Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson announced two staffing changes Tuesday related to the city’s finances.
He named Alden Thern as the city’s chief fiscal officer. Thern has been acting CFO since Grant Yutrzenka resigned in May. He is one of the mayor’s original senior staff. When Bronson took office two years ago, he retained Thern, who then served as municipal projects director.
At a news conference Tuesday, Thern said he’s excited to stay in the CFO role and aims to get the department fully staffed after the recent departure of several accountants.
“We are a little bit behind where we want to be on our financials because of the staff that we lost,” Thern said. “But we’re building the department back up again.”
Thern’s appointment is subject to Assembly approval.
Bronson also announced that Courtney Petersen will step down next month from her position as director of the Office of Management and Budget. The mayor said Petersen will transition into another city job: public works administration manager in the Community Development Department.
Bronson has not yet named a new OMB director. The Assembly will have to approve whoever he picks.
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.
