A group of Anchorage citizens, including two former mayors, filed a petition application with the Anchorage Municipal Clerk with the goal of putting the question directly to voters: Can the Assembly simply decide on its own to remove the mayor, or is this still the job of the voters?
The petition is in response to AO 2022-60, the ordinance passed last month by the Assembly that gives the Assembly the unprecedented power to remove the mayor for the flimsiest of reasons under the category of “breach of public trust.” The Assembly, which leans far left, is looking for a way to get rid of Mayor Dave Bronson, without waiting for a recall election that would be instigated by the public.
Bronson vetoed the ordinance’s passage but on Monday, the Assembly leftist majority overrode his veto.
Municipal Clerk Barbara Jones has 10 days to respond to the application for a petition. Jones maintains she has 30 days to respond, however. When asked by the sponsors for a timeline for all steps needed to get the matter in front of the voter, Jones refused to answer, saying it should be obvious to everyone.
Former mayor George Wuerch is one of lead sponsors, along with former mayor Dan Sullivan. The two believe that Anchorage Ordinance 2022-60 is a violation of the separation of powers. AO-2022-60 allows the Assembly to serve as complainant, jury, and judge for such offenses as the ill-defined “culpable indifference” that the Assembly may use as a reason to remove the mayor.
“This ordinance is a bridge too far,” said former Mayor Dan Sullivan, pictured above on the right at City Hall. “The petition we filed today really represents the proper separation of powers between executive branch and the legislative branch of the city. The ordinance — 2022-60 — allows them to serve as the judge and jury on whatever they deem to be improper conduct, which is written vaguely enough so it could be that they simply disagree with the mayor’s policy. The voters of the city should have the right to weigh in and that is what the recall part of the charter does.”
Sullivan said the mayor serves a three-year term, and there is a recall process already in place in the city charter.
“The mayor’s removal should also be by the people, not just the legislative branch. And if they are worried about mayor doing something criminal, that is the role of the legal system,” he said.
The 10 other cosponsors of the petition application include former Assembly members Ernie Hall, Bill Starr, Craig Campbell, Debbie Ossiander, Dan Kendall, Crystal Kennedy, and Erica Johnson. Citizens Bruce Schulte and Trina Johnson also were signers of the application for petition.
If the petition is granted by Municipal Clerk Jones, the group attempting to overturn the ordinance will have to get at least 7,500 signatures of Anchorage voters on the petition within 90 days in order to then get it to the ballot. If the petition is not granted, there are legal avenues to help the group get the petition. The process of overturning ordinances is difficult, expensive, and time-consuming and has not been attempted in many years.
