A letter from Assembly Chairwoman Suzanne LaFrance and Vice Chairman Chris Constant makes it clear to Mayor Dave Bronson: They want the ordinance they just passed mandating masks to be enforced.
The letter, written on Oct. 20, says it’s the job of the Administration to implement and enforce “validly passed laws of the municipality.”
The two scold the mayor about how Emergency Ordinance 2021-03, the compulsory mask law, needs to be enforced.
“Yet, many members of the public are asking Assembly Members questions about compliance and enforcement of the mask mandate,” they wrote.
LaFrance and Constant asked the mayor and City Manager Amy Demboski to explain which department would be answering the questions that would come regarding the ordinance, and what department would be responsible for enforcement, making sure everyone was properly masked.
“In the absence of guidance from your office,” the two advised they’ll send questions about compliance and enforcement to the mayor’s office, the city manager’s office, and code enforcement.
In an Anchorage bookstore this week, one man posted his experience with police enforcement of the ordinance. When the man did not wear a mask in the store and asserted his right, the manager called police; no fewer than four police officers arrived on the scene to listen to the man assert his rights, the store manager assert hers, and to keep the peace. No arrest was made, nor was any citation evident in the video. In fact, the officers appeared to be unwilling to enforce an ordinance that has many exceptions, plenty of loopholes, and no fines or fees attached to it. The manager refused to sell the man a book and trespassed him from the property, with police standing by as witnesses.
