Trick move: Assembly tells public there will be a hearing on mask law Wednesday, but then passes it late Tuesday night

157
709

During the waning minutes of the Anchorage Assembly meeting on Tuesday night, the leftist governing majority pulled a fast one on the public.

In spite of overwhelming testimony against forcing residents to wear masks indoors, in a preplanned move that may have broken open meetings laws and city code, the Assembly majority passed an unpopular mask ordinance by making it an emergency order item on the agenda, requiring no public hearing.

Earlier in the meeting, Chairwoman Suzanne LaFrance, who had turned the gavel over to Assembly Vice Chair Chris Constant since she was not present in the room, assured the public there would be more public hearings on the ordinance, but they would be postponed to Wednesday and even Thursday if needed.

It was a ruse organized by the nine leftist members, but predicted by Must Read Alaska.

“That could be a ploy. With a supermajority, LaFrance could call a halt to the hearing tomorrow and bring the matter to a vote, hoping that she can succeed in doing so without many members of the public present. The chambers has been filled with protesting public for over a week on this item. The emergency order has been requested by Kameron Perez-Verdia, and there appear to be enough votes to pass the ordinance,” Must Read Alaska’s story forecasted on Monday.

Read: The show must go on, as LaFrance sets meetings

Mayor Dave Bronson took to social media to say he will veto the ordinance. He has 36 hours to do so. A supermajority of the Assembly — 8 — can override the mayor.

“Under the cloak of darkness and while misleading the public that they would be allowed to testify on the mask mandate before a vote, at 10:35pm the /anchorage Assembly snuck in an Emergency Mask Mandate that didn’t take public testimony. They have broken the pubic trust, and this Emergency Order Mask Mandate will be vetoed,” he wrote.

Bronson was not physically at the meeting, nor was City Manager Amy Demboski or any of the other members of the Bronson team normally there. All were quarantining due to exposure to Covid-19.

Read: Perez-Verdia calls for emergency order by Assembly to pass ordinance, end hearings

The Assembly likely intends to override his veto at the meeting Constant said would take place on Thursday.

Only three members of the Assembly were physically present, as the rest were phoning in due to Covid-19 exposure. That calls into question the legality of the ordinance, because the Municipal Charter says six members must be present.

Last year, the Assembly changed municipal code to allow members to attend telephonically in the case of an emergency. There is no declared emergency by the mayor or the governor, but President Biden has the country under a national emergency effective through February, 2022.

Assemblywoman Jamie Allard, calling in from home due to Covid exposure, fought the ordinance but was not able to stop it. She said that many people will simply not comply in acts of civil disobedience.

“I will not comply,” she said.

The ordinance has changed since first introduced. Amendments to it mean that there are now no specific fines, but that the city may do what it needs to do to enforce compliance. Originally the fines were up to $300 for a first violation and considered a complaint against a non-masked person to be equivalent to a public health hazard complaint.

It also doesn’t contain the Assemblywoman Meg Zaletel provision to turn neighbors into enemies by having them rat out each other for disobeying the law.

The Zaletel provision was criticized by dozens of testifiers in the days leading up to the passage of the ordinance.

The mask ordinance is in effect for 60 days but is also is tied to hospital capacity and the “crisis standards of care” that many hospitals say they are operating under.

The ordinance exempts the executive branch of Anchorage government, a separation of powers issue.

Constant spoke at length about a member of the public who was in the hospital with Covid and who was probably going to die. He was referring to Bill Topel, a longtime conservative activist in Anchorage, whose power of medical attorney was Assemblywoman Jamie Allard.

Allard reacted harshly to Constant speaking about Topel and mischaracterizing his situation, using a man’s grave condition as a political stunt.

Topel had given directives to not be put on a ventilator, but Constant said into the record that he was on a ventilator. While Constant was saying how sad he was that an opponent of the mask mandate was dying, Allard was not only attending the meeting telephonically, but was informing Topel’s family that Toppel was taking his last breath and would soon be gone. Allard called Constant’s remarks “disgraceful.”

The deed was already done long before the meeting took place. There were few members of the public left in the Assembly chamber when the final vote went down. Constant had security remove the few people who yelled in opposition and by the end of the meeting, hardly anyone but security guards were left. He adjourned the meeting as soon as the vote was finished.

The Assembly had prior to the meeting re-erected the Plexiglas barricade that he keeps the public behind, which is part of its Covid mitigation plan. Last week, the Bronson Administration had removed the barricade, infuriating the Assembly but drawing cheers from the public present.

157 COMMENTS

  1. Who exactly is going to “enforce” this ridiculous face mask mandate, what exactly are the consequences if you’re found out in public (or, even on your private property) without a mask on your face, what exactly are the performance specifications for wearing a mask, will there be mandatory training classes offered to the general public, how will the authorities measure compliance from everyone within the MOA, are you responsible to mask your pets too (along with your infant and geriatric children), for what term shall this mandate be required, who decides when the mask mandate is no longer needed and under exactly what circumstances, is there a Reward / Bounty offered to turn in offenders (including friends and family) …. ???

    The day is coming, very soon, when you will have to choose whether you will take a knee, or take a stand.”

