Municipal Manager, Save Anchorage member & aggressive potty mouth

Until the last few seconds, the special meeting of the Anchorage Assembly was going about as you'd expect. Legal arguments were made, and members engaged in a lively and thoughtful debate as they considered overriding Mayor David Bronson's vetoes of AO's 2021-96, 97, and 98.

In the roughly six months Bronson has been mayor, we've learned that when things don't go his way, when he perceives someone has slighted him, or when he is challenged on matters related to the city — he becomes most disagreeable. It's safe to assume we can now consider that his most disagreeable manner is also shared by Municipal Manager Amy Demboski - and perhaps others in Bronson's administration.

In the closing comments portion of yesterday's special meeting of the Anchorage Assembly, Downtown Assemblymember Christopher Constant addressed previous comments he made that suggested people were being fired or feeling threatened into leaving their unprotected municipal jobs.

Alaska Public Media has reported on most of the city's firings and resignations, especially those associated with the Anchorage Health Department.

Constant told me that he felt compelled to speak after Demboski had all but demanded Chair LaFrance bring Constant to order during a sidebar at yesterday's meeting — accusing him of making salacious comments about the state of the administration.

"All I can say is [that] I have fielded so many calls from people in exactly that position that if the administration is not yet tuned into the fact that that's the perception of working executives of this municipality, then sorry for the cold awakening to the fact that those comments are coming to me so frequently, I'm hurting," Constant said in his closing remarks.

Constant also said that he believed there would be more firings and resignations coming down the pike soon and that there was nothing he could do about it as a legislator.

After Constant concluded his comments, Assembly Chair LaFrance adjourned the special meeting, and that's when the city's live feed captured approximately 6 seconds showing Municipal Manager Amy Demboski rushing down the center of the room, wildly pointing her finger at a dumbfounded Constant repeatedly saying, "That's bullshit, it's bullshit," as Constant responded, "It's true, it's true."

Demboski, who Mayor Bronson has said "runs the city," didn't portray the Save Anchorage Facebook group (of which Demboski is a member) in the most flattering light, raising concern amongst those on social media that her fellow group members who often parrot what is fed to them in the group's conspiracy filled trough, might too feel emboldened in the future to act out like an undisciplined child at future meetings of the Assembly.

I reached out to Constant this morning and asked if Demboski had apologized for her conduct. He responded, "No, and I don't anticipate one."

It's worth noting that in September, Anchorage Assembly member Jamie Allard instigated an alarming confrontation with Suzanne LaFrance after Allard accused her of lying during an Assembly meeting. LaFrance told me at the time that "Member Allard's actions were very concerning, as she seemed to be teetering on violent behavior."

For an administration that professes to know everything, they sure don't seem to know how to act appropriately in public, and some members of Bronson's administration appear to have pretty fragile personalities. If you thought the past six months have been crazy, hold onto your hats — this is likely just the beginning of concerning behavior we can expect to see on display by city officials.