The People’s Filibuster: Testimony on Anchorage compulsory masking continues Thursday at 5 pm at Loussac

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The public in Anchorage seems to understand that the longer they testify, the more they can hold off the inevitable vote by the Anchorage Assembly to enact a compulsory masking law for everyone in Anchorage.

So far, the public has been successful in stalling the Assembly and has laid bare the gap between the leftist majority and many members of the public.

Testimony begins again Thursday at 5 pm in the Loussac Library in midtown. Each person will have 3 minutes to state their position on the proposed mask mandate, AO 2021-91, and how it affects them.

The testimony over the past several days has kept people all over Alaska riveted to their computers, where they can watch it on YouTube on the Assembly’s channel. Must Read Alaska has learned that staff members of Alaska’s congressional delegation have been captivated by the spectacle.

The people’s filibuster has even caught the attention of national news. NBC sent a reporter to Anchorage to do a story on the situation at the hospitals and the public’s response to the masking ordinance.

So captivating is the testimony that few Alaskans are paying attention to the fourth special session of the Legislature, which is now taking place in Juneau. That special session is focused on one of the people’s greatest interests — the Permanent Fund dividend. Yet all the focus is on the Anchorage Assembly.

The testimony, which started late in the night on Tuesday, Sept. 28, has been strongly against the ordinance that was brought forward by Assemblywoman Meg Zaletel, who now refuses to attend the meetings because she doesn’t feel safe around people who are not masked. Also not attending the meetings to face the public are Assembly members Felix Rivera, Austin Quinn-Davidson, and Pete Petersen.

The left-leaning majority on the Assembly has shown frustration at the public and Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance, Zaletel, Quinn-Davidson, and Vice Chair Chris Constant have repeatedly tried to shut down Assemblywoman Jamie Allard, as she asks questions of the testifiers.

Some of the testimony has been serious, while other testimony is sarcastic or mocking of the Assembly. Very few have come forward in support of the ordinance. Numerous children have testified against it.

The mask ordinance would require all over the age of 2 to wear masks in all public places or gatherings through the end of the year. The mandate is supported by Providence Alaska Medical Center, which sent doctors to the chamber, dressed in their white lab coats, to request the law be passed.

Since then, Providence has suffered tremendous setbacks in its relationship with the community, as it has become clear that elective surgeries continue apace at the facility, while doctors are on television claiming that they are making life and death decisions in dealing with non-Covid patients because Covid patients are crowding the beds.

See Thursday’s surgery schedule for Providence

See Wednesday’s Providence surgery list here

See Tuesdays Providence surgery list here

41 COMMENTS

  1. In my mail yesterday was a postcard from Providence asking if I need a primary care doctor and soliciting my medical business. After seeing Providence keep a man from his daughter for several days last year and making him camp out on the lawn, and after they ceremoniously dismiss medical professionals who won’t get the jab and placing them in the unemployment line that I have to pay for, I will no longer support them.

    • You don’t pay their unemployment!! The fund is collected from the employers making an hourly ontribution for each employee. And they do have to qualify for it. Getting discharged from a job

      • Yes, you do pay for their unemployment.
        1. Part of your pay (overhead) is a UI tax.
        2. The business transfers those costs to the consumer.
        3. When necessary, the State and Federal government tap into the general fund to cover overages. (General fund = taxes).
        .
        Thanks for sharing.

      • ✈️ wow….that went right over your head didn’t it? OP said nothing about complaining about paying other people’s UE.

      • Normally, if you quit your job for personal reasons other then being laid off, you do not get unemployment. (I think this would be interpreted as a personal).

  2. Governor Dunleavy, you can resolve this. Do what Abbot and DeSantis did.
    Here is a list of the states that have lifted mask mandates: Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Ohio, South Dakota, Rhode Island, North Dakota, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Iowa, Alaska, West Virginia, Wyoming, Vermont.

  3. It’s amazing the lengths the legislature will go to avoid the PFD issue.

    The Muni Assembly will pass this crap. Bronson will veto it. The Assembly will then override the veto.
    Bronson will refuse to endorse it. The Assembly will get the same out of state hustlers they used for Al Gross to work to recall Bronson and install Dunbar.

