The Anchorage Assembly will get new leaders next week, Assembly members Matt Claman and Sheila Selkregg announced Friday.
Claman said he will become chairman -- meaning he'll run meetings and set the Assembly's agenda -- while Selkregg will serve as vice chair.
Both are part of a Democratic Assembly majority created when voters elected four new members April 1.
That majority has agreed to vote for the new leadership at Tuesday's meeting, Claman said.
The 11-member Assembly writes local laws and approves the city spending plan. For the past year it's been steered by a mostly Republican majority led by Chairman Dan Coffey and Vice Chair Debbie Ossiander.
"What we've seen on the current Assembly is a little bit more conservative than might be my preference, but I don't see this as any major sea change," Claman said. "We're committed to what's best for Anchorage."
The Assembly chairman job could have extra significance this year and next, because the chair could potentially fill in as mayor for a few months.
That would happen if current Mayor Mark Begich runs for U.S. Senate -- he's a likely candidate -- and wins, meaning he'd have to leave office early.
Selkregg has said she plans to run for mayor of Anchorage, but said she didn't want the job of Assembly chair.
Claman is a potential mayoral candidate too, though he said he hasn't decided if he'll run.
As for what they hope to accomplish, Selkregg and Claman talked about finishing a long-awaited re-write of city land use rules.
Both also voted unsuccessfully last year to keep the city emissions testing program. The program is scheduled to end by 2010, but Selkregg has proposed keeping a scaled-back version.
The Assembly is officially nonpartisan but all the members of the new majority are Democrats, as is Begich. The other five are Republicans, except for Coffey, who is not registered with either party.
Claman and Selkregg said Friday that while they're members of the same party, they wouldn't unquestioningly follow the mayor's lead.
"With all the respect I have for the mayor, the mayor cannot assume my vote unless I believe it's in the best interest of the community, and I think the same is true for Matt," Selkregg said.
While Assembly campaigns often become partisan contests, Assembly members from both groups said that their differences are often overstated and that they vote together on most topics.
"Once you get beyond that and you get in office, when you're actually dealing with, do you want to do this road project -- it's not a Democrat road or a Republican road, it's a road," Ossiander said.
By KYLE HOPKINS
khopkins@adn.com