In a 5-5 vote, during which Assemblyman Chris Constant appeared to be unable to cast a deciding vote due to a possible technical problem on his phone, the Anchorage Assembly rejected the appointment of Jim Winegarner as the city’s Real Estate director.
The move and method to reject Winegarner appeared to be coordinated among the 9-member majority, and is seen as retaliation for the firing of the former Real Estate director, who had been hired in July, approved by the Assembly, and released in September. Christina Hendrickson is now suing Mayor Dave Bronson under the claim that she was a whistleblower, a claim disputed by the administration.
It’s no secret that the Assembly is trying every tactic to thwart the success of the Bronson Administration.
When Constant made his phone operational again after failing to vote on Winegarner, Assemblywoman Jamie Allard asked for reconsideration for the vote on Winegarner, but could not get support to get Constant’s vote on the record. Constant, the vice chair of the Assembly, was calling into the meeting from home Thursday after emotional outbursts during the Wednesday meeting.
The Assembly had earlier on the agenda voted to move to a later date the confirmation for Joe Gerace as the Health Department director, and Dan Zipay as director of Solid Waste Services. The nine-member majority said they wanted more input from the board of ethics on those two appointments. The assembly approved Brad Coy as the Muni’s Traffic Engineer.
