Anchorage Assembly to hear third version of public safety commission ordinance July 21

Anchorage residents have been without a public safety advisory forum since the former Public Safety Advisory Commission was allowed to sunset Jan. 31, 2024. The Assembly will hold a continued public hearing Monday, July 21, at Loussac Library on the third version of an ordinance that would restore that forum, though without the investigatory or subpoena powers some advocates backed. All three versions of the ordinance appear together under the continued public hearing item on the July 21 agenda.

The latest substitute would establish a 14-member Anchorage Public Safety Partnership Commission: nine voting community seats and five non-voting ex officio seats for representatives from the Anchorage Police Department, Anchorage Fire Department, the Office of Emergency Management, the Municipal Attorney's Criminal Division, and the Health Department. The commission would be advisory only, with no investigative authority, no subpoenas, and no role in personnel discipline. Unless the Assembly reauthorizes it, the commission would sunset October 14, 2029.

Assembly Vice Chair Anna Brawley, Assembly Member Kameron Perez-Verdia, and Assembly Member Felix Rivera are the sponsors. The ordinance grew out of a task force created in 2025 to explore reimagining the former commission. The public hearing first opened May 26, was continued, then reopened and continued again to July 21 as sponsors refined the proposal through earlier versions.

Perez-Verdia described the gap the commission would fill at a July 14 work session. "We don't currently have a commission that allows the public to come and to have a seat at the table and have conversations about our public safety systems and Anchorage and to bring public voice and input to, to develop. So that, that does not exist. So one is, is creating that, and, and there is a belief that that is valuable and important and can ultimately improve the systems that we have and improve public safety in Anchorage," he said. He framed the proposal as structural rather than reactive: "This is a systems commission, not an incident commission."

The Alaska Coalition for Justice, which testified at the May 26 hearing, said the 2025 task force process produced a clear majority vote in favor of investigatory authority, subpoena power, and enhanced information access. The coalition said it does not oppose passage but called the proposal "the bare minimum" and "not a ceiling," pressing the Assembly to treat the advisory-only model as a starting point.

Residents who have not previously testified, or who wish to speak to changes in the substitute, may testify in person at Loussac Library or by phone. Phone sign-up closes at 5 p.m. Sunday, July 20.