Emily Goodykoontz

A larger-than-usual crowd filled much of the Assembly chambers to testify on the proposed ordinance, which Mayor Bronson has called a “blatant attack on the office of the mayor.”

The municipal law makes violating the open burning ban a class A misdemeanor crime, which can carry a sentence of up to one year in jail and up to a $10,000 fine, according to city code.

Community groups and Assembly members say they received no advance notice of a key permitting meeting for a proposed shelter in East Anchorage.

Although the Assembly had voted unanimously to pass the initial budget revisions, Assembly members Jamie Allard, Kevin Cross and Randy Sulte voted against overriding Bronson’s vetoes.

Voters in Anchorage’s District 1, North Anchorage, will choose a second representative during a special election on June 21.

The funding was passed in a 6-4 vote - after one member’s last-minute change of mind - as members weighed lingering concerns about the plan against a pressing need for homelessness solutions.

Assembly Vice Chair Chris Constant said he decided to draft the ordinance after the Bronson administration did not implement the Assembly-approved city budget. However, Constant said he does not intend to try to remove the mayor.

Some officials said the veto will delay housing efforts and make reaching the June 30 deadline more difficult. Bronson said he’s not opposed to the funding, but thinks the contract should be put through a competitive bid process.

Assembly leaders are calling on businesses, nonprofits and others for proposals for the second round of American Rescue Plan Act funds. The mayor has separately submitted his own plan for spending the money.

Anchorage’s municipal clerk, in various responses to the complaints, found no widespread issues or any that would impact election results, and the city’s election commission has said it found that any mistakes or issues are “fairly minor” and unlikely to change election outcomes.

The Assembly can override the mayor’s vetoes with a supermajority of 8 votes.

As coronavirus cases surged in Alaska, WEKA, a for-profit business whose owners donated to Mayor Dave Bronson’s campaign, moved in rent-free to a city-owned building to run a monoclonal antibody clinic. Controversy has dogged the clinic ever since. What actually happened?

The Assembly also made the proposed funding for the shelter dependent on Bronson’s agreement to convert a former Midtown hotel into a substance misuse treatment center.

The money will aid Anchorage’s plan to fast-track several homelessness services projects as part of an effort to close the city’s pandemic-era emergency mass care operations by June 30.

The money would go toward the $1.1 billion needed to replace the port’s cargo docks.