Wed, 05/19/2021 - 10:21am
Mayoral candidate Dave Bronson spoke to supporters gathered at the Main Event Grill after the polls closed during the runoff election on Tuesday, May 11. (Photo/Bill Roth/Anchorage Daily News)
Two things have become clear over the past four weeks in Anchorage, one that was always more certain than the other.
First, we found out that the Anchorage Assembly has, and indeed always had, the power to revise or revoke the emergency orders handed down from the mayor’s office.
Second, as Dave Bronson’s lead grew to 1,212 votes in the runoff election for mayor as of May 18, we have learned that contra the supposed conventional wisdom, an unapologetic and unashamed conservative can still win a citywide race in Anchorage.
Anchorage Assembly ends mask mandate, effective immediately Published 4 hours ago
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Print article The Anchorage Assembly on Friday revoked the city’s mask mandate, effective immediately, just hours after municipal officials initially announced that the mandate would become an advisory next week. The Assembly’s move upheld by Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson dismantles a mask requirement that has been in place since last June and marks the latest major shift in the city’s pandemic response after most restrictions on businesses and gatherings were lifted earlier this month. During a special meeting Friday afternoon, Assembly member Chris Constant proposed that the Assembly revoke the emergency order, and the move found wide support in an 8-1 vote.
Mayoral candidates Dave Bronson and Forrest Dunbar. (Photos/Anchorage Daily News)
Scotch tape is harder to see through than what the leftist leaders of the Anchorage Assembly pulled off at the April 27 meeting.
For a year, members Chris Constant and Forrest Dunbar have turned a deaf ear and struggled to disguise their disdain at the pleas of Anchorage business owners and residents being harmed by restrictions and closures that were further exacerbated by the Assembly’s mismanagement of $156 million in CARES Act economic relief funds.
Just two weeks after voting to uphold it, the pair teamed up to repeal nearly everything in the current Emergency Order that was issued by Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson in the faraway time of April 12.
Rivera reelected acting Anchorage Assembly chair following discussion over breakdown of meeting decorum
Print article The Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday night reelected Felix Rivera as acting chair and John Weddleton as acting vice chair. The vote came after members aired grievances and addressed growing tension over the last year among them, which last week culminated in a charged moment between Rivera and Jamie Allard. Municipal code requires that the Assembly select a chair and vice chair annually, by the third Tuesday following the election, and the city clerk conducted the vote by secret ballot. The Assembly also certified the results of the April 6 election at Tuesday’s special meeting.