Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson continued the tradition of awarding public funds to local nonprofits through the Mayor’s Community Grants program, however his 2023 selections are coming under scrutiny for favoring religious organizations and not being transparent about the selection process.
Bronson’s administration announced the awarding of $500,000 to 42 nonprofits in a July 21 press release, which included quotes from leaders of three organizations thanking Bronson for his support. The press release linked to the full list of awardees and the amount each was awarded, ranging from $3,000 to $50,000.
On July 24, the Current requested the grant applications and asked the Bronson administration about the program’s non-discrimination policies and the selection process. On Aug. 4, the administration responded only to say scoring sheets for applicants “does not exist.” They did not answer questions about non-discrimination policies.
At an Aug. 17 budget work session, Assembly members probed the Bronson administration and exposed issues with the program’s process and timeline. The discussion revealed that awardees were publicly announced, including photo ops with Bronson holding oversized novelty checks, before grant agreements were finalized by the city’s law department.
Assembly Chair Chris Constant questioned whether all grantees were in compliance with Title 5 of municipal code, which requires “fair and equal treatment under law to all people of the municipality, consistent with federal and state constitutional freedoms and laws.” The question brought conflicting answers from members of the Bronson administration.
“I do believe that the grant agreements were reviewed by law prior to going out. And I do believe that there has been some engagement with law for grantees who had qualms about Title 5,” said Ben Bowman, a city attorney attending the work session on behalf of the law department. “I do believe law is investigating and dealing with that.”
Assembly Vice Chair Meg Zalatel warned that the Assembly expects the program comply with Title 5, as well as all provisions for accepting municipal funds.
Bronson’s Community Engagement Director, Trista Espe, interjected that grant agreements were still being vetted.
“I just wanted to clarify: No grants for the Mayor’s Community Grants have went out yet,” Espe said. “They are all with legal for approval before they are sent out externally.”
Criteria Questions
Despite multiple requests by the Current for the 2023 grant applications, the Bronson administration has yet to provide any documents, nor a timeline for when it would provide documents.
The press release and accompanying list announcing the awardees did not contain any project descriptions to be supported by the funding. In contrast, a 2016 press release from then-Mayor Ethan Berkowitz showed the awardees, the total awarded and the project to be funded.
Dating back to at least 2012, the Mayor’s Community Grant Program has followed detailed eligibility criteria. The 2023 criteria is no longer available on muni.org but can be found on a third-party website. It states that the organization must:
- be a nonprofit entity with any form of a 501(c) federal tax exempt status and a physical office in the Municipality of Anchorage
- have articles of incorporation and by-laws filed with the State of Alaska or be a recognized local chapter of a national organization
- have a full-time Anchorage-based volunteer board of directors comprised of at least five (5) members
- have a nondiscrimination policy for personnel, clients, volunteers
- receive at least 20% or $50,000 (whichever is less) of its annual budget from charitable giving
Additionally, grantees are required to submit:
- IRS tax-exempt determination
- Documentation of a business license, or incorporation and good standing as a nonprofit
- List of board members with positions and mailing addresses
- Organization’s non-discrimination policy
- Itemized budget
- Mission statement
- Detailed description of program to be supported by funds
- Annual budget showing 20% or $50,000 (whichever is less) from charitable giving.
It’s unclear if the criteria outlined was followed during the selection process.
At the work session, Chief of Staff Mario Bird said the selection committee considered multiple factors for grant applicants: type of project, project scope and feasibility, project location, if an applicant is a past grant recipient, the type of community service performed by the applicant, the amount requested and intangibles. Notably, Bird did not mention the published criteria and required documents.
Bird stated that he, Espe, and the communications director were on the selection committee “with maybe one or two others.” Bird said the committee met with Bronson three times in May and June to discuss grant applicants and that they did not use a scoring rubric. Bird said the committee advised the mayor but it was ultimately Bronson who made the final call on which organizations to award and how much.
“I can’t crawl inside the head of the mayor,” Bird said at the worksession. “But, you know, I’m sure there are certain things that he likes and decisions he makes that I would not.”
Curious Connections
Despite half a million dollars leaving municipal coffers, local news media didn’t cover the July 21 announcement. The only coverage came from a right-wing, Christian-focused website. “Mayor Bronson issues grants to boost faith-based, pro-life and other nonprofits” read The Alaska Watchman’s headline.
While the Watchman website doesn’t typically traffic in facts, the headline proved to be true.
The two largest grants awarded, for $50,000 each, went to The Salvation Army’s Alaska Division and the Community Pregnancy Center.
The Salvation Army’s mission is “to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.” After Bronson floated the idea of purchasing one-way plane tickets for people experiencing homelessness, Alexis Johnson, Bronson’s former chief of staff and current homeless coordinator, told the Anchorage Daily News the administration would likely ask for about $50,000 to expand travel assistance programs already offered by the Salvation Army and other organizations.
The Community Pregnancy Center describes itself as “a Christ-centered organization” that hopes “to see parents empowered to choose abundant life for their families.” The facility shows up on crisispregnancycentermap.com, a website that tracks locations that attempt to pressure women out of having abortions.
Two of the five $20,000 grants were awarded to religious private schools, Lumen Christi Catholic High School and Holy Rosary Academy.
Both schools have ties to the Bronson administration: former Chief of Staff Adam Trombley was a basketball coach at Lumen Christi until 2022, Bird is a former teacher, coach and board member at Holy Rosary, and Municipal Attorney Anne Helzer’s husband, Joseph, is a current board member at Holy Rosary.
