Anchorage's Assembly weighs censure — or removal — of George Martinez

The Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on whether to censure Assembly Member George Martinez, and whether to begin removal proceedings against him — two actions postponed from its July 7 meeting.

The votes follow a final order from the Alaska Public Offices Commission, which found on June 15 that Martinez made campaign expenditures that weren't reasonably related to his candidacy and personally benefited him, including airline mileage status and travel perks. The commission imposed its maximum civil penalty and ordered repayment.

Two resolutions now split the Assembly, offering very different responses. The censure measure — sponsored by Erin Baldwin Day, Keith McCormick, and Sydney Scout — would treat the matter as closed once Martinez fully complies with the commission's order, framing censure as the Assembly's complete and proportionate response, with no further action contemplated.

The removal resolution — sponsored by Jared Goecker and Donald Handeland — would go further, submitting a formal accusation to the Municipal Clerk and directing the Municipal Attorney to hire outside counsel to investigate broader allegations, opening a separate and more serious process.

The choice weighs on a body that, by its own account, has never censured or removed a member in its 50-year history. "The people of Anchorage deserve an answer," McCormick said at the July 7 meeting. "If we allow unruly conduct to go on, or we are silent in it, that is this body giving its tacit consent." Baldwin Day, the censure resolution's lead sponsor, said the power to censure is clear but the removal path isn't: "What is not clear is what the second piece of this process looks like, which is the question of the Assembly taking action to remove one of its own members."

Tuesday's votes will decide which path, if either, the body takes.