Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson is experiencing the most disastrous stretch of his tenure, facing near daily scandals over the past two weeks.
His run of ineptitude started with a hasty attempt to turn the Sullivan Arena into a mass shelter again, followed by an inability to clear the roads during a series of snowstorms that led to a shutdown of the city. As the snow piled up, it was reported Anchorage set a record for outdoor deaths among people experiencing homelessness. This week, he lost one of his closest allies, Municipal Manager Amy Demboski, who was the driving force behind the Bronson administration. Neither Bronson or Demboski have explained why she is leaving her position.
Over the past two weeks, news about Bronson has blanketed local media websites, none of it positive. Bronson has made one mistake after another while continuing to point his finger at others rather than take any responsibility for his actions, or in some cases, inactions.
Sullivan Redux
Bronson surprised the Assembly on Dec. 6 with a last-minute request to increase the Sullivan Arena capacity from 200 to 360 beds per night. He did not offer any data or explanation for the Assembly to move forward on the request with.
Despite having the ability to move his own request forward for consideration, Bronson chose not to do so, and instead immediately turned to social media to excoriate the Assembly for not doing what he himself had also failed to do. His social media posts had all the hallmarks of a negative PR campaign aimed at spreading blame to the Assembly.
A week later, the Anchorage Daily News reported that 24 people believed to be homeless died outdoors this year, the most on record. It has been a tough year for Anchorages’s unhoused population, as Bronson closed down the Sullivan in July and made a rash, last-minute decision to bus people to Centennial Campground for the summer.
Bronson moved the unhoused population back to the Sullivan Arena on Oct. 1. According to data provided by the operators of the Sullivan, it has not reached its full capacity of 200 occupied beds. Nonetheless, Bronson has skirted the capacity limits by opening a warming area in another wing of the building, where the administration is housing a varying number of people, while again refusing to provide services to the people staying here. The Mayor’s proposal to increase capacity has been formally placed on tonight’s Assembly meeting agenda for a vote.
Bungled Storm Response
Bronson is no stranger to public criticism, but faced an entirely new level of opposition in his handling of the December snow storms.
On Dec. 7, the Anchorage School District shut down due to a winter snow storm, which had been predicted about a week in advance. It was the first of six school closures within seven school days, a new record for ASD. Bronson was caught unprepared, with serious equipment operator staffing shortages and broken down plows. The administration’s inability to clear the snow shut down schools for an unprecedented four consecutive days, including Monday after a full weekend of businesses suffering losses during the busy holiday season. By this time another storm moved in.
ASD re-opened for students on Dec. 13 despite still dangerous roads. Thirty-six buses became stuck, some students arrived at school around noon, and there were reports of children, including a kindergartner, being dropped off far from their normal stops and being forced to traverse snowy sidewalks and traffic alone.
By Thursday, ASD had given up and shut down school again for two more days. Business shut down during the peak shopping season and the internet had a field day with Bronson’s lack of preparation or ability to get the snow cleared.
Just when it seemed like it couldn’t get any worse for Bronson, it was revealed during a meeting on Wednesday that union leaders had warned the administration during the summer that winter snow maintenance would fail, due in part to short staffing and low wages. Bronson took no action, and hid his inaction from the Assembly until it was too late.
While Bronson blamed much of the issues on supply chain disruptions leading to a third of the city’s plows being inoperable when the snows started, a few days later the municipality had managed to fix 28 out of 30 plows. The streets are now plowed, but snow removal hasn’t kept up, meaning two- and three-lane roads are now one lane, and turning lanes often run directly into a snow berm.
Finally, on Monday Bronson announced that Demboski had been immediately replaced by the relatively unknown department head Kent Kohlhase. Bronson did not say whether Demboski was fired or quit, and refused to answer media inquiries about why she was no longer with the muni.
Demboski, whether for good or bad, filled a vital role in the administration, which is largely filled with people devoid of experience and qualifications. She knew how the city ran, and according to Bronson, was the person in charge of actually running the city. Additionally, she was a constant in an administration that has seen incredible turnover.
Bronson is now left with a massive gap in day-to-day leadership, and unfortunately, there will be more snowstorms and people will continue to experience homelessness. Given the past two weeks, who knows what trouble he will find himself in next.
