From: Suzanne Downing, Must Read Alaska
Anchorage Assemblyman Forrest Dunbar told his fellow Assembly members last week that not only should the public not be allowed to vote on an ordinance that would ask voters if they want the Municipal Clerk to be elected, he didn’t even want to hear the public testimony on it.
The public, Dunbar said, spews misinformation about elections, and he was opposed to allowing the citizens to speak.
The ordinance, AO 2022-13, was offered by Mayor Dave Bronson in response to the discontent among many Anchorage voters about how elections are managed in Anchorage. The Clerk, who oversees Anchorage’s controversial elections, is beholden to a highly partisan Assembly. If elected, she would be responsible to the people.
“It has been the case in the last year or so that when we start to testify on items regarding elections, we tend to give a platform for people spewing misinformation on our elections…” Dunbar said.
The audience groaned and Chairwoman Suzanne LaFrance banged her gavel loudly so Dunbar could continue to describe his constituents.
The Assembly then voted 9-3 to table the ordinance indefinitely, effectively killing it, as requested by Dunbar.