Alaska News

Elvi Gray-Jackson elected Anchorage Assembly chair; new members sworn in

Midtown Assemblywoman Elvi Gray-Jackson was elected chairwoman of the Anchorage Assembly Tuesday night.

She replaced her fellow Midtown Assembly member Dick Traini, who was elected vice chair. Both elections happened by secret ballot.

Gray-Jackson, who is African-American, is the first member of a racial minority group to lead the body. She is starting her final year on the Assembly and reaches her term limit in 2017.

In her first comments as chair, Gray-Jackson started to thank her colleagues, but was too emotional to finish.

She said in an interview after the meeting that she hopes to be a good leader -- her main responsibilities include running Assembly meetings and organizing committees. She said her other priorities will include public safety and supporting Mayor Ethan Berkowitz's efforts to tackle homelessness. Gray-Jackson served as vice chair before being elected to the chairwoman post.

Chugiak-Eagle River Assemblyman Bill Starr lauded Traini's leadership on the body in a speech Tuesday night. In an interview, Starr, who has served nearly three full terms on the Assembly and made the motion to nominate Gray-Jackson as chair, said he saw the actual job of the chair as having little to do with partisan politics.

"There's not a lot of telling us the way it is," Starr said. "There's a lot of asking, how can they help us -- whether it be agenda setting, how things appear in front of us, the timing, who's working on projects."

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Also on Tuesday night, the winners of the April 5 city election were sworn into office.

In addition to Traini and Chugiak-Eagle River Assemblywoman Demboski, who were re-elected to their seats, three new members were sworn in: Eric Croft of West Anchorage, Forrest Dunbar of East Anchorage and John Weddleton of South Anchorage.

Croft, Dunbar and Weddleton replace retiring Assembly members Ernie Hall, Paul Honeman and Jennifer Johnston. Johnston was barred by term limits from running again, and Hall and Honeman decided not to run again.

The Assembly also voted to certify the results of the April 5 city election. Some races were decided only days ago.

In at least one race, a re-count is happening. Deputy city clerk Amanda Moser said she received a petition on Tuesday to re-count the results of the Girdwood ballot proposition to fund public safety. Proposition 9 passed by just two votes.

Moser said she expected the re-count to be finished by Friday.

Devin Kelly

Devin Kelly was an ADN staff reporter.

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