    • Costco and every other chain store in town will enforce it. Shop in the Valley, but before you head out, pickup a burger and coffee from Kriners.

    • The day is now. I didn’t adhere to the last mask mandate and I will not adhere to this one. If the many conservatives (or just normal people) would refuse, taking the chance they may be fined, we would have power in numbers. No one believes in this religion anymore except those who have something to gain from it (conviction follows self interest) and those who follow them blindly. Many who appear to be willing to follow (such as most physicians) know better but lack the courage to speak the truth our of fear of being ostracized from and ridiculed by the group think. When we become a community of cowards, we deserve what we get. God Bless America.

      • I rarely wore one last time. Will not for any reason wear one this time. Anyone trying to “enforce” that on me will learn a few things about little old ladies that they never knew and if I get a fine I’m not paying it so I don’t care.

    • If he adheres to his campaign promises even modestly, I cannot see Mayor Bronson directing ANY employees of the municipality, including the police, to enforce this illegal and outrageously coercive mandate. But even if he backs down and does not prohibit enforcement of this dehumanizing and ridiculous law, I believe that there are enough of us who will simply not comply to render it effectively null and void.
      .
      Civil disobedience is the right, and the duty, of every citizen in the face of tyranny.

      • But even better to just wear a mask and follow the advice of the medical establishment. Wearing a mask is not a great inconvenience. And if people would just do so, we would be able to slow the spread of the virus and bring this situation to an end much faster.

        • “If people would just do so…”
          yikes, Rick.
          You suggesting everyone line up and it will all go away? Toes to the line to slow the spread of the virus?
          You and other suggest compliance will “Bring this situation to an end much faster?”
          Wasn’t that the same mantra we’ve heard from the beginning when we did comply? How many ‘weeks’ to flatten the curve Rick? How many has it been? Where is that curve now – what is the prediction it will EVER end!! PFFFTTTT
          Check facts before using emotions and ‘good’ intentions to control the masses!

        • Rick, where have you been? Remember the “slowing the spread” last March? Didn’t do anything. Then mask mandate until this May, but the virus is still here. Instead of slowing it, we have prolonged it. The continuous insistence that there are not drugs available to treat this, keeps it going.
          I get that living in the past here works for you, but it does not work for the rest of us. Also anytime someone quotes the “Medical establishment” it makes me queasy as establishment is exactly what health care has become, a sinister way to take Americans for a ride they do not want to be on. I long for the days when it was my doc and I looking at all the options, instead of some idiotic real estate guy flexing his ill-deserved power.

    • It’s a bluff to get businesses to act, just like Biden’s press release that he was going to issue an Executive Order requiring vaxx mandates…

      • Biden wasn’t bluffing, Summer. Just ask Rupert Murdock and all those on-screen blokes and sheilas working for him on-air at FOX NEWS. Per POTUS mandate requirements, FOX News — and also 20th Century Fox including FOX Sports — are 100% compliant.

        • Sophie, for once I agree with you — FOX News is just as compromised, co-opted and corrupt as any of the other corporate media outlets. And it is, after all, part of the CORPORATE media, so why would anyone expect anything else from them?
          In fact, in some ways FOX disgusts me even more than the other corporate media outlets, because they pretend to be anti-establishment and pro-freedom, when they actually usually just throw a veneer of such opinion over the much vaster bulk of establishment, pro-status-quo propaganda that they share with the other corporate media. A classic wolf in sheeps’ clothing.

      • Ya, Psaki won’t give a straight answer on what the timeline is. Just that they are working on it. The press pressed her on this and now supposedly there’s a rough draft of guidelines that OSHA finally created and has been sent to the White House for review. We shall see. So far it could be a bluff and if it is not, they are jerking around companies by not saying when it will be coming down the pipe. I’m sure they want to avoid actually doing it if they can so the companies are stuck with the legal battles and not the White House. Especially because some governors have already beat them to punch and banned vaccine mandates. W h a t a m e s s.

    • How do we get control back of the meetings? These employees are rogue, out of control and constantly out to lunch. Two people there at that to subjugate their employers. Wart is wrong witb this picture. Until you can articulate an answer turn off your television.

  2. “https://www.efundraisingconnections.com/c/KathyHenslee/”

    Stephanie is endorsed by Mayor Bronson! We must support her so we can defeat Forrest Dunbar!

    “https://www.efundraisingconnections.com/c/StephanieTaylor”

    • There is no reason to give Stephanie Taylor any funds. Because Dunbar is such a good progressive, he will reject his white privilege and show his dedication to equity and equality and not run for reelection. This will allow the black female to run unopposed.
      .
      Yeah…. right. I have already donated.

  3. Bill was forced to wear a mask despite a health condition that made it dangerous for him to do so. If he indeed has passed he will be very much missed.

  4. Bill Topel is a good man. Christopher Constant is not. Absolutely disgusting comments from Christopher Constant, somehow trying to put Jamie Allard in a bad light because she is helping the Topel family. From what I understand, Mr. Topel is about 70 years old and had a major heart attack in 2011 and has an enlarged heart. He has been suffering for a longtime. But Christopher Constant is filled with hate and has no compassion. Constant is garbage. Constant is out of control and is literally out of his mind with his attempts to maintain his fiefdom along with the rest of the leftwing loonies in the Anchorage Assembly. Disgraceful. But they have no grace.

