Early this morning, Anchorage Assembly member Tim Steele announced that he would be resigning from his position due to a “serious health issue.” Steele has been on the Assembly since 2013, representing West Anchorage. He served on the Anchorage School Board, where he served as president, prior to joining the Assembly.
Steele declined to disclose the nature of his health issue, but he says he’s been aware of it for a few months. Steele says he would prefer to finish his full term, which ends in 2020, but that is “just not possible.”
“I think my constituents would be very understanding in that I’ve been in the community a long time, public service a lot of it,” Steele said.
Steele has lived in Anchorage for more than 30 years and has spent 14 years in public service between his time on the Anchorage School Board and the Assembly.
Anchorage Assembly Chair Forrest Dunbar says that there will be a process for filling Steele’s Assembly seat once his resignation is final.
“So the process is mandated by the Anchorage Municipal Charter, and it says that if it’s more than six months from a regular election, we are required to hold a special election,” Dunbar said.
Dunbar says that the Assembly will have a work session this Friday to discuss a date for the special election and a filing period for those wishing to run for the seat.
Dunbar says that the election must be held within 60 days of the vacancy. Steele’s planned resignation day is June 12.
Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.
