Mayor Dave Bronson on Friday filed a lawsuit against the Anchorage Assembly, asking for a court judgment about an Anchorage Municipal Code that prohibits the mayor from firing someone on his staff — the chief equity officer.
Mayor Bronson did fire Clifford Armstrong. Armstrong was hired by former unelected acting mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson, after the adding of the position of chief equity officer was approved by the Assembly on the request of former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz in the summer of 2020. The code says the Assembly must agree with the decision to fire the person who holds this position, and the Assembly majority does not agree with Armstrong’s dismissal.
Bronson’s team maintains the municipal code is invalid and not binding and that its passage was a breach of the principles of separation of powers, which is a fundamental doctrine of the Alaska Constitution nd the Anchorage Municipal Charter. Bronson says the Mayor’s Office has authority over people in the Executive Branch, while the Assembly says it has carved out this position to be different from others.
“Despite repeated attempts to resolve this matter without the need for litigation, recently Assembly Member actions show that judicial intervention is the only option. Like other executive mayoral appointees, the Chief Equity Officer can be dismissed at will for any reason or no reason at all. Attempts by the Assembly to insulate previous administration’s mayoral executive appointees with ‘for cause’ limitations and durational term limits clearly violate the Charter and Constitutional separation of powers doctrine. This Assembly has exceeded their authority, and are attempting to take power from the Executive Branch and control personnel matters, which are clearly an administrative function. I will not cede the authority of the executive branch to the legislative branch; the Assembly does not control both branches of government,” Bronson said.
The lawsuit was not unexpected. Armstrong stopped showing up for work shortly after Bronson became mayor. The chief equity officer position is one of the many new expenditures of the Anchorage Assembly that has put the city on the downgrade list from bond-rating agencies. Hired out of Tacoma, Washington, Armstrong made more than $115,000 a year and was supposed to develop and implement a Critical Race Theory policy to redistribute power in the city workforce to those seen as not seen as holding enough power in municipal jobs. His job deliverables were somewhat undefined and subjective, but he reported directly to the mayor, who was given no authority to replace him by the leftist Assembly.
Bronson replaced Armstrong with Uluao “Junior” Aurnavae in October. The Assembly does not recognize the Samoan-American as the legitimate chief equity officer and Assemblyman Chris Constant said on the record that his hiring was intended by Bronson to sow discord among racial groups in Anchorage.
Shortly after being fired, Armstrong published a cartoon of himself being fired by the Ku Klux Klan. Armstrong has since sued the Municipality for what he says is an illegal termination of his employment.
The Assembly liberal majority is on Armstrong’s side: “We do not recognize Mr. Armstrong’ s dismissal as complete nor valid and are advised by Assembly Counsel that it is not legally complete,” wrote Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance and Vice Chair Chris Constant in October.
The cartoon he posted is racist and hate speech.
Snappy dresser.
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But how dare he flaunt his sartorial privilege?
I demand fancy vest and bow tie equity!
Kabuki theater at it’s finest. A perfect outcome to end this urination contest would be for the Assembly AND Mayor to each lose their lawsuits! Then we can see a continued waste of funds by the ASSembly! Please Anchorage! DO NOT reelect any of these liberal communist Assembly members! Crystal Kennedy is the only sitting Assembly member worthy of reelection!
Looks like it’s out of voters’ hands, Vic.
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Remember the Municipal Clerk works for the Assembly and counts the votes when her Assembly bosses run for re-election.
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That and Anchorage’s easily corruptible mail-in vote scheme rather assures job security, non-accountability for the Assembly members in question, no?
We are still paying him, good good.
Equity = we all arrive at the same place. I.e. Marxist poverty.
Crybaby. Out-of-stater. Can only be about racism. That’s an effing no-brainer! ???
How is this even possible? The Assembly is trying to force the mayor to keep unneeded personnel on his staff? Who do these nutballs think they are? Vote them all out, start fresh with sane non-commie people.
Bronson must return voting to in person paper ballots! It will save us taxpayers money and help mitigate opportunities for voting malfeasance. Definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Mail in ballots are not safe and secure. The proof of malfeasance is that two Assembly Members have been recalled and somehow were voted back in. We must fix the voting problem. All changes to voting rights by the Assembly and Clerk are violating our state and federal Constitution Rights.
Anchorage ‘truth’ seeker, Anchorage and Alaska have long had absentee ballots. By insisting on in person voting you’re saying it’s ok to disenfranchise disabled and elderly people who should not be going into public buildings as long as people are not vaccinated, won’t wear a mask, and persist in passing covid around! 1 in 100 people over 65 in America have died of Covid-19 since March 2020. Under 65 it’s 1 in 14,000! Seems the elderly have an excellent reason to avoid a place where people are congregating, like a polling place! They also deserve to vote without risking their lives!
Tell you what, Esthera — you go live the remainder of your sad and pathetic life in irrational, hysterical and existential fear, and leave the rest of us, who refuse to be propagandized by the constant drumbeat of fear-porn from the corporate media, to live our lives as we see fit.
The Equity officer position is the dumbest position.
This guy apparently didn’t even do —- nor should the position have ever been created. It’s a joke and waste of money!
Completely agree! Everything Woke turns to shit! LOL
There goes that Constant again “Blowing in the wind” Everything in his book is racial. Stop spending taxpayer money and do something positive for this city.I for one was pleased Kenneth MC Coy was the Chief of Police and Not because he is of color but because he was a successful Bartlett Graduate. Well, that didn’t last long. My message TO Mr. McCoy: the reasons you were to have resigned as stated in Smart news was so weak, it was laughable. Instead of standing tall and making Anchorage a safe city you quit over (in my opinion) nonsense. I will place my bet you voted for cry baby Dunbar I agree lets vote them all out.
Over rated position that should be ousted! from city budget!
Tell me!? what exactly does he or she do? in this position!?
If it’s the equal quality of life in the Anchorage Borough!
I’m not seeing it!
I’m confused…the leftist communists on the Assembly are “liberals” now? When did that happen? If they were liberals, they would debate and listen to input. No, these people are Communists. No wonder they are so successful if they are continuously allowed to hide behind the label of “liberal.”
Exactly correct, Dean!
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NOBODY should ever refer to these hateful, intolerant and illiberal authoritarians as “liberals”. Nor should they ever be referred to as “progressives”, unless one’s idea of progress is a reversion to the tyranny of the Middle Ages and the Inquisition.
This is an embarrassment
Equity is not about achieving equality. It is about domination. It is about lowering standards.
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It implies that your skin color, sexuality, or genetic makeup has some kind of socio-economic value.
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Equity requires that equal opportunity must have equal outcomes.
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It changes the criteria for success from what you do, to what you are.
Once our universities began spewing out graduates with degrees in “Equity”, “Diversity”, and “Inclusivity”, it was only a matter of time before our progressive cities began creating jobs for them.
Exactly what do they do every day when they go into work and sit down at their desks? What’s on their calendars? What are they expected to accomplish? What sort of performance review can their bosses do with them?
And this effects me … how?
The part about this that truly baffles me is that the news outlets have stated that he stopped going to work after Bronson became mayor. In what world is abandonment of one’s job not cause for termination? Are the taxpayers supposed to pay him a six figure salary to do nothing? I also deeply disagree with the race-baiting assembly stating that this is an attempt by the Bronson administration to drive a wedge between two minority communities. They’re the ones making it about race.
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