The Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday confirmed new Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s picks to lead the Anchorage Police Department and the city’s Law Department.
Assembly members lauded both Police Chief Sean Case and Municipal Attorney Eva Gardner.
They praised Case for his commitment to try to meet the community expectations for transparency and accountability.
“As someone who has tried to work on policies around APD in the past under a prior chief and was met with staunch resistance, this is a welcome change,” said Assembly Vice Chair Meg Zaletel. “And I think it’s a welcome change for our community.”
Assembly members praised Gardner for her competence and respect for the role as a legal adviser and not a policymaker.
Member George Martinez called her attitude a breath of fresh air.
“At your confirmation hearing, you brought an energetic, roll-the-sleeves-up-and-get-things-done vibe,” he told her during the meeting. “And you even described your early recruitment efforts. I would call one of those poaching, and I think you did a great job of doing that, bringing some talent from other folks back to the municipality.”
“Oh yeah, I made active recruitment efforts,” Gardner said in an interview. “It is nice to refill seats and provide better service to the municipality.”
In just a few weeks on the job, Gardner said she’s filled three vacancies in her understaffed department. She hired back two former city attorneys who had left in 2023, as well as a third, new attorney, all in the civil division.
She said recruitment is also underway for openings in the criminal division, including for the division’s lead prosecutor.
Both appointees were confirmed in 10-0 votes. Members Randy Sulte and Scott Myers were absent.
Jeremy Hsieh covers Anchorage with an emphasis on housing, homelessness, infrastructure and development. Reach him atjhsieh@alaskapublic.orgor 907-550-8428. Read more about Jeremyhere.