      • Strength in numbers, Frank. Let’s get 10 or 20 of us who value freedom and not corporate-enforced medical fascism, and boldly walk through their doors without paying heed to their pathetic whining that we dehumanize ourselves and bow to rogue Marxist autocrats in the Anchorage Assembly. What are they going to do, arrest us? Call the police? LOL.
        .
        All it takes is a relatively few people who are committed to standing up for their rights, and tyranny will crumble. Their power is an illusion based on the propaganda that we freedom-lovers are few and along. But we are neither.

        • Strength in numbers, Frank. Let’s get 10 or 20 of us who value freedom and not corporate-enforced medical fascism, and boldly walk through their doors without paying heed to their pathetic whining that we dehumanize ourselves and bow to rogue Marxist autocrats in the Anchorage Ass-embly. What are they going to do, arrest us? Call the police? LOL.
          .
          All it takes is a relatively few people who are committed to standing up for their rights, and tyranny will crumble. Their power is an illusion based on the propaganda that we freedom-lovers are few and alone. But we are neither.

        • Yes, Jeff, as a matter of fact, they will call the police. That IS what COSTCO does now. Watch more Tik Tok. Grandkids and Tiktok keep one up on “Today’s local terrorist Top 10”– there’s always at least ONE anti-mask madman such as yourself in a COSTCO.

          • Sophie, you are simply full of bluster and hot air. When these stores cannot be bothered to call the police to confront and arrest obvious SHOPLIFTERS and THIEVES, they sure as Hell are not going to confront or arrest somebody for simply not wearing a face diaper. And Mayor Bronson has indicated that in any case, there will be NO enforcement of this ordinance, and no fines or fees associated with violating it. So go peddle your BS and self-righteous bullying elsewhere, Sophie.

          • That’s funny. You use TikTok. I actually use my eyeballs. Was in there last weekend and some staff weren’t even wearing masks, oh excuse me, some anti-mask madmen that work at Costco weren’t wearing masks. Many of them actually. You better crack the case before those terribly scary people overthrow the assembly and kill your grandpa, if they haven’t already. They are the extremist animals, not you of course. You better head to Australia too. They could use more people like you down there. I bet you come from a long heritage of crack enforcers that shot and killed people in San Francisco during the Spanish Flu for not wearing masks. Can you imagine how many more people could have died of the Spanish Flu if those people were allowed to live?

            Boy Sophie, it’s good thing you aren’t using your last name here. This isn’t a flattering look.

  5. Devious, destructive, disingenuous, duplicitous hypocrite, thy name is radical leftist.
    .
    NOW we will have the test of Mayor Bronson’s real character, and the level of his commitment to his campaign promises, in how he addresses this illegally passed, disgustingly coercive and divisive measure.
    At the very least, he can (and should) declare that no enforcement of this measure will be made by any municipal employee. At best, he will declare the ass-embly to have acted in a rogue and illegal manner, and declare their mask measure automatically null and void.
    .
    As for myself, I will simply NOT COMPLY! And I am fully prepared for the potential consequences of my non-compliance. I make my stand here!

      • I will boldly walk through their doors WITHOUT a mask! What are they going to do, arrest me? They have no power over me, and no right to demand that I bow to and obey rogue ass-embly tyrants and their illegal mandate.

        • I agree that you should test the waters and try to walk into any business w/o a mask on but if they ask you to leave I hate to play devils advocate costco is a private business and you should respect property rights of individuals and businesses. on the other hand the feds, state and city have no such rights especially the library in midtown

          • I was in Costco last weekend and a good 20-30% of the people weren’t wearing masks (myself included), including the staff. So even Costco, who has been the gold standard for mask wearing in the past, as a private business doesn’t even want to do what the assembly wants to make them do. Many people spend too much time looking at their phone and not at the world around them, and yet they are the ones that demand everyone do as they do because they think they are wiser and more aware than the rest.

        • Frank loves Costco for their bargain toilet paper. He needs a great deal of it, and on a regular basis, with all the cr@p that he is constantly ejecting.

  6. The assembly majority are useless humans, using their postition for monetary gain and to invoke tyranny where freedom once lived. It is past time to take these people to court for their illegal activities.

  7. Dr. Michael Savitt, chief medical officer at the Anchorage Health Department said “As a courtesy to the Assembly, because you requested we wear masks, I’m wearing one. I don’t need a mandate to tell me to wear a mask,” and “The point is that we have trended downward for almost a month now without a mask mandate.”
    .
    In statement absolutely loaded with unintended irony Assembly member Kameron Perez-Verdia told chief medical officer at the Anchorage Health Department Dr. Savitt to “give us solely his medical advice, not his political advice.” In so doing Kameron Perez-Verdia admitted that the mandate they were about to pass was nothing more than a political act.

          • Ok, you are officially dense and holding on with white knuckles. Read things again and then take a deep breath to see how the dots connect. It’s ok man. I made an even bigger mistake with Steve-O and I had to apologize. If I can do it, so can you. I feel like a better man actually because I did. It was tough, but once I did, it relieved a lot of anxiety and I felt better. Honest. I am being sincere.

