Controversial Appointees on Tuesday's Assembly Agenda
Oh boy.
This Tuesday, the Anchorage Assembly will make some tough choices as several of Mayor Bronson's appointees are up for confirmation.
Sign up to give public testimony by phone for this Tuesday's meeting.
Mayor Bronson's embattled Save Anchorage supporter James Wojciehowski is fighting to be confirmed to the Health and Human Services Commission. The Assembly postponed action on Wojciehowski's appointment in July after members of the public raised concerns about his past anti-mask testimony given in front of the assembly. He also asserted that the Assembly "and unelected acting Mayor’s” COVID-19 policies were “killing” people in the Municipality of Anchorage at “twice the rate of the Mat-Su.”
Mike Robbins was also a Save Anchorage member. He has been appointed as Executive Director of the Anchorage Community Development Authority. Robbins has a history of lawsuits, debt, and odd campaign expenditures, as reported by the mainstream media. He was president and director of Alaska company Romanian American Matrimonial Introduction Services, formed in 2001.
Save Anchorage member Andria Dolan is looking to be confirmed to the Anchorage Women’s Commission.
Dolan announced she filed her candidacy to run for assembly in District 5 at the end of July. On August 3, Dolan wrote she "had a beautiful walk" with Axiom Strategies backed Stephanie Flynn Taylor and threw support behind Taylor— later dropping out of the Assembly race.
In January, Dolan wrote on Facebook that she supported Blexit Alaska and sent a letter to Alaska Governor Michael Dunleavy expressing her "disappointment" that he had "ordered Ms. Jamie Allard removed from the human rights commission" after Allard defended Nazi terminology seen on an Alaska vanity license plate earlier this year.
Last September, Dolan posted a question to Save Anchorage asking why Dunleavy couldn't lift the COVID-19 restriction as Florida Governor DeSantis did. That same month, Dolan expressed interest in "recalling hapless mayor," former Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz.
In August, Dolan shared with Save Anchorage her belief that Anchorage School District student suicides were not a concern for Dr. Deena Bishop, writing that "they never have been in my personal experience, and since she refuses to follow actual science, we can all follow her motives." Dolan made her comment in response to a Must Read Alaska piece about "mask outrage."
The Bronson administration has tapped another anesthesiologist to serve! This time it's Shawn Michael Degler, appointed to the Health and Human Services Commission.
Dr. Degler, to nobody's surprise, has spoken against mask mandates at Assembly meetings. In front of the Assembly last June, Dr. Degler called mask requirements and lockdowns “unconstitutional overreach.”
Right-wing blog Must Read Alaska uploaded a video of Dr. Degler's testimony to YouTube. I hate linking to their dribble, but here it is. Degler is also directly mentioned in a June 25, 2020, Must Read Alaska blog post about "mask debate."
Embattled Save Anchorage member Sami Graham has been appointed director of the Anchorage Public Library. Graham has been backed by far-right groups hopeful she'll ban critical race theory books and end drag queen story hour, which, by the way, hasn't been held at APL for years. Graham also supported recall efforts related to Kameron Perez-Verdia and Austin Quinn-Davidson.
