Anchorage’s recently fired city manager is accusing Mayor Dave Bronson of violating multiple city, state and federal laws, blatant sexism, unlawful contracting and other unethical behavior in a demand letter delivered Wednesday afternoon to city leaders.
The letter accuses the mayor of illegally firing former Municipal Manager Amy Demboski in retaliation for “attempting to convince (Bronson) to cease unlawful and unethical activities using municipal resources.”
Among the allegations made by Demboski, who for a year and a half oversaw the day-to-day operation of the Anchorage city government:
• The mayor personally pushed for the signing of sole-source contracts that would have required Assembly approval, against city code. “We believe that there could be approximately ten or more such unlawful contracts,” the letter says.
• Bronson fired a city employee who did not “swing” a contract to a well-connected associate.
• Bronson and Larry Baker, one of his closest advisers, pressured a city employee to sign off on $3.9 million to $4.5 million in construction work on a homeless shelter and navigation center in “knowing violation” of city code and under the belief that the employee would “take the fall” for the decision.
• Over Thanksgiving weekend, the mayor showed up with a firearm at Baker’s house to help with a trespassing call that had already been reported to police.
• Baker tried to get the city attorney to drop or reduce domestic violence charges against Baker’s business partner. Demboski alleges this was done with the mayor’s “support and blessing.”
• Bronson tolerated sexualized jokes and comments, including the distribution of “genitalia-shaped cookies” while City Hall staff “reported to Ms. Demboski and others that you treat women in the office differently than men.” Demboski alleged she experienced gender discrimination from the mayor firsthand.
Bronson’s office said the mayor wasn’t commenting on the letter.
“The Municipal Attorney’s Office has advised us to not discuss the issues raised … as they relate to potential litigation matters,” a spokesman for the mayor wrote. Baker did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.
The letter threatens to sue Bronson for “retaliatory and unlawful” firing if her demands — which include a “prompt settlement” and a letter of apology — are not met.
The 11-page document makes allegations about topics previously known to the public, like a decision to shut off the fluoride to the city water supply, and details other claims that are becoming public for the first time. It is signed by Demboski’s lawyer, Scott Kendall, who provided a copy, upon request, to the Daily News.
The allegations against Bronson and his administration throw a hand grenade into city politics. Demboski is a former Assembly member from Eagle River-Chugiak who left the seat to work for Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration. She had appeared closely aligned with the mayor since his election and took a hands-on approach to city leadership. She championed Bronson’s policies and regularly represented the mayor in numerous heated public debates with the Assembly.
“I don’t run the city … Amy Demboski runs the city,” Bronson once said in public remarks.
But on Dec. 19, Bronson abruptly announced he had replaced Demboski as city manager and has given no public explanation for her departure.
The next day, the Alaska Landmine website published an anonymously sourced story saying Demboski had been fired after calling Purchasing Director Rachelle Alger a “f—ing c—t.” That day, Demboski told the Daily News that Bronson fired her in retaliation after she sent him two emails that detailed her concerns about Bronson and his officials violating city code, and concerns over gossip, harassment and a hostile work environment within his administration.
While Demboski said that the incident in which she used vulgar language to describe Alger did occur in the days before her firing, the letter calls the website’s story a “fig leaf” meant to conceal the mayor’s real reasons. Bronson was tolerant of her use of foul language and had assured her he would not fire her over the incident, the letter says.
Demboski in the letter accused the mayor of waging a slander campaign against her since he dismissed her from City Hall. The letter accuses Bronson of directing his executive staff members to leak a bogus pretext for her firing to the media.
“Your ongoing behavior following Ms. Demboski’s termination, including slander — and attempts to coerce current municipal employees to slander her reputation using public resources — are compounding her ongoing reputational and financial damages,” Kendall said in the letter.
Kendall is an Anchorage-based attorney who previously served as chief of staff to former independent Gov. Bill Walker and as a campaign adviser to Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. He was a primary architect of the 2020 ballot measure that changed Alaska’s election laws, implementing ranked choice voting and open primaries for statewide and legislative races.
In the demand letter, Demboski called for a settlement, for Bronson to issue a written correction and apology and to sign a binding non-disparagement agreement.
The measures are the “last, best hope for you to avoid litigation,” the letter says.
Read the letter:
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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