    Which has been the goal of this mess from the beginning. The Assembly will never, ever accept Bronson as mayor

    • If this mask mandate imbroglio were all REALLY about public health, then the municipal ass-embly would have long ago issued the same health emergency declaration that they did under Berkowitz. Oh, but that would put most of the power into the hands of Mayor Bronson, their hated enemy, and they could NEVER have that!
      The fact that they have not reissued the emergency declaration is proof enough that this proposed mask mandate is purely and entirely a political move.

      • Technically the assembly has no power to declare an emergency, or emergency mandates, which is why they are twisting themselves like pretzels to make these regular ordinances work around the mayor and the charter. ( i.e. Charging regular citizen with enforcement and laying claim to authority in municipal buildings).

        • Well, perhaps I have been under a misunderstanding then, as I thought it was the municipal assembly that declared the health emergency in March of last year, and not the (then-)mayor.

          • The mayor declares the emergency, and the Assembly must approve to extend it past 30 days. – sd

  4. Zaletel, with the other three, has the right to stay home and keep her social interactions limited just as much right as we have remaining unmasked, the freedom to choose our health care and insurance, and the freedom visiting anyone and gathering size. Even our right to stay fat!
    There are many accommodations businesses have created to protect those customers who need assistance helping them limit their exposure to sicknesses. Including stores providing the store wheelchairs for those customers for whom walking is a challenge.

    Hahaha

  5. Providence has failed, ethically, as a health care provider in our community.
    I guess the commission checks from BigPharma and the $’s from the Feds are to hard to ignore.
    I’d like to see the bonuses received by the top executives – pre-pandemic and post-pandemic.

    Dunleavy?
    Standing tall somewhere I guess?
    Please do something, anything.

  6. This whole charade is simply a meaningless farce, as is pretty much everything to do with these Anchorage municipal ass-embly meetings. The reasons why it is all a meaningless farce are two: 1) because the ass-embly meetings are merely ‘rubber stamps’ for decisions that have already been made long before, and 2) because NO amount of public testimony is ever going to sway radical extremist authoritarians like the ‘Marxist Nine’ from ramming their predetermined and coercive political agenda. They are simply too arrogant, and too self-righteous, and frankly too evil, to ever be convinced that they are wrong or that differing opinions may be valid.

  7. The FBI will probably be there.
    Play a new game called spot the “glowie”.
    He or she will try to blend in with the normies but will stand out for over-compensating.

  8. The permanent fund is important but it’s just money. This impending ordinance has far more important implications. If we allow this or comply with it we take one more stride down that slippery slope to totalitarianism. Those who say “it’s such a simple thing” are utterly unaware of or don’t care about the erosion of freedom.

    I’ve been present every day for every minute of testimony and I have seen two things loud and clear. The first is that pro-maskers expect us to take care of them regardless of the cost to us, yet they accuse anti-mandaters of being selfish. The second is that the assembly absolutely does not care what we say. Multiple people have pointed out their lack of attention to the speakers. Am I also to believe that those assembly members at home are actually listening to every word?

  9. I don’t give a damn about the PFD. I make my own money and live within my means.
    The corrupt politicians who seek to take the money for themselves will answer to the karma they accrue will be the debt they must pay.
    *
    What is important now is continuing to stand for freedom and personal responsibility. I will not allow any government to make decisions on my behalf.
    We are at a point where our local political agenda has been revealed. We see the patterns repeating themselves as we have witnessed in other parts of our country and other parts of the world.
    We stand not just to be free of masks, but free from control by others whos minds are trapped in a box.
    The narrative has them. They must be freed too.

    • I do.
      In the past year (and change), the people of this city have demonstrated an unprecedented level of interest in local government. This is the second time they have pushed testimony on a single agenda item to five days.
      .
      Much better than the old days when no one would show up at Assembly meetings.