          • You evidently think you can speak for Steve-O, who hasn’t responded to my comment.
            He doesn’t really have a horse in this race (by his own words) but his bias on mask mandates is what drove his BS comment IMO.

          • I’m telling ya. It isn’t what Steve-o is saying. It’s what Kameron is admitting to unknowingly. Steve-o is just pointing it out. My wife is pro mask and even pro mandate. But she doesn’t like at all how this assembly is behaving. This assembly has lost the plot. It’s ok to not go down with this sinking ship. But to each their own. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink. I know I’m sounding arrogant but I’m sincerely just trying to help you out with respect.

          • Save it Justin for someone who cares. And your wife doesn’t have a single thing to do with my comment either-or Steve-O’s for that matter.
            Not my problem that you have such anxiety, either.

          • Alright Bill. I tried. You have no credibility until you can pull your head out of your… By the way, I can sense your anxiety in the way you lash out And I will save it for someone that cares which I thought maybe was you.
            Good luck.

          • Bill,
            I’m not certain what it is you want me to respond to. I quoted the Dr. and the assemblyman. The assemblyman wanted medical advice not political advice, read what the doctor said and then what the assemblyman said. This mask mandate isn’t a medical issue but a political one, certainly there could be a medical mask mandate this just isn’t it.
            .
            What bias do you think I have Bill? I wear actual N95 masks when I am in settings that require it, legally, or because I deem it prudent. I understand that constitutionally speaking local governments and states have the regulatory ability to mandate public heath measures, I understand that private business can also mandate certain things from employees as well as people who enter their premises, I also understand that as enacted this mask mandate does not appear to be legal in numerous regards. So, once again Bill, what exactly is my mask bias and what does it have to do with what the assemblyman said about what the doctor said?

          • Steve-O, your bias is in opposing mask mandates and thus you can’t be objective here.
            As you said you did quote those folks and I have no issue with them. My issue is with your conclusion as it’s just your opinion as it’s not anywhere in her quote IMO.
            I agree this mask mandate is not a medical issue but is a health care one.
            And Savitt is out of his league. This pediatrician group has it right about him.
            That assemblyman did not admit that this was a political act, either. Your opinion only.

          • Bill,
            That’s pretty funny right there.
            .
            You’ve finally figured out that people have opinions and they share them in the comment section. Well done sir, well done.
            .
            Does your opinion about my opinion mean that you are biased and therefore your opinion is meaningless? I submit, based upon your line or reasoning that it does. Maybe next time save yourself some time and keep your opinion about my opinion to yourself, or just don’t tell me that my opinion is my opinion…I already know that valuable piece of information and I don’t need you to tell me that.

      • You should pay attention Bill Yankee, Steve-O quoted Dr Savitt and Perez completely verbatim and accurate, Verdia tacitly admitted that the mandate was no more than a childish political act.

        • You seem to place a lot of your comment on the word “tacitly.” I don’t buy your thinking here for a minute.
          Steve-O has an issue with these mandates but his bias is why he thinks like you. What’s your excuse??

    • Steve, I am quite surprised, and pleasantly so, by the implicit tone of your post here! And you are indeed correct and on-point — this coercive measure is not about public health at all, but is purely political, partly as a snub and an attack against Mayor Bronson, who ran on an explicitly anti-mandate platform earlier this year, but also as a way to, once again, demand and coerce EVERYONE to act, live, behave and think as THEY, the Marxist Nine on the municipal ass-embly, would act, live, behave and think. This measure is about nothing more than the raw and naked exercise of power, by sociopathic individuals who believe, in their boundless arrogance and self-righteousness, that THEY are always correct, that they are our masters and lords, and that we have no fundamental rights or duties other than to blindly obey them. But they are, as almost always, wrong.

      • Jeff,
        You shouldn’t be surprised in the least. Had you paid attention to anything I’ve written you would know that I am not in favor of government mandates. Yes, local and state governments have the constitutional authority to issue mandates and the president has certain limited abilities to issue mandates as well, but we as a people should do our part to ensure they are not required.
        .
        As far as the mandate that the Los Anchorage assembly just passed, I very much doubt its legality given the way they went about passing it.
        Since I’m not a resident of Los Anchorage I will let others worry about that.

        • OK, fair enough Steve, at least here on this matter.
          .
          As for the mandate itself, I strongly suspect that you are correct, that it will not legally stand due to how it was passed, for multiple reasons. And if it does survive legal scrutiny and court challenges, I would hope that Mayor Bronson will find recourse within the municipal charter to declare it null and void. And if THAT does not work, then I am all but certain that there will such public mass non-compliance with the ordinance that it will be effectively rendered null and void.

  8. Sorry, illegally passed ordinance will not make the public comply with a mask mandate. This man made virus is not going away any time soon and be d—- if I will wear a mask around town.

      • The mandate is illegal, unenforceable and unenforced.
        WE WILL NOT COMPLY!
        .
        But you go be a “good German” and a good lackey, Frank, if you want to.
        What flavor do you taste when you lick those boots?

