The job description of the city's chief fiscal officer, according to the Anchorage Municipal Charter, seems straightforward enough.
"He is the custodian of all municipal funds," the charter reads. "He shall keep an itemized account of money received and disbursed, pay money on vouchers drawn against appropriations, and perform such other duties as the Assembly by ordinance may prescribe."
There's one problem with the description, however: the city's current CFO, Lucinda Mahoney, is a woman. So was Sharon Weddleton, the CFO under the previous mayor, Mark Begich.
That section of the charter, along with several others like it that refer to "chairman" and "assemblyman," are due for an update, according to Assemblyman -- ahem, Assembly Member -- Patrick Flynn.
Flynn is sponsoring an amendment that will replace "gender-specific" titles in the charter with terms that are "gender-neutral." It will be introduced at the next Assembly meeting, Aug. 20, with a vote expected the following month, and, pending approval, ratification at the next city election in April.
The measure would need backing of eight of the 11 Assembly members, and a majority of city voters.
"Given that it's our constitution for our humble community, I think it's important for it to be accurate," Flynn said in an interview. "I'd be surprised if there's any opposition. Frankly, in my mind, it's just a technical fix -- not to denigrate anybody's gender."
The charter was drafted by a commission in 1975, when the City of Anchorage merged with the Greater Anchorage Area Borough to form the Municipality of Anchorage.
Today, it still refers to a "chairman of the Assembly," despite the fact that Assemblywoman Debbie Ossiander recently held that position.
It also implies that all of Anchorage's citizens are men, saying that to participate in elections, a person must be "a resident of the precinct in which he seeks to vote."
Those terms didn't bother Rep. Harriet Drummond, a former Assembly member, but she said she was surprised the city hadn't addressed the discrepancies sooner.
"I did look at the language once in a while and go, 'Someday, they'll change that,'" she said. "More power to Patrick. I'm going to vote yes."
Joyce Anderson, president of the League of Women Voters of Anchorage, said the fix was overdue, but that it's still "a wonderful way to recognize that there are both men and women out there that serve on the Assembly."
Technically, the charter already covers its bases with Section 17.11, which comes near the end of the document and says that "personal pronouns used in this Charter shall be construed as including either sex."
But Flynn thinks the city can do better.
"I am a man, so I guess it really doesn't matter one way or another to me," he said. "But I suspect that there are at least some members of the fairer gender who would say: 'Oh, thanks for the postscript.'"
In an interview, Mahoney, the city's current CFO, agreed that the charter "needed to be updated."
"I think it needs to reflect that both men and women have the ability to perform the functions of the CFO," she said.
As for the verbiage of her job description?
"I've probably seen it as I've read the code," she said. "But I just have bigger issues to address."
Reach Nathaniel Herz at nherz@adn.com or 257-4311.
By NATHANIEL HERZ