Rivera to Mayor Bronson: "Reverse this dangerous precedent."

Last evening's assembly meeting was off the rails, but not because anyone burned a mask at the podium...that happened earlier this year. Instead, things were relatively quiet for most of the evening until debate began on Sami Graham, Mayor Bronson's choice to run the Anchorage Public Library.

Without reliving Mayor Bronson's Trump-like political spectacle, after his appointee was voted down 4-7, Bronson then appointed Graham as his new Chief of Staff, giving her a physical office in the Mayor's Office and the ZJ Loussac Library.

The insanity didn't end there, although many wish it had, as a statement was later released noting that Bronson had "delegated his authority to oversee the Anchorage Public Library" to Graham.

While showboating in front of his Save Anchorage fans, Mayor Bronson may have set up a showdown between his administration and the Anchorage Assembly.

In response to Bronson's powerplay, Assemblyman Felix Rivera, who was the subject of a political recall by supporters of the Mayor — wrote a statement on Facebook today saying that he has had concerns about the first eight weeks of the Bronson administration.

Acquiescing to the fact that Bronson does indeed have the authority to name Graham as his new Chief of Staff, Rivera wrote that he seriously questioned whether "the Mayor has the authority to delegate management of the Anchorage Public Library to a political position not subject to confirmation of the Assembly."

Rivera said in his statement that the Charter and Municipal Code are "very clear" and that the Mayor must appoint someone for executive positions and that the Assembly must cast a vote to confirm or not.

"I have clear concerns about a possible violation of the separation of powers doctrine, Charter, and Municipal Code. I strongly urge the Mayor to review these issues and reverse this dangerous precedent," Rivera wrote.

Rivera isn't alone in his concern.

Writing on Twitter last night, civil rights attorney Caitlin Shortell said Bronson's move might have "violated municipal law" and encouraged the Assembly to sue Bronson to protect against what she said was "the mayor's illegal usurpation of the Assembly's confirmation authority in the municipal code."

Another lawyer who practices in Anchorage opined that Bronson's power move to reorganize Municipal departments unilaterally might have violated AMC 3.20.010 and that delegating Library director duties to his new Chief of Staff might be illegal.

Shortell also noted that the Assembly has legal counsel and can sue the Mayor.