    • You’re correct, Dreck. “The People’s Fillibuster” is something to be VERY proud of!
      .
      I’m sorry that seeing so many people petition against authoritarianism, and standing up for their rights, makes you unhappy and uncomfortable.
      .
      Now, I’ll let you get back to licking those boots.

    • why? I think its great. anything that throws a rod in the gears of dirty corrupt politicians and their agendas is a good thing when it comes to the liberation of people from violent authoritarian technocrats

  10. All rational people please email the assembly constantly, since the other side is:

    https:// http://www.muni. org/Departments/Assembly/Pages/About%20Us%20-%20Member%20Profiles.aspx

    Austin Quinn-Davidson is doing most of the bragging – so send them her way if you would like:

    Austin.Quinn-Davidson @ anchora​geak. gov

    You can try to be persuasive, but I’m convinced it won’t matter. So say whatever you want to say, but never threaten any kind of abuse. Not because that will backfire, but because it’s simply not right. Remember, we are the adults. She will feel miserable enough if she has any humanity left in her.

    • “She will feel miserable enough if she has any humanity left in her.”
      Well, that’s a wasted effort…

  11. Zaletel and Petersen want to rush this mandate through.
    They know we peaked last week and if their mandate was approved, they would take credit for the decline in cases and hospitalizations. You know they love to sing their own praises.

    As public debate continues, the case counts continue to decline and the public will see how foolish this unconstitutional mandate is.

  12. A question for readers: Since each assembly person has taken an oath to uphold the constitution, and this mandate is unconstitutional, (for a precedent, see “Violation of oaths of office and Walker v Members of Congress”) and 5 U.S.C. 7311 (1) then can Mayor Bronson not simply call for the arrest of those assembly members who break their oaths? If this passes, each who votes yes has broken their oath.

    • I think that mandating class II medical devices without 1.) being a doctor (which a doctor would never do they would only recommend) or 2.) providing all the requirements OSHA makes as a requirement for employers that require respirator use under 29CFR1910.134 would place the Assembly (or Muni) in violation of federal regulations. I believe (really I know) that an employer that requires respirators to protect employees in certain work situations needs to first get that person checked by a medical professional and get their OK that the person it fit physically and psychologically to wear one. Medical Professionals are defined. They must also get that employee a proper Fit Test annually. Those tests are specific tot he device they are being prescribed. They must also provide the devices and the employee must comply with directions for use. The subject N95 surgical respirators are one time use. They must be thrown away after each use, and the employer must provide them. They also distinguish between surgical masks that are lose fitting face coverings which are not N95 rated. N95 rated respirators are very particular devices. These devices are also only meant to provide one way protection to the wearer from airborne contaminants from entering their respiratory system. They are properly design to allow intake and exhaust contaminant that a person might expel. That’s why they either have a vent or are lose fitting. Nowhere have I ever see a respirator that was intended to prevent a person’s breath from escaping into the atmosphere. Technically an air supplying respirator would do that but that is not what the assembly is proposing. I think mandating this will get them cross ways with OSHA. In which case wouldn’t a complaint under OSHA go straight to federal district court? At the very least it should warrant complaints being made to OSHA.

      • the funny thing is…. I think the State and Muni already have to comply with OSHA respirator regulations for their engineering, construction and medical workers. You would think they have some expertise on staff that could school these schoolkids on what would pass as a valid regulation on prescription and use of respirators. And they don’t define really what they mean by a “mask” do they? Or did I misread the proposed ordinance?

  13. Reminder:
    .
    At no point in recorded human history have the people forcing others into compliance been the good guys.

