Bill Falsey, Anchorage’s municipal manager since 2017, is resigning effective Dec. 1.
Falsey had been hired as municipal attorney in 2015 by former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, and then became municipal manager for Berkowitz, who resigned in October after a sex-text scandal was revealed by former news anchor Maria Athens. Berkowitz was not able to run again, and Falsey had announced in August that he would run.
The press release announcing his departure came late in the day before a long holiday weekend. It was one of four major announcements by the Acting Mayor’s office and the Anchorage Assembly, in what appears to be a “Friday night news dump,” a releasing of news or documents on a Friday or during a holiday in an attempt to avoid media scrutiny.
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The acting mayor made no mention of Falsey’s plans, but earlier this week Falsey had scheduled a Dec. 1 virtual fundraiser for his candidacy for mayor, which appears to remain on track.
Among other announced candidates for mayor are Bill Evans, Mike Robbins, Dave Bronson, Forrest Dunbar, Darin Colbry, Nelson Godoy, Heather Herndon, George Martinez, and Eric Croft. The candidate registration period opens Jan. 15.
Anna Henderson, former general manager of Municipal Light and Power (ML&P), will begin serving as the Municipal Manager upon his departure. She has held the position of deputy municipal manager since October.
“Falsey agreed several times to extend his length of service beyond his original plans: first to serve as the Incident Commander leading the MOA’s emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic; later, to ensure the municipality’s successful completion of the sale of ML&P to Chugach Electric Association; and finally, to assist with the recent mayoral transition,” Acting Mayor Quinn-Davidson said.
