Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson has selected his third pick to head the city’s legal department.
Bronson announced Monday that he’d chosen Anne Helzer to be the city’s municipal attorney. Helzer is the chair of the Alaska Public Offices Commission, and was appointed in 2017 by then-Gov. Bill Walker.
The Assembly still must confirm Helzer’s appointment.
She’d take over as the city’s head lawyer at a time of upheaval. The mayor is facing allegations of numerous improper, unethical and unlawful actions, and the Anchorage Assembly recently agreed to sue the city to get access to documents related to disgraced former health director Joe Gerace.
The city is also dealing with a string of high-level departures, including in the municipal attorney job. The Assembly confirmed the mayor’s first choice for the position, Patrick Bergt, in July 2021. Bergt resigned last June and the mayor selected Mario Bird to replace him. The Assembly rejected Bird in September, and Blair Christensen began serving as acting municipal attorney. Then Christensen resigned, effective last Thursday.
Helzr is a past president of the Anchorage Bar Association and had written a letter in support of Bird to the Assembly during his confirmation process.
In a statement on Monday, Helzer called her appointment an honor, writing, “I will confront the city’s current challenges head on. I am committed to lawfulness and integrity in our city government.”
Correction: This story has been corrected to reflect that Helzer was a former president of the Anchorage Bar Association, not the Alaska Bar Association.
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.
