Insiders Claim Homeless Coordinator No Longer with Health Department

Alaska Public Media reports that the Mayor's Office said D'Amato resigned and that neither D'Amato nor city officials gave a reason for his resignation after only three months on the job.

Original:

According to individuals who say they are familiar with the matter, Anchorage Homeless Coordinator, Dave D'Amato, is no longer with the Anchorage Health Department (AHD). D'Amato's name no longer appears on the AHD website.

The Bronson regime, not known for its transparency, has yet to announce D'Amato's departure publicly.

D'Amato was reportedly hired to lead a new division overseeing housing and homelessness in the Anchorage Health Department after Nicole Lebo, the former director of the human services division of AHD, was fired last November.

Last December, Alaska Public Media reported that D'Amato was "controversial in homeless advocacy circles because he has argued on social media and public testimony for using private security guards to keep homeless people from camping in public places, and for increasing prosecution of minor crimes like trespassing."

Much of that arguing was done in the shadowy far-right pro-Bronson Save Anchorage Facebook group, where he suggested holding homeless people "responsible for some progress" to be eligible for public services. D'Amato also said that donating to nonprofits that provide services to homeless people is "the worst possible thing to do with your money and for the community" because it perpetuates homelessness.

It's unclear if Mayor Bronson will ever understand that cronyism hurts his administration and the people he's supposed to serve.