A leaked stump speech for Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson’s campaign paints a picture of a thriving city that tackled homelessness, increased public safety, and expertly tackled snow plowing under the mayor’s three years of leadership.
The speech, written by Jordan Shilling, Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s Director of Boards and Commissions, is a stark contrast to reality. Over the past year, Bronson has been unable to implement a homelessness response plan, doubled the record for outdoor deaths, and just this week had to declare an emergency during the first storm of the season due to unplowed roads.
Shilling in 2022 came under fire as a contractor for the State of Alaska earning $10,000 a month while volunteering to work on Dunleavy’s campaign.
An email thread shows the speech was also shaped by Larry Baker, an advisor to Bronson who continues to be a constant fixture at city hall despite a string of scandals involving the relationship between him and the mayor.
A person familiar with the Bronson campaign told The Alaska Current that neither Shilling or Baker have been hired by the campaign, but both are volunteering their time.
The email relays Baker’s suggestions that Bronson should discuss opening the Sullivan Arena, appeal to the hockey community and talk about strengthening public safety in his speech.
Baker is nearing the end of the fourth contract Bronson has given him to be a general advisor. All his contracts are for just under $30,000, an amount that allows him to evade Assembly approval and public scrutiny. His contracts are vague in scope, identifying him as a policy advisor or consultant, and have the standard indemnity clause removed, meaning Baker can’t be held legally liable for work he does for the city.
The speech starts with Bronson’s new slogan, “Advancing Anchorage,” before claiming that Bronson “tackled the homeless issue head on, not with Band-Aids, but with sustainable solutions that affirm our compassion and collective responsibility.”
On snow, an issue that badly dogged him last winter when the city set a record for consecutive school closures, the speech claims “Our winters can be harsh, but our snow removal teams are harsher on the snow. We’ve made strides in efficiency, ensuring that every street is cleared, and every child can safely get to school.”
That line will be especially tough to deliver after the city’s plowing team fell badly behind pace of the snow during the first storm of the season, forcing the Anchorage School District to close facilities Thursday and shift to remote learning.
In addition to school closures, public transit couldn’t operate and the city was virtually shut down. It’s a reminder of last winter, which saw a complete failure of snow maintenance that closed schools for seven snow days, restricted streets to one lane, and slowed economic activity.
Far from having tackled homelessness head-on, the Anchorage Daily News reported on four outdoor deaths in the past week, two being people in wheelchairs. The 49 outdoor deaths recorded this year is more than twice the record set under Bronson in 2022.
Emergency cold weather shelter for the winter just began last week, with the old Solid Waste Services Administration building opening for shelter. The administration has not yet made plans for a warming shelter, which, advocates say, is an important provision for keeping people alive when the temperature plummets.
Bronson’s speech goes on to say that public safety isn’t just a talking point, without giving any concrete examples of how public safety has improved, before quickly moving to the port. He doesn’t mention the 77 vacant positions at the Anchorage Police Department.
Peculiarly, the speech also brags about the Willow Project, far from Anchorage on the North Slope, and having nothing to do with Bronson. The speech then returns to jargon, claiming that “we’re not just lowering taxes; we’re advancing tax freedom,” before pivoting to Girdwood’s housing plan. Last winter, a major proposed development to bring more housing to Girdwood failed due to lack of confidence in the plan from the community and the Assembly.
Finally the speech concludes by testing out his campaign slogan a few more times:
“‘Advancing Anchorage’ is not just a slogan, it is our action plan. It’s the commitment that drives us every day to make our home – this beautiful city of Anchorage – a place where the future is not just something we reach, but something we shape together. Thank you and let’s keep Advancing Anchorage!”
