On a vote of 10-2, the Anchorage Assembly ended its handwringing and agreed with a citizens’ naming panel to designate the Port of Alaska after the late Congressman Don Young, who served in the U.S. House on behalf of Alaska for 49 years before passing on March 18, 2022.
The two voting against the naming of the port were Assemblywomen Karen Bronga and Meg Zaletel. The vote came after several months of grudging delays by the Assembly.
Appearing before the 12 Assembly members during the vote was Anne Young, Congressman Young’s widow, who stood at a podium that the Assembly had quickly named for a citizen activist, Eugene Carl Haberman, with no controversy, after Haberman died on Oct. 21, 2021.
It took the Assembly less than a month to name the podium, but naming a port was another matter. That deliberation took on a partisan quality, with member Karen Bronga delivering decidedly hostile remarks about the congressman.
“Don Young had his day for Alaska. But he aged into someone who was insensitive, a bully and who disrespected women. Rewarding a public figure for this bad behavior because he brought the state money is not in the best interest of our city. The naming of a volcano after him is, in my opinion, way more fitting,” said Bronga during one meeting on the topic last year.
Even during Tuesday night’s deliberations, the matter got caught up in confusion and parliamentary muddling. At one point, an effort was made to try to delay the vote yet again until March, but that was vetoed by Mayor Dave Bronson.
Bronson noted that Young had asked him personally if he would name the port after him. The citizen naming panel had been convened and in June of 2023 had recommended naming the port the Don Young Port of Anchorage.
But the Assembly in September not only postponed its vote, it ordered the citizens’ panel to hold another public hearing and to hold another vote. The Assembly said there had not been enough public notice or input. In December, the group came back with the same name, agreed on unanimously.
Absolutely pathetic!
This Alaskan pandering to, and worship of, career politicians utterly disgusts me, and smacks of the worst aspects of third-world tinpot dictatorships.
I spit on the official names of the Port of Anchorage, and the Anchorage International Airport.
I would say stronger things about this revolting trend of honoring those least worthy of honor, but Suzanne would surely not post them here.
Crawl back into your sewer pipe, Jefferson, and refresh your mind!
Missed opportunity.
Assembly should have sold the naming rights to Larry Fink at Blackrock.
Zaletel could support the Jewish community, raise the cost of housing, and pay for their 500K outhouses – all at the same time.
Ridiculous.
Finally, a “win” for Bronson, reluctantly given by the Assembly since it cost them little to no money to let him have this one.
What a waste of time.
No people names for any public entities beings the left doesn’t like some of the statues and names that were put up for years.
No political figures should have their names on anything. Look what they’ve done to this world just look around at all the chaos right now and they deserve to have their name put on a monument or building or port.
So true. These congressman do not spend wisely. All this pork that goes to special interests. I hope most people don’t support this. People think that we owe it to someone who spends money they don’t own. As much damage as a Caregie or Mellon or Rockerfeller may have done, they at least gave away almost all their earnings back to society. To name an airport or a port or a coastal trail for someone who just spends other people’s money just reinforces this habit. Really sad.
Here here!
Congratulations for naming something AFTER after a great person along with Ted Stevens whose has done so much for Alaska. After ALL the recognition and money for Alaska that those two have brought to the us through the past 50++ years.. All the recognition we receive from DC. People can complain of the temperament he had on some occasions, but NOW we know JUST WHAT He had to deal with due to the insane idiotic garbage that has been going on “under the table” in the DC “rat race”.. It is NOW just being revealed. He has stood up for us regardless. There could be worse people they could have named.
kc, neither Don Young nor Ted Stevens, may they rest in piss, did ANYTHING for Alaska, other than to funnel money from every US taxpayer, at the point of an IRS gun, for pork barrel spending in Alaska. Both of those socipathic career politicians are the LAST Alaskans that anyone should be honoring. Your fawning sycophancy for your overlords is un-American and disgusting.
Jefferson, the “Committee of the Lost and Damned” here at Lucifer’s commends you for your proletarian vitriol! You may present yourself as just another mindless and frustrated loser, but you so epitomize the best of the partially schooled clodhoppers here in the backwoods that we would be pleased to see you run for public office. You’re one of us, Jefferson: give it a whirl!
Lucifer, don’t look now, but your arrogance, your elitism, and your classism are showing. And it is NOT a pretty look.