  14. Thank you Suzanne. THIS is REAL reporting. Providence has soiled itself; there should be at least one high level resignation. Activist Dr. Kristen Solan Walkinshaw should be immediately replaced. Providence should frankly see the damage that has been done and ask the medical staff for a new emergency slate of directors to reshape the Medical Executive Committee, pick up the shattered pieces of its reputation and rebuild. Kristen took on the role with activist intentions and that has proven to be ruinous to the institution faster than most of us imagined it would be. Providence could have and should have been the center for community information on covid prevention, early treatment, multi-center trial enrollments, and real crisis overflow preparation. But instead decided to get lazy and serve as a giant activist for the only two things covid cultists know, vaccines and masks. How much more effective would it have been to simply share up to date clinical information and let the public decide for themselves. Providence…. performing bariatric surgery during “crisis care standards”, c’mon! When the chief of the medical staff comes out and says you are in a “crisis” posture, and you are not, you have a responsibility to correct that misinformation to the public and sanction or remove that individual sharing misleading information on your behalf. This is the chief who cried wolf and got caught. Where is the accountability?

    • Well said. And at 25 to 30+ thousand dollars each, (divided between the hospital and preforming surgeon) the bariatric surgeries sure do rake in the $$$.
      ****
      There is no “crisis” posture, never has been and Im beginning to think that all of the TicTok videos of nurses dancing during the height of this “crisis” was their way of telling the public that … “You’re Being lied to!”

  15. The Long Game:
    The Assembly is pelted with comments galore
    About masks and mandates and everything more
    The citizens plead night after night
    Some Assembly from home watching their plight
    A few hangers-on listen to what’s in store

    So you might ask, how long will to take
    While out in the crowd they shimmy and shake
    Only to be shamed by the libs on the dais
    The folks wonder how much more will they play us

    We know how it ends as it always will
    The Assembly will vote against the public’s shrill
    But in rides Great Dave to veto them down
    No matter the Assembly will turn it around
    While the public cries “One more time up this hill!”

    Just remember there are two sides to every boat
    The Assembly should listen before they all gloat
    Because we’ll remember just how you ignored
    Sitting but not listening, acting so bored
    Because we’ll remember come time to vote

    • Nice. I dig it. In my email to Austin I laid into her without empty insults. I more or leas shared the same sentiment as this poem. I said it’s terrible that they ignored what the public voted for when they voted for Bronson and that it’s ok because their actions will finally inspire some of the rational people of the community to finally run against them which will make Anchorage much better in the long run I also said:

      “ If you see me walking my cute little dog with my children and my wife with another family without our masks on, living happily and enjoying each other despite our differences, don’t you dare act like you want to be friendly to your fellow neighbors. It would be so insincere. When you realize that let yourself lose the plot and allowed yourself to dangerously get caught up in hate and self-righteous arrogant politics, I will believe you are looking for your humanity again. Until then, I see you as an enemy to a community that celebrates true diversity that is willing to dig anybody out of a ditch no matter who they are or what they have done.”

      She didn’t even want to feign “appreciation for my feedback”. Because I know there’s no persuading her, I consider that as a win.

  16. Who was the one guy tonight that vowed to unseat his reps from District 6 and helped others in the recall effort in their districts? I wanna meet that guy.

  17. They’re moving it to 9am tomorrow, while people are working. Looks like I’m taking the day off to finally go in and testify!

    • I spoke too soon, but that was some good drama.
      The only thing better than the drama was seeing so many make it through without points or order or information. And all the kids? That was A number 1 in my book.

      3pm it is. I’ll cut loose early from work and be there.

      • …oh yeah the part where the plexiglass barrier came down, that was kinda cool too. And when the young lady with Downs spoke and made it through her speech, didn’t even hesitate on standing there and stood and stared at them. I think I even saw LaFrance smile behind that mask, although there is no way to confirm that. That’s a speculation on my part. I think exercise lady came back to testify and then went back to doing push ups.

        Mayors Point of Privilege was apparently of the chairs ruling of no questions, although I don’t see how that can be.

        And yeah I wanna know one of the last guys comments whether an unconstitutional ordinance is even enforceable by Mr. Mayor (I know the answer) but what about liability of the body in mandating something that is unconstitutional and against federal OSHA regulations (in the implementation stage). I guess if it weren’t enforced they wouldn’t be liable?….. Or would they? Saw one of my buds there at the end. Rock on….. Stay tuned for the next episode of it Happened in…. (must be a funny meme here but its not coming to me right away).

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