After Assemblyman Forrest Dunbar was caught trying to get to draft budget documents from the various Anchorage municipal department heads, circumventing the Municipal Manager, the hammer has come down.
Manager Amy Demboski wrote a memo to all employees in the city today, telling them they are not to respond to any requests from the Assembly. All requests must go through her office.
Read: Dunbar caught trying to get to draft budget documents through backchannels
Read: Smoking gun: Assembly and City Clerk spying on mayor’s computer files
“It continues to be apparent that the Legislative Branch and some of their employees refuse to respect separation of powers between the Executive and Legislative branches,” Demboski wrote.
She said the Assembly has been utilizing backchannels to gain information, and that they have been impinging on the workload of employees of the city, which is distracting from the missions of many department.
“These willful and intentional efforts to bypass Executive Branch leadership must now be addressed more directly,” Demboski said. She described a process that will “ensure the separation of powers” and ensure the Administration is responsive to the Assembly:
Effective immediately, all communications from the Administration and the Assembly, Assembly Aides, Assembly staff, the Municipal Clerk, Clerk’s office staff, or Assembly Attorney will rest solely with the Municipal Manager, or her designee, should she direct it.
Information requests initiated by an Assembly member, an Assembly aide, or the Assembly attorney, whether orally or in writing, must be forwarded to the Municipal Manager for response.
All Assembly committee reports, requests for attendance at meetings, and request for information must be reviewed by the manager for “operational availability, resource prioritization, and department mission alignment.”
Demboski noted that Assembly members requesting advice and legal opinions from the Municipal attorney should contact the attorney’s office directly and those requests are not covered by her stated guidelines.
Must Read Alaska received a copy of the memo from a city employee:
F around and Find out is what Amy just did! Awesome.
Grab the bull by the horns and take em down! Atta Girl Amy! About high time to stand up to that phony, backstabbing bunch on the assembly! Jaime Allard needs all the help she can get in keeping that pack of wolves at bay!
Atta’ boy Amy. A. Demboski is strong and correct!
Thank you Amy Demboski, Municipal Manager. Ethics rule!
We need these kind of actions times 1000. Shut down these miscreants.
They’ll just do this through their phones and encrypted communication apps.
I can’t believe how dumb they were to do this over city email.
Are you watching, Dunleavy? This is what pushing back looks like.
This is what we expected you to do. Fight back. Not always win, but fight back.
Amen!
Another example of how Democrats are natural cheaters and won’t stop unless someone catches them and stops them. The Clerk should be fired and Dunbar should be censored.
Great way to ensure the separation of powers between the 2 branches of local government. Now, how does one enforce this directive? Will the union members comply or will they have “workarounds”?
So the paranoid —– true colors come out! Let’s set up a purely adversarial relationship with the assembly so nothing gets done in 4 years! That will certainly cover his — for him sitting on it and contemplating his navel since he hasn’t a clue what to do or how to be a real mayor/leader!!
You’re clearly a few stories behind. The adversarial relationship was initiated by Forrest Dunbar, Christopher Constant, Meg Zaletel and Austin Quinn-Davidson. And it’s not paranoia if you have written evidence, in their own hand, that they were violating the separation of the legislative and executive branches of government. You may want to seek out those stories posted here in just the last few days. Demboski did the right thing, something you’d be cheering if the shoe were on the other foot and a conservative Assembly tried to do an end run around a duly elected liberal mayor.
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And if you think nothing will get done in four years, you’re an idiot. There are Assembly seats up for grabs this Spring, and a mayor’s term is three years here in Anchorage. It’s you who obviously has no clue.
Gesther, you clearly have not been paying attention. It is the Anchorage Ass-embly that has set up “a purely adversarial relationship” with not only Mayor Bronson from even BEFORE his first day in office, but with the residents of Anchorage themselves. The nine sociopaths on the ass-embly clearly see themselves as powers unto themselves, unbeholden to the municipal charter, law, or ethics. They are evil, pure and simple, and need to be dealt with as being such.
You could not be further from reality.
Mayor Bronson’s best move was to appoint Amy Demboski as city manager. Her time on the assembly gives her insight many others would not have. Keep it up Amy!
This makes one wonder, if this has been a standing operating procedure for assembly members to directly get info from any department. While in this case it is clearly done to undermine Mayor Bronson, for other administrations especially AQD, it could have been used to coordinate public policy, blurring the line and effectively making the mayor’s office and the assembly one entity.
Thanks Amy for exposing the power grabbers and straightening out these authority issues for all to see.
That’s exactly how it was when I was a municipal employee. If we received a request it was forwarded to the muni manger. Good job
Thank you Amy. Put the trash out for everybody to see. The lawyers should get involved and see what laws have been broken.
I applaud Amy’s actions and efforts here. This is just an inkling, though, of how with which these rogue, power-hungry authoritarians need to be dealt: with NO compromise, NO “let’s all get along”, and NO apologies for fighting their insidious, divisive, ever-grasping and never-ending lust for power.
In a state where “legislators” show no respect for the law is it not laughable to think these subversives might show the slightest regard for mere rules?
Great job Amy, stop the tyrants inappropriate conduct!
This is called responsible government! The Anchorage Assembly is a rogue government body that is circumventing and in some cases violating the law and administrative procedures. They are purposely running a ghost government against Mayor Bronson. This should not be tolerated and the people of Anchorage should take issue with this and remove those members pushing their own agendas.
The people of Anchorage should never have elected the nine sociopaths to the assembly in the first place. Or did they? With the corrupt and untransparent mail-in voting system, I put nothing, nothing past these kinds of evil people.
Memo should have also described a “termination of employment” claus for anyone not following policy. Time to clean house…
For the people of the people by the people look at what the citizens get when we have integrity at our helm. I can not imagine any oath taker place in there hand on our GODs Bible and swear in to GOD so help me GOD. Then not care for the flock the citizens who elected them. Boooooooooo to you and no you must answer to GOD not Jesus. Oath breakers be very aware the eye in the sky sees ALL. Integrity thank you mr. Bronson your team gets it sir.
I wish our governor had half the backbone that Amy has.
Definitely a rouge assembly, not conducive to the health and future of Anchorages economy, if was in charge I’d call them out for what they are and level what is appropriate beyond what Demboski has done, they’ve been a pain in the a** lately. Good job Demboski!
Why would the mayor withhold information from the assembly. They’re going to have to get involved sooner or later. Looks like the Muni Manny is playing hide and seek with the admin’s plans.
Well, HOMO, it’s a work in progress and not the final product.
Reading comprehension is a gift.
Evidently, Homos do not understand the phrase, and the concept, of “separation of powers”, in this case between the legislative and executive branches of municipal government.
The assembly are hostile to the public who voted for Mayor Bronson which upset the cozy little anti-social, maladjusted assembly persons still in inappropriate but massive grief at the definitive loss of the executive election.
The Assembly Oath of Office says the following (AMC 1.35.010):
“I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Alaska and the Charter of Anchorage, and that I will faithfully perform the duties of ___________ to the best of my ability.”
Nice job Amy! Keep it up and don’t allow the nine Liberal Left-Wing Ass(embly) members try to overrule you or Mayor Bronson. Stick to your guns and hang in there. The majority of Anchorage citizens support Mayor Bronson and you.
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