Remember when radical leftists actually stood FOR the working class and the common man, and against corporatism and entrenched special interests? Yeah, so do I, just barely.
Emm, Senator Stevens arranged to get homestead land surveys done right away. He didn’t have a tardy attitude. He sent us a letter of condolence when we had a death in the family. In seventy years in Alaska he is maybe the third time someone did. He made suggestions to people to assist his constituents when they had a problem with getting service from a corporation or an agency. We miss him a lot. Don Young had great constituent assistants always too. He had great people ALWAYS. I knew them. Excellent people in so many ways.
Who died and left you in charge. Both did a lot for alaskans. Sorry you are so angry
Anger only destroys the container it is in. Think about it.
Agreed!!
They both did a lot of hunting and fishing and checking crowed for donations. Do we have the lands we are entitled too in our Statehood Documents? No!! Because they couldn’t do their jobs and let it pass every year they were in office. So, no this naming and now a Senator from another part of the state has in mind to take it away from the Borough. Give it to a State Department so it will be in the same state of affairs as all the transportation problems in the State of Alaska. Bad roads that need fixing, bad bridges, no ferries and bad transportation planning in Southeast and up North. Not a good idea and one that the residents of the state need to say NO too on a vote.
Sigh. Glad the really important issues were dealt with first.
US Surveys are a fairly important issue in the territory and new state one would think if one is not insane.
Obama changed the name of our highest mountain, what’s wrong with this? Still, an older white male. No glass ceilings being broken here.
It’s still Mt. Mckinley and it’s still Barrow to us Alaskans Jim.
You got that right OVT!
How vain. Horrible name for the port..
The Port of Alaska was a fine name that felt inclusive to all of us here in this great state. I didn’t know Don Young personally, but read some things over the years that gave me the impression that he was a good ole boy and probably needed to retire long ago. No offense to his widow and family…
The Assembly is useless. Surprised that idiot Constant didn’t vote with the other two. Good for Don Young. He did well for Alaska.
DY is not deserving of this recognition nor is any politician. Vote to get these leftist Assembly members out of office.
Good, the port is about 40 years past needing to be replaced.
Kinda like ol don was.
It really isn’t that controversial. After all,
All of Alaska relies on this port even as it wastes away. Just like Don Young.
It’s going to cost people who don’t live in Alaska a lot of money. Just like Don Young.
The port is presented as something Alaska can’t live without but it prevents us from having something newer and better. Just like Don Young.
It’s sold as private sector but we all know it is really for the unions. Just like Don Young.
This port is there to support the antiquated Jones Act. Just like Don Young.
The port should have never been built there but it was for whatever reason. Just like Don Young.
The port has to be regularly dredged and cleaned out or it becomes completely unusable. Just like Don Young.
The port is structurally unsound but seems to always make it one more year. Just like Don Young.
Excellent summation, Knut!
…..yeah, by Mary Peltola. Like mucking out the harbor and replacing it with cow manure and calling it a dredging operation.
Pork of alaska is a better moniker. Millions upon millions spent and dock is still in need of major repairs. 1 failed project after another. Smh..
Fitting that the port needs regular dredging of the foul sticky gue of cook inlet. I suppose that mother nature knew of the eventual naming of port don.
Don unfortunately had a knack of hanging around too long, and so it continues.
What’s better in our country since don became a public servant 40 plus years ago? The results speak for themselves.
The illustrious personalities brought in to assist Don Young came from Pioneer families in. Many who are here now wouldn’t know them.
They fought for the underdogs and were glad to do it. Alaska has changed a bit.
Why name public facilities after anyone? Is it some form of hero worship? To establish bragging rights for the survivors? Seems pointless.
The communist assembly actually voted for it? I’ll take “Things I Bet Never Would Happen” for $1000, Alex.
I was kind of thinking that “Murkowski Bay”
has a nice ring.
….at least one statue ……. somewhere…
would be a nice display of appreciation after 44 years of public service.
Now there are roads right next to the shore on the Pt McKenzie side that are named after Don Young and his family, and then the Anchorage port is named after him on the other side of the water? Pretty soon, they change the name of Cook Inlet to Don Young Inlet and say that Don Young discovered this entire area. Lol What a joke. Erasing our history. I wonder what kind of deal the globalists made with the Young family?
Great idea Frankie!
Isn’t there a sewage lagoon somewhere we can name after Murkowski? If not, we need one built.
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