The Unified Municipality of Anchorage will turn 50 next year. There hasn’t been a “City of Anchorage” since the early days of the Ford administration, when all cities within the Greater Anchorage Borough were abolished in favor of a single regional government structure.
In fact, the unique feature of a Unified Municipality is that communities within it are statutorily prohibited from creating their own city, even though the Alaska Constitution promises “maximum local self-government.”
Yet the municipal mayor works from a building still called “City Hall,” and the ADN continuously refers to the whole municipality as “the city,” as do many municipal officials and candidates for elected office.
As Alaskans, we bristle when we see a map with our state represented as a small island off Mexico’s coast, or when an online site relegates us to “international” shipping. So each time you feel those slights to our great state, give a thought to those of us in the municipality who live and work outside of the Anchorage Bowl.
— Mike Edgington
Girdwood
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