A proposed ordinance that gives the Anchorage Assembly the ability to impeach the mayor of Anchorage drew plenty of public interest at Tuesday’s regular Assembly meeting, where AO 2022-60 had its first public hearing.

There was a large and discontented crowd attending that was reminiscent of the public that protested during the summer of 2020, when the Assembly went into lockdown mode, and would not let the public witness proceedings as they passed ordinance after controversial ordinance, including shutdown mandates, mask mandates, and massive expenditures on a homelessness industrial complex.

The current controversial ordinance, drafted by a contract attorney who works at the behest of the Assembly’s radical majority, lays out the path for the Assembly to replace the mayor with Suzanne LaFrance, the chair of the Anchorage Assembly. Attorney Bill Falsey’s draft is sponsored by Assembly Vice Chair Chris Constant, who would then become the chair of the Assembly. Falsey, a former city attorney and former municipal manager under former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, unsuccessfully ran against Mayor Dave Bronson last year.

The item was placed at the end of the lengthy agenda on Tuesday and the public wasn’t able to testify on it until over five and a half hours into the meeting. It was the last item of business for the night and it wasn’t until after 10:30 pm when those remaining in the Assembly Chamber were allowed to make their three-minute statements. Nearly all were opposed to the ordinance.

Assemblywoman Jamie Allard moved that the meeting be extended to midnight to allow as much of the testimony as possible, since people had waited for hours. That motion passed.

Then, attorney Mario Bird stepped to the public podium to discuss the ordinance. Assemblywoman Jamie Allard asked Bird to clarify if he thought that the Assembly’s attorney Dean Gates was giving the Assembly sound advice.

That was the last straw for Assemblywoman LaFrance, who said the line of questioning was out of order. Then, because of general booing and jeering from the audience, Vice Chair Constant abruptly called for the meeting to adjourn and without going to midnight, as previously agreed upon, the meeting was quickly ended over the objections of the conservative minority — Allard, Kevin Cross, and Randy Sulte. Booing and jeering could be heard throughout the auditorium until the video feed was cut at about 11:05 pm.

The matter will come up again at the June 1 regular meeting of the Assembly.

Alaska State Senate President Peter Micciche has announced he will not seek reelection in 2022. Sen. Micciche served three terms in the Alaska State Senate beginning in 2013. During a 35-year private sector career, he served on the Soldotna City Council, as Soldotna’s mayor from 2008-2013, and will have represented District O on the Kenai from 2013 until his term ends in January 2023.

During more than a decade as a senator, Micciche has served on every Senate standing committee, special committee, and Finance sub-committee. He served as chairman or vice-chairman on all but two of the standing committees.

Senator Micciche said, “It has been an honor and a privilege to represent the interests of the people of the Kenai at the state level for the past three terms. My work has been dedicated to bringing Alaskans together. Knowing I had the trust of the community for so many years and leaving the Senate institution as the presiding officer with the trust of Senate members means so much to me. Serving in the Legislature has been an amazing journey. Whether defending individual District O constituents on state issues or upholding the interests of all Alaskans through a statewide view, my objectives have been to provide for a better Alaska. I am eternally grateful for the immense support.”

Tuckerman Babcock, a well-known Republican from Soldotna, has filed for the seat, as has school teacher and Kenai Assemblyman Jesse Bjorkman.

Bob Herron, who was in the Alaska House of Representatives for the Bethel area until January of 2016, is running again for the seat, which is being vacated by Tiffany Zulkosky.

Herron, who was a Democrat, was bumped out of office by the Alaska Democratic Party, which ran Zach Fansler against him. Fansler is a Democrat who took office and and resigned just a year later after he allegedly ruptured his sex partner’s eardrum during some rough intimate situation after business hours in Juneau.

According to Politico, it was Anchorage Assemblyman Forrest Dunbar who convinced Fansler to run, and it was the Ship Creek Group, a leftist campaign group that came into the state to turn the state blue, who engineered the Fansler campaign to a 1,234-919 win in the primary; Fansler was unopposed in the general in 2016.

After his resignation, Democrats in the region asked Gov. Bill Walker to appoint one of Fansler’s aides to replace the former legislator. That man was soon charged with raping an 11-year-old girl.

The next person chosen for the seat was Zulkosky, who was first appointed by Gov. Bill Walker to the House in March of 2018, and then ran for reelection in 2020.

Now, with the seat opening up, Herron is hoping to win it for District 38, having served as representative for the rural district from 2008 to 2015. After being disrespected by the Alaska Democratic Party in 2016, Herron reregistered as a nonpartisan voter.