for Tuesday for the purpose of overriding the mayor’s veto of a “houseless lived experience advisory board,” (HLEAB) which is a pet project of Assembly members Felix Rivera and Meg Zaletel.
The advisory board made up of homeless people and formerly homeless people was an ordinance passed during the last assembly meeting, and it was vetoed by the mayor, who said there are plenty of efforts underway to help the homeless, and there was no need for yet another board.
The Housing, Homeless and Neighborhood Development (HHAND) Commission is the group the municipality has to deal with homeless and other housing issues. It costs money to staff commissions and the mayor thinks that the HHAND Commission is adequate. The Assembly had 21 days to override the veto.
With the Assembly controlled by the liberal majority, it’s likely the veto will be overridden easily, with only the Chugiak / Eagle River Assemblywomen Jamie Allard and Crystal Kennedy likely to vote against the override.
The meeting takes place at City Hall at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Bronson Administration has been in quiet negotiations with Assembly members Zaletel, Chris Constant, and John Weddleton to come up with an agreeable plan for moving forward on a homeless solution. The group, facilitated by Admiral Tom Barrett (ret.) has spent over 30 hours so far over the last two and a half weeks; the path forward should be announced in coming days.
