Mayor Bronson's Appointee In February, "No I Did Not" Write That.
Earlier this year, Anchorage school board candidate Judy Eledge caused a firestorm after locals began sharing concerning social media posts bearing Eledge's name in January. The social media posts generated such outrage and controversy that Alaska News Source Investigative Reporter Daniella Rivera interviewed Eledge about them in February.
Eledge was appointed director of the Anchorage Public Library system by Mayor Dave Bronson last Friday.
In her February interview with Eledge (which is still available), Rivera specifically asked her about a post bearing Eledge's name.
Rivera: "Did you write, 'how sad people of color have no self-esteem'?"
Eledge: "No, I did not."
Rivera: "So that was edited?"
Eledge: "I'm not going to respond. It wasn't even on my Facebook page when I went back."
In her interview, Eledge claimed some of the social media posts many felt were uncomfortable had been edited to smear her, although she did admit to writing some of the posts. The images bearing Eledge's name appeared to demonstrate Eledge linking gay and transgender individuals to pedophilia, criticizing Muslims, Alaska Natives, and people of color.
"In an effort to verify Eledge’s claims that the screenshots had been edited, Alaska’s News Source requested that she provide the original posts. She did not provide any proof and her Facebook account now appears to have been disabled," wrote Rivera.
But images provided to The Blue Alaskan perhaps tell a different story — raising questions about whether Eledge forgot, misspoke, or perhaps wasn't honest with tenacious truth seeker Rivera in her February interview.
The post in question, which Eledge told Rivera she did not write, appeared on Twitter on January 23, 2021. The subtle difference between the two screenshots is that the January image indicates the post was public. The newer screenshot indicates that the post is now only shared with Facebook friends.
A link to the Facebook post in question bearing Eledge's name is available, but unless you're a social media friend of Eledge, you wouldn't be able to view it due to the account's privacy settings. Still, interesting to note is that the post was commented on when it was publicly available, and that comment is still available at the time of this writing.
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.
Eledge, who told Alaska's News Source in February that she did not write the post, failed to address whether the post in question was edited or who may have written it.