      • How is your living room Frank? This ordinance reads “…or which are communal spaces shared with other individuals not of the same household.” This was intended I am sure to include the private clubs, dorm rec rooms etc.

        However, picture this:

        Your quilting circle meets at your house and voila one can argue that your living room becomes a communal space. So if you and your quilting buddies don’t wear a mask you are in violation of this EO.

        Frankly, Frank, even if you are for this mandate, you should be appalled at the underhanded and sneaky way it came about, as this is NOT AO2021-91 but a completely new ordinance that was not even allowed to see the light of the assembly chamber before it was passed.

  9. Need to vote out these backstabbing pieces of c—. They don’t care what public thinks. They are “comply or we will punish you.” Disgusting

    • Only a sick individual would find value in the eruption of babies. No wonder you want to wear a diaper on your face.
      Seek help.

    • No one is stopping you from wearing a mask honey! If it makes you sleep better and all. Wear two or three just to be sure!! Maybe throw a plastic bag over your head first as well!

    • Let’s see those 3,000 emails Brin! Think that the Assembly will show them to the public. Ha ha.
      When someone makes the effort to drive to the Assembly meeting, wait for hours or even a day or more to testify, that shows sincere belief in their position. Filling out a pre programmed online email showing support most all of which say exactly the same thing shows a lack of sincerity. Why don’t you make a copy of what you sent in Brin and post it here. Won’t happen will it?

      • Why would a sane person go to an assembly meeting packed with unmasked Covid deniers who were screaming and yelling during a surge in the pandemic to give public testimony? Just last week several of the unmasked heroes of the folks who flock to this website, like Amy Dumbowski and Jamie Allard, contracted Covid, possibly because they attended last week’s meetings unmasked along with their right-wing moron base. You folks are being manipulated by conservative political operatives to think you are taking a stand for freedom by refusing to wear a mask. Maybe you should all trying wearing dunce caps instead.

    • The “babies” showed up every night for seven nights and stood in line for hours fighting for what they believed in. You wrote an email. Not particularly impressive.

      • More correctly, assuming, arguendo, that the emails even exist, all we know is that somebody wrote some emails. Give me a union’s members contact list, something they have produced for them with public funds, and I’ll give you an email from everyone on that list.

        • Please, Art, no one but those mandated to be there, and the membership of the slow-motion coup of American democracy, aka Save Anchorage, could get in the Assembly Chambers. Don’t pretend the outcome wasn’t engineered otherwise.

    • You seem oddly proud of having the full weight and force of the government telling you that you must wear a face diaper, because you are not capable of making that decision on your own.
      Tell us again….who are the babies here?

    • Good for you brin, you want a elbow bump for being a self righteous smug dictator’s assistant who cares nothing for anyone who disagrees with you? Those of you who wish to live in fear and tyranny ought to go find yourselves another town out in the barrens. Maybe you can hide from Covid and freedom and conscience and common sense there and leave the rest of us out of your disgusting clutches.

    • It’s called a mayoral race and the people have already spoken OFFICIALLY and the assembly made it very clear they didn’t care. You call us names and mock what the majority want. You truly are acting like a child and don’t care at all what this ordinance and this pandemic has done to this community.

    • So wear a mask or two and get your vaccine and boosters! Stay home and hide under your bed. Also show me any document that certifies your right to a germ-free environment. I’ll wait. Why are you worried about what I do if you’re so well protected?

    • this is the only reason for this order. they love punishing their political enemies. just remember brin the pendulum always swings the other way. smile now cry later

    • Nobody believes 3k people sent them emails supporting a mask mandate, liberals love making stuff up, just like you did…….lol.

  10. “United States v. Throckmorton, 98 U.S. 61 (1878). … Fraud vitiates every contract, decree or judgment.”Or is the Royal High Court of The Anchorage Assembly unaware of any law that overrides theirs in totality? When the lawsuits ruin the city…will there be any Anchorage Assembly left? No, because under the 1963 mandatory boroughs act (of London, yes England), the Greater Anchorage Area Borough was incorporated on January 1, 1964. As such, it is a for profit business incorporated entity subsidiary of the Corporation known as The United States and can be sued into bankruptcy oblivion. Don’t forget: if Corporation are People, then People are Corporations and YOU are an employee (with 3 minutes to speak your peace). ~Keep it real!

  11. It matters not. I live free.
    Interesting how they underhandedly gave power to the hospitals to determine public policy. We did not elect a hospital into government.

    • This totalitarian move by the assembly only proved our point, this is not about our health, it’s about power. Constant, once again, proved what a giant immature toddler he is. He is so egocentric, he ignored Robert’s Rules of Order just to sit on his soapbox and preach his insane ideologies. Here is a tip Constant, shut up, no one is listening.

    • The illegal government also underhandedly coerced businesses to infringe upon the inherent rights of the people.

