Anchorage Assembly Passes Emergency Ordinances Following Demboski Allegations

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Members of the Anchorage Assembly held an emergency meeting Friday afternoon to address some of former City Manager Amy Demboski’s allegations that the Bronson administration is mismanaging resources from the city.

Assembly Deputy Speaker Christopher Constant said the assembly takes seriously a letter written by Demboski alleging irregularities, but that whether it turns out to be true, there are problems in the government of the city that need to be resolved.

We already know there have been incidents like the Tudor and Elmore project in which millions of dollars of work were authorized by a member of the administration without assembly approval, Constant said. We already know that there are facts that tell us we need to act and there are enough patterns that now is the time to act so that we can bring this into line and figure out how to proceed.

Assembly members passed three emergency ordinances.

EO 2023-1 concerns municipal boards and commissions. It was approved by a vote of 12 to 0 and allows certain council members whose terms have expired to continue serving until replacements are found so that councils and commissions have a quorum to conduct their business. .

EO 2023-2 pertains to contract monitoring and reporting, and was approved by a 10 to 2 vote. The ordinance limits what the administration can approve on its own. He requires that the assembly pre-approve any contract over $10,000. Amendments have been made to require assembly approval for by-laws for certain allegations of whistleblowing, discrimination and retaliation made by an employee.

EO 2023-3 clarifies the powers of the municipal ombudsman to investigate personnel matters within the municipality, and adopted 10-2. The order says the ombudsman has the right to access confidential personnel files during an investigation, although an amendment was made to prevent the copying or moving of such files.

The emergency ordinances will expire on March 21, although the assembly could vote to extend them.

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