The Anchorage Assembly leftist majority has such a strong dislike of Deputy Library Director Judy Eledge that it voted 9-2 to recommend her resignation.
Members who voted in favor of the resolution were metaphorically kicking Eledge in the teeth, since she had announced her retirement early this morning and the resolution was therefore moot.
Eledge was one of Mayor Dave Bronson’s first hires when he took office in 2021, and she was assigned the head librarian, with the hopes that she would put an end to things like Drag Queen Story Hour, and make the library a safe place for children and families. The Assembly would not confirm her, and so she dropped back in to the Deputy Librarian position, which needed no confirmation.
The Assembly majority already had the resolution to disparage Eledge on the meeting agenda for Tuesday night, and therefore discussed whether they should go ahead and vote on the already-meaningless resolution or just take a pass.
Assemblyman Felix Rivera said that because Eledge is the state’s representative to a national education board, he still wants to send a strong message that Anchorage doesn’t care for her conservative viewpoint.
Eledge had been secretly taped by another employee of the library saying things that, when taken out of context, could sound harsh. Leftists called her racist and bigoted.
Assemblywoman Karen Bronga said she thought the resolution should pass, if only because Mayor Dave Bronson had read a statement talking about what a great job Eledge had done at the library. She would be among the “do pass” votes.
Kevin Cross said that although Eledge’s comments were controversial, “when someone willingly leaves, you don’t slam the door behind them. I would prefer to move on.”
Assemblywoman Meg Zaletel, who was chairing the meeting, said “I think if we don’t take action on this resolution, we’re ally give a pass to bad behavior.” She didn’t seem to think that by taking action, the Assembly may be giving employees a pass to start taping each other and using tapes to drive people out of their jobs.
Assemblyman George Martinez said he was uncomfortable about setting precedence in singling out individual employees, something he has an aversion to. But he ultimately voted in favor of the resolution.
In the vote, only Assemblymen Randy Sulte and Kevin Cross voted against the resolution.