      • Many businesses already have mask mandates, the mandate is good for business. Your inherent rights are not infringed by this manate

        • Frank, you neither know nor understand the first thing about rights, as you have repeatedly and consistently proven both here and in the hyper-censored gulag of a ‘forum’ in the comments section of the online ADN for years.
          .
          You think that you are so self-righteous in your smug and overbearing arrogance, just like the Ass-embly Marxist Nine, but I suspect that in reality it unnerves you to find people who are not the craven and servile lackeys and conformists that you are, but who are willing to stand up for their rights and their freedom.
          .
          Face it, Frank: this illegal mandate will be nullified by mass non-compliance, even if Mayor Bronson and his administration do not declare it so due to the gross illegality of its passage in the ass-embly.

        • it should be up to the business to decide whether or not forcing masks on customers is good for them not politicians, the least essential people in society . before this mandate i would respect a business if they chose to force mask wearing in their stores (by not frequenting their establishment) now I will simply not wear a mask and see whether or not they ask me to leave. do you see the kind of pickle the assembly has laid upon local business (im sure you dont) but hey what do they care its none of their concern they bare no responsibility of enforcement theyll leave it up to a cashier or another low level employee to confront the public on their behalf over a mask mandate that failed so badly last year they felt they had to reinstate their failed lock downs and the insanity continues

          • Your concern for the cashier or low level employee is commendable, but YOU are the public they will have to confront. YOU’RE the one that’s going to be a PITA.

          • Sure Evan it’s gonna be me and about half of anchorage but what’s the root cause of the problem here,that ain’t me
            The assembly had 150 million dollars did they strengthen the hospital system ,no they bought real estate. did they hire nurses, no they locked down the city and crushed businesses and people
            THEY HAD 150 MILLION DOLLARS with no restrictions on that money and instead of helping they created trails , hired PC thugs to enforce their rules and gave a fortune to non profit partisan political groups instead of hiring the medical professionals to keep the hospitals out of crisis standard of care. But I guess it’s all my fault Lulz

        • Oh give him a break! He read that oxymoronic piece in the ADN that claimed that masks will set you free, because the government will allow you out and about.
          What was the name of the horse in “Animal Farm” again???

    • True. But what are you actually gonna do? Protests from a keyboard mean nothing.

      Alaska conservatives (national, too) talk big and do little. That’s how we got here.

  12. Thank you to Allard and Kennedy for doing your part to stop this. We’ve stopped watching Netflix, and Woke sports, and you are our new heroes. You will have more like minded assembly members shortly- we guarantee it.

  13. I think we need to take a look at who is pulling the strings here, as I do not believe any of these Leftist Assembly members are smart enough to do so on their own.

  14. Not only do these petty tyrants have no regard for the people, they have no regard for the law. They will do whatever they can get away with – break laws, declare pretend “emergencies,” violate the will and consent of the People, to push their agenda forward. As long as we the People let them get away with it. They are lawless. There is no emergency. Just say NO! Do not comply with the lie.

    • They don’t have any idea what science is. They believe it is a liberal in a white coat. They believe it is the corrupt fda. Ha!

  15. What trick?
    There was no trick. A trick requires deception and misdirection. The Assembly did none of those. It was apparent to anyone with an IQ above room temp that they were going to pass the mandate, regardless of the public’s wishes.
    .
    Last time I checked, the representatives were supposed to represent the people that elected them. Not lord over them.

  16. This is going to get tied up in legal battles because of the way they passed it (and other reasons too), and the saga will go on and on. All at the expense of tax dollars and civility of our community. This is going to drive a wedge in the community that will leave a scar that will last longer than covid. And unfortunately many of these assembly members aren’t going up for re-election for awhile. So there will be more recalls perhaps too. What a disaster. These guys and providence are a disgrace and should not be proud of how they are trying to govern the public during a pandemic. They have no idea what they are doing and don’t care either because they have toxic levels of arrogance.

    More to come people even after the pandemic unless we put fauci on trial and prove him guilty of the heinous crimes against humanity that he has committed and make sure those who collaborated with him go with him. Only then will all of these people finally put their tails between their legs and be embarrassed for saying they were following “science”.

      • Thanks Jefferson. I am a little obsessed honestly and have a lot on my mind that needs to get out there because it’s not welcome at home. My wife is a moderate liberal that works in the medical industry and I have had to arm myself and pick my battles very carefully (we are an opposites attract couple. I like to play with fire). It has forced me to rise to the occasion. Otherwise I would have bought a big boat and cruised off and asked someone to let me know when it’s all over. It’s nice to come here and let loose. My bs radar was going off big time as soon as I heard about a coronavirus coming out of China and I am truly baffled that grown adults and educated professionals that study epidemiology all over the world have no concept of the nocebo effect or the “trolly problem” or how things like this can induce mass hysteria. Or perhaps they do and Fauci just made everyone scared to go against the grain because all doctors understand that if a patient dies on their table no matter what they do and they don’t follow high level guidelines, they will have the weight of guilt and strong accusations coming at them even though they probably don’t deserve either. And nobody wants that. But I saw pipsqueak epidemiologists that either got giddy to discover how contagious and threatening the virus was and couldn’t wait to tell the world how scared everyone should be or they scared themselves senseless. I don’t think the fda and cdc should be trashed. I think there needs to be an entire paradigm shift in the medical field that kicks out big pharma’s influence on their education and that throws epidemiology, fda, cdc, the WHO and pharmaceutical ads on news outlets and many other things into the waste bin and lit on fire. I would stand back too because the smoke would smell like bull pucky and probably would give you something worse than the lab generated coof

        Anyway, I pickup a lot of good info on here and really appreciate the camaraderie, you of course included. Fist bump.

