In an interview Monday morning Anchorage Assemblyman Bill Evans confirmed that late last week he, Assemblywoman Jennifer Johnston, and Assemblyman Ernie Hall had all resigned from the Assembly’s Title 21 Committee, recently renamed the Community and Economic Development Committee.
The committee is chaired by conservative Assemblywoman Amy Demboski. Last week Demboski filled in on a conservative talk radio program and blasted Municipal Attorney Bill Falsey and Municipal Clerk Barbara Jones as working on behalf Assemblyman Bill Evans to protect the new ordinance adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the Muni’s anti-discrimination code from a referendum effort.
She said “There was a recall, referendum filed…the municipal attorney, in my opinion, and the municipal clerk, in my opinion, have absolutely circumvented that process.”
and
“He (Bill Falsey) worked for Bill Evans, wrote the law for Bill Evans…so now he’s trying to defend why it shouldn’t be repealed, in my opinion.”
Here is the full audio of her comments:
Audio Courtesy KFQD
These comments echoed an email Demoski sent to Assembly members last week.
Multiple sources familiar with the situation say these attacks on the integrity of the Municipal Clerk and Municipal Attorney over the LGBT ordinance lead to the mass resignation from Demboski’s committee.
When reached for comment, Assemblyman Bill Evans said the LGBT flap had nothing to do with his resignation, saying he felt the committee had completed its work. He did, however, refer questions to Assemblyman Hall and Assemblywoman Johnston for “More interesting reasons” for their resignations. Neither Hall nor Johnston returned phone calls or emails requesting comment on their resignations.
Assemblywoman Demboski did not answer an email requesting comment on this story.
Assembly Chairman DIck Traini, in an interview this afternoon, declined to comment on the resignations saying he “Doesn’t discuss personnel issues.”
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.