Northeast Anchorage council asks for an independent, public study of Assembly spending

The Northeast Community Council wants the Anchorage Assembly's study of member spending to be thorough, independent and public. Assembly member Yarrow Silvers forwarded the council's resolution, passed 19-0 on Sept. 17, for the Assembly's meeting next Tuesday, Oct. 20.

The resolution urges members and staff to avoid "malicious and half-hearted compliance" and asks that the review go beyond procedural compliance to weigh what the spending is worth to taxpayers.

The Assembly approved the resolution requesting a comprehensive special study of members' Individual Spending Accounts 9-2 on Sept. 1. Silvers, who moved it, said it "would go back to January 2023 and examine all spending, not just travel, by all assembly members." Members then amended it to cover the 15 people who served this year. The Office of Internal Audit owes a report, or a written request for more time, by Nov. 30.

An earlier, narrower review that Chair Anna Brawley sent members Aug. 6 found a gap in travel approvals, as Alaska News reported Sept. 7. It examined 38 trips, costing about $93,000, taken by eight members from January 2025 through April 2026. Each was approved by the chair or vice chair before travel, and no member exceeded the $24,000 yearly account, the Chair Letter & Internal Audit Review found.

But auditors could not confirm that a 60-day pre-approval rule, set by former Chair Christopher Constant in July 2025, was met on 14 of 15 trips.

Assembly member George Martinez received $96 in per diem for two extra days in Puerto Rico after a conference. He told the Municipal Clerk the time was for post-conference meetings. The review found no record of whom he met.

The Assembly censured Martinez on July 21 over campaign finance violations found by the Alaska Public Offices Commission. On Aug. 4, it rejected a targeted investigation of his travel, 5-6, as Alaska News previously covered.