A substitute would swap Martinez's removal for a travel investigation

The Anchorage Assembly votes Aug. 4 on whether to abandon a first-ever push to remove one of its members, George Martinez, and investigate his taxpayer-funded travel instead.

A member introduced the removal resolution July 7 — the first attempt to use the Assembly's removal power. Member Silvers then offered a substitute that would drop removal and order an independent investigation of every trip Martinez has taken on the public dime since 2023.

The substitute would drop the most drastic step but, arguably, reaches further. An investigator would get full access to city records and staff to weigh whether Martinez's travel followed the rules, whether it doubled as trips for his private business, and whether he disclosed his outside interests — and whether any non-compliant travel earned him airline status or other perks. It would also look for systemic gaps in how the city polices travel, beyond Martinez alone.

Behind it is a June 15 finding by the Alaska Public Offices Commission that Martinez made campaign expenditures that were not legitimate and that personally benefited him.

Martinez calls the removal effort politically motivated, "de minimis errors" blown up. He says APOC found no reporting violations, that he paid the penalties and restitution himself, and that he donated the value of incidental travel benefits to a nonprofit.

For all that, the censure the Assembly already adopted says that once Martinez fully complies with the APOC order, it "considers the matter closed."