Mike Porcaro and Crash discussed this on the Mike Porcaro Show on 9/28, snarked that the Assembly will now surround the dais with a moat, and will sit on Kings and Queens chairs.
Dan Fagan read this article during his 9/29 show, calling pompous Christopher Constant, who pushed this, “King Christopher.”
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Shutting the public down: Anchorage Assembly eliminates public participation at start of meetings
By Suzanne Downing -September 28, 2022
The half hour that has been reserved for audience participation during the early part of the Anchorage Assembly meetings is no more. The Assembly majority has killed it with a stealth move.
AO 2022-82 passed on Tuesday night, with a surprise amendment from Assemblyman Chris Constant, removing the “initial audience participation” that was given one half hour after some early business was taken care of by the Assembly. There will be a limited time for a member of the public to speak if that person has made an appearance request in advance. At this point, the reservations for those appearances are limited to three people, for three minutes each.
The title of the ordinance didn’t suggest that audience participation would be limited. That came from the surprise amendment by Constant, which passed. Assemblyman Felix Rivera, who usually votes with the leftist majority, broke from the majority to vote against the amendment.
The title of the ordinance gave no indication of what was coming: “Ordinance No. AO 2022-82, an ordinance of the Anchorage Assembly amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 2.30 Rules of Procedure for Assembly, Assembly Chair LaFrance and Assembly Vice-Chair Constant. P.H. 9-27-2022. 14.G.1. Assembly Memorandum No. AM 481-2022.”
Constant said the intent of having the public participation had failed, and the public can still testify at the end of the meeting and during any item on the agenda that allows testimony.
There were only about five people in the audience at the Assembly meeting by the time the item came up for a vote. Those observing said it appeared that Constant had pre-arranged it with the Assembly chair and others to slip the amendment in.
Public participation at the Assembly meetings is often contentious to the Assembly majority, with people using their three minutes to heap criticism on the Assembly for one transgression or another. The public testimony portion has been one of the more entertaining portions of the Assembly meetings, but clearly aggravates the liberal majority.
In the past 18 months, the Assembly has tightened other rules pertaining to participation and the public, such as cordoning off the area in front of the dais to prevent the public from approaching Assembly members. During the Covid pandemic, the Assembly severely limited the number of people allowed to attend Assembly meetings in person, and during that time angered the public by passing numerous controversial provisions.