Anchorage Public Liability: Judy Eledge
Far-right Bronson administration official Judy Eledge, who infamously called for the creation of a "white group" and whose ostensibly racist, bigoted, and overall grotesque social media posts ignited a firestorm of controversy—landing her on the front page of Alaska's News Source during her failed run for Anchorage School Board last year—appears to have suggested that a blog, perhaps The Blue Alaskan, may not only be illegal but that Anchorage Action co-founder Yarrow Silvers might be involved with the blog which might also mean that Eledge may have intended to suggest that by proxy, Silvers might be engaging in alleged illegal activity.
Eledge made her weird, baseless, and nonsensical comments at today's Redistricting Board hearing.
Eledge, Mayor Bronson's one-time unqualified pick to run the Anchorage Public Library (APL), resigned from her role as director to avoid Assembly confirmation. She now works as APL's deputy director, where not only has she removed LGBT books from library shelves but has also created such an incredibly toxic work environment that she has now managed to run off two longtime dedicated library employees.
It may very well be that Eledge, a former Save Anchorage member herself, holds similar free speech viewpoints to those of Anchorage Mayor David Bronson, who, in an interview, once suggested his administration had "enemies." I would be surprised to learn this as I hear through the rumor mill that some on the 8th floor are big fans of TBA.
Eledge's comments are also noteworthy because, so far as I am aware, no member of the Bronson (Save Anchorage) administration has ever spoken in opposition to social media posts and comments created by group members who have called for civil war and the storming of the Anchorage Assembly chambers. Given Mayor Bronson's relative silence on such free speech matters, it seems reasonable to infer that as big proponents of the First Amendment (at least where his supporters are concerned), Bronson's administration should have no issue with content published to an independently owned blog. I mean, it's not like I'm a Bronson supporter posting memes depicting people being hanged or anything.
It could also be that Eledge, as a member of the Bronson administration, intended her comments as a message, signaling that if they could, they would go after their perceived enemies in any way possible.
It's interesting, too, because the seemingly gender-obsessed Eledge has frequently availed herself of the First Amendment when, for reasons that aren't clear, she has found it prudent to weaponize her social media posts in an apparent effort to ridicule those whose sexual orientations and gender identities do not align with her own.
Anchorage resident Caroline Storm, in a February 2021 Anchorage Daily News Letter to the Editor titled 'No place for hate,' wrote that Eledge had "displayed blatant racism, homophobia, and transphobia, using biting and denigrating language" in her social media posts. But those social media posts didn't stop Mayor Bronson from embedding Eledge in the library, so clearly, free speech and stuff.
When interviewed by Investigative Reporter Daniella Rivera about the social media posts, Eledge claimed that some of the disgusting and offensive images in her Facebook posts had been altered to make her look bad but refused to identify which ones. Rivera asked to see her original social media posts, but Eledge refused and disabled her Facebook account.
Rivera then asked Eledge whether she was indicating that other than one particular photo, the other social media posts were false or altered.
I put Eledge's response to Rivera's question on a loop. Enjoy.
Oh, I almost forgot - further reading.
