Assembly committee votes 4-1 to recommend postponing AO 2025-18 and urging a charter review commission

The Assembly Quality Municipal Services and Ethics and Elections Committee voted 4-1 Wednesday to recommend indefinite postponement of AO 2025-18 and asked the full Assembly to consider creating a charter review commission to study proposed text corrections to the Anchorage Municipality home‑rule charter.

AO 2025-18 had been filed to amend the charter to correct grammar and to update text to reflect legal rulings. Committee members described four possible recommendations and settled on the third: postpone action on the ordinance and recommend that the Assembly consider establishing a charter review commission to examine the proposed changes and other potential amendments.

Assembly Member Felix Rivera, chair of the committee, said he “took the liberty to craft 4 different recommendations” and invited discussion before a motion and vote. Member Zach Johnson said the review commission felt like the best option: “I kinda like recommendation number 3. It feels like, you know, you lay out a good list of things that are are merit consideration,” he said, adding that a commission could make the process less political.

Member Brawley expressed support for continuing the work but warned about timing and membership: “I do worry about the timeframe of that,” Brawley said, adding the commission should include both outside community perspectives and people with municipal experience so the group does not advance recommendations that conflict with other legal or operational requirements.

Another committee member, identified in the record as Gates, said the ordinance needed more vetting and opposed immediately placing the ordinance on an upcoming ballot: “I absolutely don't recommend going for recommendation 1,” Gates said, calling some suggested charter changes more than housekeeping.

Committee members discussed whether a review body would be a Title 4 commission (an executive‑branch commission established under municipal code Title 4) or an elected charter commission created under state statute. The committee chair and other members said the recommendation forwarded to the Assembly would be brief: indefinite postponement of AO 2025-18 with a recommendation that the Assembly consider establishing a charter review commission. Specifics such as membership, ownership (assembly versus mayor), qualifications and sunset dates were left to the Assembly or to a subsequent committee process.

A motion to send recommendation 3 was moved and seconded; the committee approved it in a roll call vote that passed 4 to 1. The committee recorded the tally as four yes votes and one no vote; the committee asked the clerk to ensure the recommendation is returned to the full Assembly for further consideration.

The committee did not set a timeline for when a commission, if created, would report back. Members said the work could feed into a future ballot (members noted April 2026 as one possible election date) but left the timing open to allow a thoughtful rather than rushed process.

The action recorded in committee will be placed on the Assembly agenda for a future meeting; the clerk will advise scheduling, the chair said.