        • Thanks for all that, Justin. I have a much better picture of you as an individual as a result. And I agree with you about the insidious and parasitical medical-pharmaceutical-industrial complex, and how it has trapped so many of us in its ever-growing tentacles. Myself fortunately not included — aside from suffering a back injury in a fall a few years ago, for which there was no real treatment anyway, I have not been to a doctor in almost 25 years, and I try to stay as far away from them and hospitals as possible.
          Oh, and four years ago I managed to diagnose, myself, a serious life-long health problem that numerous doctor visits, and endless tests over the decades, could somehow never figure out. I have now been successfully treating this condition, despite conventional medical advice that such attempts are all but useless. So I hardly need to tell you how I generally feel about doctors, or the entire medical industry.

          • Oh I didn’t have this opinion of the medical establishment until Covid. Not all docs are bad and many of them are fine in their specialty even though many are arrogant jerks. But now I see how messed up and easily corrupt the industry is. I work in it so I always knew it was bad, but I never knew it would have this kind consequence.

  17. Tyranny. But let’s pray God’s truth will penetrate all these lies and evil. God will prevail at the end of all things, and we must keep that in mind as this evil pervades our society.

      • What are you hoping to accomplish here Evan? So far you have just attempted to offend, annoy, or kick the sand of shame in people’s faces while you yourself behave like you should never be ashamed for offending anyone. None of that is persuasive and only causes further divide. Honestly you really seem like you’re full of hate that has turned you into a bigot that just wants to come here and poke people in the eye.

  18. What nobody is talking about: Biden does not have the authority to impose a mask mandate. This supposed authority is what our Assembly is basing their rules on.

    “The president cannot impose a nationwide mask mandate, and Biden knows that” -South Texas College of Law Professor Joshua Blackman

    “There appears to be no legal authority that would allow a US president to enact a nationwide mask mandate.” -CNN

    “the Commerce Clause does not empower Congress “to regulate individuals precisely because they are doing nothing.” It suggests that a broad mandate (e.g., one that generally requires individuals to wear masks) maybe particularly susceptible to challenge because such a mandate could be construed as compelling individuals who are “doing nothing” to engage in an activity—mask wearing—that is not even a commercial activity.” -Chief Justice Roberts, SCOTUS

  19. There is no scientific proof that masks will stop COVID transmission- this would require experiments putting masked and unmasked people in controlled contact with infected people to see what happens. If such an experiment were conducted, chances are the masked group would suffer similar rates of infection – particularly if the people in the experiment treated mask use, donning, doffing and storage in the casual, haphazard way that we have all become accustomed to. I guess the leftist Anchorage Assembly needs another ordinance so the government can fine people when they touch the outside of their mask or recklessly stuff it in their pocket after use… Or maybe they should focus on something more productive.

    • Last I looked all of the cdc cited studies either only go back in time to review data from uncontrolled samples, use a lab environment with manikins, or have a sample size of 300 or less. There is a danish study that actually prepared a study proactively and used 3000 people. They gave 1500 people masks and the other 1500 didn’t have masks. After the study time period 48 of the masked participants got covid. 52 of the unmasked got covid. Their conclusion was that masks might help but if they do it’s very marginal. The cdc and Fauci’s response to that study is “too small of a sample size”. It’s like no one actually looks at alternative data that hasn’t received the blessing from cdc and fda.

  20. I am not a lawyer, don’t play one on TV or stayed at a Holiday Inn last night….but this in my humble opinion does not pass legal muster.
    The assembly has no power to declare an emergency, so the EO designation does not fly. The federal emergency order applies to federal agencies not to the entire country, as it would violate state’s rights.

    Excluding or removing the public is a clear violation of the open meetings rule.

    Claiming that this was an emergency ordinance that requires no public debate, is clearly false, as it has already been debated for several nights. As the most egregious amendments were removed according to this article, clearly indicating prior public input.

    By claiming that the mask ordinance would be discussed in another meeting, one could argue that the assembly deliberately mislead the public and any work product from that action should be null and void.

    This item was not on the agenda as posted. One wonders if there are internal emails that would be discoverable.

    Of note by exempting the executive branch the entire premise of this ordinance is in question. Either it is an “emergency for all” or it is NOT an emergency at all.

    • Excellent points, AFH. But the Marxist Nine have a well-known, and so far repercussion-free, history of violating the municipal charter willy-nilly, such as their refusal to hold a special election to replace Mayor Berkowitz when he resigned. They are a rogue body that holds little if any legitimacy, and it is our right and duty to refuse to obey their illegal and authoritarian mandates.

  21. Out of morbid curiosity…what happened to the Antifa, Union rally ? Did nobody show up or are they keeping their powder dry to show up Thursday for the over-ride? Anyone know??

