The vote to override was 8-3, with Chris Birch, Jennifer Johnston and Debbie Ossiander on the losing side.
Even with the override, it's still up to the mayor to decide whether to let city employees participate in a particular event while on the city clock.
"It's putting the mayor more in the cross hairs," said Assembly chairman Dick Traini in an interview before the vote.
Bill Starr was key to the rare veto override. "To me that's not a misuse of municipal resources if it's done within a clear policy," which the mayor said he would create, Starr said during debate before the override vote.
The issue of charitable fundraising by city employees arose because Anchorage firefighters annually help out with the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Alaska's fill-the-boot campaign on the Friday before Labor Day. On that day, both on- and off-duty firefighters traditionally go out on street corners and sometimes walk among stopped cars at red lights, soliciting donations. They often bring firefighting equipment, including trucks, to the scene of the soliciting.
The mayor had objected that such activity ran afoul of city ethics law.
In response to that contention, the Assembly on July 13 approved an ordinance saying charitable fundraising while on duty is not unethical, if authorized by the appropriate city officials.
On July 20, the mayor vetoed the ordinance. He said in his veto message that city resources should not be used for private purposes, though he said some community events were all right.
Starr said there would be a morale issue if the firemen's efforts to help MDA were rebuffed.
He said there's some danger with collecting money in the streets.
"Yeah there could be risk for injury. But it's no different than having snowplow operators out there."
During Tuesday's debate, Sullivan said he was aware the votes were going against his veto, but in any case, he intends to clarify the city's policy regarding participation in community events and create a clear line between what's OK and what's not.
He said he rejects the notion that his efforts were anything but "an effort to move this fundraiser forward."
He said he had backed legislation making it legal for the MDA to solicit in the streets, helped them get state Department of Transportation approval and taken care of safety issues.
Assemblyman Pat Flynn made the motion to overturn the veto. Elvi Gray-Jackson was the original sponsor of the ordinance to make it clear it's ethically OK for city employees to participate in fundraisers like "fill the boot."
"I brought this forward for all the right reasons," Gray-Jackson said.
"These firefighters are out there on duty raising money for needy people in the community."
She said firemen are on duty wherever there are and that there is no cost to the community when they're out on the streets for charity -- they're still ready to go to fires when called.
Traini, Starr, Gray-Jackson and Flynn were joined by Assemblymembers Ernie Hall, Harriet Drummond, Mike Gutierrez and Paul Honeman in supporting the veto override.
Sabrina Hoppes, executive director of the MDA here, said she is still hopeful the mayor will agree to let on-duty firefighters and firetrucks participate in their fundraiser.
She said she thinks one reason the Assembly overrode the mayor's veto is that other nonprofit groups would also be affected by the ordinance besides MDA.
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