Women's Commission leader plans resolution seeking data on who staffs city boards

Arianna Bellizzi, vice chair and acting chair of the Municipal Women's Commission, said Thursday, Oct. 1, she will draft a resolution asking the mayor's office to report how many staff support Anchorage's boards and commissions, along with their demographics.

Bellizzi said her understanding is that staff who support commissions are not paid for that work. The mayor's office told her after the commission's last meeting that it keeps no staffing demographics. "I'm concerned that that job is being mainly held by women, and so women are taking an unfair burden and they're not getting any sort of stipend for taking on additional duties," she said.

She said turnover, as the duty shifts between people, leaves volunteer commissioners poorly supported. Another speaker at the meeting backed collecting the data and paying staff.

"I'll write up a resolution and I'll put it up on our next agenda," Bellizzi said. If it gets support, it would go to the mayor's office.