    • A few showed up outside with signs. It was not a very photogenic crowd. The Thursday meeting has now been canceled. – sd

      • Well then, how about a few dozen of us show up at the library anyway, WITHOUT masks, to protest both the coercive mask ordinance, and the cowardly ass-embly’s devious deception in passing this illegal ordinance late in Tuesday’s meeting, cancelling the previously scheduled public testimony? Let’s give our OWN testimony, to whoever cares to show up and listen!

  22. Need to show up by the 100s at Costco to refund our memberships. Boycott all businesses like Cabellas that force people to wear masks.

    • With no associated fines for violations, and the mayor declaring that there will be no enforcement of this ordinance, I can’t see any upside to businesses being Nazis about it, and lots of downside to them trying to be so.

      • Businesses need to toughen up and tell the assembly to pound sand! Also, ban the leftists on the assembly from your businesses.

        • X100 on your last point, Tony!
          These power-hungry, deceitful, malicious sociopaths who constitute the Marxist Nine should be identified, shunned and ostracized by every decent and right-thinking member of this community. I know that if any of them approach my own business, I will tell them just where to go and just what to do when they get there.

  23. Mayor, good.
    Assembly, bad.
    Mask mandate, jack-assery.
    Mask, I refuse.
    Repeat: I refuse.
    I no longer accept b.s. “mandates” from smug, sneaky, disingenuous, anti-citizen, jack booted, tin horn leftist punks.
    Thank you for your support.

  24. Was that a freudian typo? Did Mayor Bronson really say, referring to the assembly, “They have broken the pubic trust”? Maybe I should have better taste than to laugh at such… but it sure seems apropos.

  25. “anti-citizen”? A mask and a vaccine would help you become “pro-citizen” Tony.

    Your side gets so self righteous – “Repeat: I refuse”. Others here threaten violence with veiled threats. God or Jesus are conscripted to justify the contempt. Irrational legal statements, horribly misguided attacks on those that save our lives and flimsy claims of contradictory political ideologies like fascism and Marxism lodged against sensible folks like me is all you have. None of your stuff is constructive; none is true.

  26. The moderator of this website removes comments that challenge the prevailing narrative being promoted here. For all of the talk of freedom, this website does not permit opposing views to be expressed? Why? Because Suzanne Downing is a right-wing political operative involved in trying to enrage and energize the conservatives who frequent this website. My guess is that this comment will be deleted within 3 minutes of my posting it, like several others I turned to post tonight.

    • Rick, welcome to MRAK. I have to go through over 500 comments a day. Your prior comment was uncivil and I did delete it. Try again. Thanks for your comment. – sd

  27. The ‘Marxist’ nine apparently misunderstand a very fundamental fact…

    It is the ‘seat’ that is representative of the community, not the ‘individual’ that sits within it…

    That is, the individual that occupies the ‘seat’ is not representative unto themselves and their ideological stance over the ‘seat’ they sit upon….

    Allard and Kennedy understand this…

    The Marxist 9, apparently, do not….

    The ‘seat’, as it were, is a foundation of representation, no matter who sits within said ‘seat’, that is, the ‘seat’ is to represent ALL citizens that reside within that ‘seats’ district, without ideology nor political leanings…that is, being an equal representation of the citizenry within that district…

    The Marxist 9 believe that they somehow ‘own’ that seat because they sit upon it, when in fact, they do not.

    Their ideology is not representative equally amongst those that reside within that ‘seats’ district, and never shall be, as the ‘seats’ power, and equality, supersedes that of the ideology of the individual sitting within it…

    Unto the Marxist 9…

    You do not hold the power you think you do, as you are only ideologues that happen to sit upon a chair you believe holds some power for you, when it is the ‘seat’ that holds the power, not you.

    You, without the power of the ‘seat’, means nothing, and honestly, that is what the all of you are, nothing.

    You have no power over me, nor any other citizen within this Municipality, unless they give you said power over them, which, of course, is their choice, and of course, I, as an Individualist Libertarian, would allow them that choice, so long as their choice does not encroach upon mine own…

    You, the Marxist 9, can pontificate, threaten, obfuscate, and mandate all you like, as it means nothing, literally nothing, to me, and, well, you can all pound sand, and I wish you enjoyment within doing so…

    After you are gone, and you shall be eventually so, the ‘seat’ shall still remain, despite your best efforts to not make it so…and you shall become the nothing you were before your supposed ascendance unto your perceived power….

    And what then shall you become?

    The miserable, self-hating shrews that you are now….but without the ‘seats’ of perceived power that you currently sit within, thinking erroneously, somehow, that you own said ‘seats’ as your own….

    I cannot wait for that day to come…

  28. Nice thought but not backed by science. Plus, have you seen the number of high ranking Dems who have been caught on video wearing them for photo ops and then taking them off? Wake up. You are welcome to wear one if you wish, but I refuse, except at work, where I must or lose my job. The tinhorn leftist despots can kiss my bottom.
    Research how socialists take over and get back tonus.

  29. Has it been confirmed by Allard’s staff/office that she does in fact have Covid? Will she be in attendance for the
    vote at tonight’s
    (Thurs. 10-14-21)
    Assembly meeting?

  30. “https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/do-masks-actually-work-the-best-studies-suggest-they-dont?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=msn_feed”

Comments are closed.