The Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday voted to override an attempt by Mayor Dave Bronson to veto the body’s recent measure related to its subpoena powers.
The measure, passed Jan. 16, aimed to clarify when the Assembly can legally compel someone to answer questions or produce documents for its official business, without expanding the scope of the power. The Assembly has had subpoena powers since 1991.
Just before the Assembly’s meeting Tuesday, Bronson announced he was vetoing the more recent ordinance.
Bronson then stated his case directly to the Assembly. He called the measure “extreme” and “strident overreach” that would undermine checks and balances in the city’s divided government branches.
“The system fails when one of the three branches holds all the power, which is exactly what this Assembly is attempting to do,” Bronson said. “This expansion of uncontrolled subpoena powers you have granted yourself will create a chilling effect on citizen volunteers participating in municipal government and it raises very deep concerns.”
The old city code applied to people with information “related to a matter involving municipal funds and policy being considered.” The new language says “related to a public matter being considered.” Assembly members, with the advice of its attorneys, said there’s no substantive difference.
Over the next 25 minutes, Assembly members unraveled several misleading statements in the mayor’s argument, debated and overrode his veto in a 9-3 vote.
Assembly Vice Chair Meg Zaletel said the mayor had a fundamental misunderstanding about what was changing. She emphasized that any exercise of the subpoena power still must go through the regular public process.
“And it comes before this body for a majority vote, narrowly tailored to the reason for the subpoena,” Zaletel said. “In addition, each one of those requests are subject to the mayor’s veto. So there is plenty of checks and balances built into that system and it’s really unfortunate it’s being characterized in this manner.”
Disputes over the validity of a subpoena can also be appealed to state court.
The mayor did apparently win over three members: The Assembly’s initial Jan. 16 vote to adopt the measure was unanimous. But on Tuesday, members Scott Myers, Kevin Cross and Randy Sulte voted to let the mayor’s veto stand.
Assembly Chair Chris Constant explained what prompted the code clarification. He said it stemmed from an Assembly inquiry into an attempt to interfere with last year’s municipal election. The Assembly subpoenaed several people involved. An attorney for one of them tried to quash the subpoena, arguing that the election matter didn’t fit the criteria of the 1991 code.
It’s likely the Assembly used its subpoena powers for the first time last year, when it dug into the administration’s internal investigation of a former health director who fabricated his professional credentials.
Jeremy Hsieh covers Anchorage with an emphasis on housing, homelessness, infrastructure and development. Reach him at jhsieh@alaskapublic.org or 907-550-8428. Read more about Jeremy here.
