Six Anchorage Assembly members won’t discuss the mythical Mr. Sconce

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Members of the Anchorage Assembly who are involved in a coverup of emails with a fictitious character named Tom Sconce are not answering the simple question: Who is Tom Sconce?

Sconce is a name created by some person or persons associated with the Assembly majority who are trying to communicate without being detected.

The name has become associated with the Anchorage Press and its ally publication The Blue Alaskan, at the very least, according to Must Read Alaska research, which has also found trails to former city manager and city attorney Bill Falsey, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2021 and is now an attorney in private practice.

Must Read Alaska sent a message to all members of the Assembly asking them who “Tom Sconce” is and why some of them are in a group email with him at his email address “[email protected].”

The three Assembly members who answered the Must Read Alaska query were Jamie Allard, Crystal Kennedy, and John Weddleton; all three said they don’t know who Tom Sconce is or what the email address is being used for.

The other members– Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance, Vice Chair Chris Constant, and members Austin Quinn-Davidson, Pete Petersen, Forrest Dunbar, Meg Zaletel, and Felix Rivera — did not answer the question after being given a more than 24-hour period.

Must Read Alaska obtained a memo from attorney Sam Severin to citizen activist Russell Biggs, Severin’s client in this matter, that shows that the Assembly is withholding over 590 emails from a public records request, and the Assembly has given no valid reason for the withholding or redaction of many of those emails.

Severin wrote to the Assembly, “Simply blacking out every single line of every e-mail and attachment is not lawful. It is completely contrary to the municipal code and state law mandate of transparency.”

The coverup continued during a closed meeting of the Assembly on Tuesday, after which Assemblyman Chris Constant insisted that even the recording of the meeting itself can never be made public. The leftist majority agreed that the audio tapes from that meeting will be sealed forever.

The Assembly majority is, according to its actions on Tuesday, saying that messages to Tom Sconce are covered by an unspecified privilege.

The two-hour executive session likely covered material that cannot be considered privileged in a secret meeting by law, and it now, with eight members of the Assembly silent on the matter, it appears there is a coverup under way.

Much of the material being kept secret appears to involve an out-of-state transgender rights advocate named Casey Pick, whose mission it is to formulate and defend laws for transgender individuals.

The emails to and from Casey Pick were during the timeframe when the Assembly was passing the conversion therapy ban and trying to force the faith-based Downtown Hope Center to accept transgender overnight guests in its women-only shelter.

Whether an attorney-client privilege existed or could exist without a contract is an issue, because making blanket claim of attorney-client privilege when there was no relationship other than a shared LGBTQ agenda creates a black hole of privilege, particularly after the fact. 

It is almost certain that the citizen who is pursing these public records will file a lawsuit against the Assembly and its attorney Dean Gates.

19 COMMENTS

  1. I give Weddleton absolutely NO credit for answering MRAK’s inquiry. He’ll take the easy, centrist route as long as he feels that it doesn’t hurt him politically – and appears to spurn partiality – but will continue to vote with every one of those that refused to answer every time. Please tell everyone who has an ear to hear to vote Weddleton out in April and LaFrance out in 2023. It can’t happen soon enough.

  2. This is what commies do. Sue them out of existence for violations of the open meetings act. Make it personal, so that the Assembly members in guilt are made personally responsible and that the Muni does not have to pay all the fees and expenses and fines. Federal law violation… federal court.

  3. You know what is humbling!? We all are going to find out about one another on judgement day
    Nothing will remain anonymous. Including all spoken in secret online. We will all oneday be looking at the writer behind blue alaskan including all of us. Jamie allard can finally see her foe behind blue alaskan while we stand before God

  4. I sent an email to Pete Petersen asking about “Tom Sconce”. Pete responded quickly and informed me that he is not Tom Sconce. Then when I followed-up with a second email to him asking whether Pete knows who: 1) was responsible for setting up the Tom Sconce email account ([email protected]), 2) has access to that account, and 3) adds “Tom” as an addressee on MOA assembly email message traffic. I’d also like to know what sort of email message traffic (the topics/subjects of the emails) include “Tom”. Pete has gone silent. He has decided not to respond and/or answer any more questions. I interpret his silence on this topic as a clue that “speaks volumes”.

    It comes as no surprise that Forrest Dunbar did not answer a similar email addressed to him. Forrest has never responded to any of the emails I have sent to him in the last five years. My guess is that he knows plenty about this “Tom Sconce” guy. But speaking or emailing about “Tom” would only serve to cause him more legal trouble than he already has (let’s not forget the Alaska National Guard lawsuit that includes him).

    • I am NOT a lawyer, I don’t even play one on TV but this looks like Pete et al are pleading the fifth…
      I supposed his lawyer has advised him not to speak on this issue, as to not incriminate himself. Considering that this was supposedly ALL Muni business, personal privilege should not apply, since it appears that the message were all on a public server.

  5. And this is exactly why the citizens of Anchorage need to volunteer as vote count observers, as well as fill the parking lot until each and everyone of the clerks staff leave the vote count station on Ship Creek. If we do not, we will be stuck with the BS we allow. Go Mr Biggs, take them down, none of their actions fall under any law or ordinance, which allows public record to be withheld from the public.

  6. I’m sorry… But you were expecting a response from LaFrance?
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    That woman has not responded to a constituents e-mail in months. Apparently, listening to what the residents and taxpayers of this city have to say is too inconvenient for the Assembly chair.
    .
    I stopped expecting any kind of response from her months ago.

  7. Could the Attorney General for Alaska open an investigation into the assembly members to make sure everything’s on the up and up?
    I wouldn’t doubt there is quid Pro Quo going on.

  8. Looking askance for “Mr Sconse”. “If the righteous can scarcely make their stand how will the unrighteous and those without faith make a stand?”
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    He remembers we are dust.

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    “And He will judge between the fat and the thin sheep.”

  9. Yah…you’ve discovered the Alaskan Watergate.

    Except these emails seem to be related to a civil rights effort. It’s sad that I live in a state where politicians can’t openly discuss transgender rights. This state is for the Republicans; Hence the lack of employment, rise in homelessness, as well as the piss poor way it’s been handling its opioid epidemic.

    • Oh you are funny!
      Clearly your reality doesn’t exist. Our homeless problem blew up under Berkowitz (remember the “homeless emergency”) and despite throwing millions of dollars at that problem, the number of homeless went up not down. Some of the largest homeless communities are in liberal strongholds like CA, OR and WA. Not a republican in sight. All those worthless lock-downs contributed to the high unemployment another favorite of those liberal minded. So how would you handle the opioid epidemic? Conservatives have been trying for years to regulate and get better control of the border to shut down drug traffic, yet here we are with the highest illegal incursion in years.
      As for our assembly if you call muzzling parents and councilors a civil rights issue, I suggest you need remedial classes on actual civil rights.

  10. There is no doubt that their is a majority on the assembly that are acting in corrupt, illegal maneuvers to continue to distribute money and power to causes sympathetic to their narrative. The continual blatant disregard for the laws and constitutional rights of the individual should be grounds for their removal but the bureaucracy embedded in Anchorage is supportive of their malfeasance.

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