The Anchorage Daily News asked candidates for Anchorage mayor to answer a series of issue questions. Read all of them here.
ANNA ANTHONY | Occupation: Pharmacist | Age: 38
1. Why are you running for mayor?
I am very concerned about the coronavirus response.
2. What in your background or experience sets you apart from the other candidates and makes you suited to be an effective mayor of Anchorage?
I respect individual autonomy and have a hatred of politics. I have a young family, which will hopefully grow, and I’m very interested in Anchorage staying a family friendly city.
3. What’s the biggest challenge facing city government and how would you address it?
The disruption in the public school system. Families need to have a plan to educate their children. If a student does not have the option of 5-days-a-week, in-person instruction through the public schools, then they should be funded directly so parents have the ability to provide another mode of instruction.
4. Describe how your administration would approach the coronavirus pandemic.
I would remove capacity limits and mask mandate. I would emphasize the different risks associated with different groups and aggressively pursue vaccination for those who are high risk.
5. What’s your assessment of how Anchorage’s city government has responded to the pandemic over the past year? What, if anything, would you have done differently? Be specific.
I would not have had capacity limits or mask mandates. The city has created an environment where people look at each other as risks and not a community. Suggesting that your neighbor doesn’t value human life because they celebrated the holidays during a difficult year is so damaging to any kind of community. Pointing out that business must continue doesn’t mean you value money more than life. The economy is more than money, it is food on tables and socks on children’s feet.
6. What role should city government play in repairing economic damage to individuals, businesses and community organizations from the pandemic?
City government should remove as many barriers to entry as possible. We should pressure state government to give Alaska residents the whole amount of the PFD so that they rebuild their savings and pay for debt accrued during the disruption.
7. Downtown Anchorage has been hit especially hard by impacts from the pandemic, with tourism, gatherings and events greatly reduced and many businesses and organizations struggling as a result. Another difficult summer with greatly reduced tourism appears likely. What’s your vision for downtown, and what specifically are your short-term and long-term plans for repairing damage from the past year?
Blocking roads downtown for outdoor dining was very nice. I would encourage more businesses to participate so residents have a reason to go downtown.
8. Would you make changes to the Anchorage Police Department and policing policies? Why? Please describe in detail.
I am not informed enough on the subject. Increasing visible police presence and police involvement in neighborhood social media like Nextdoor could be helpful.
9. Is the Anchorage Police Department adequately staffed?
I’m not informed enough to answer.
10. Do you support the bond issue on this spring’s municipal ballot that would fund public-safety technology upgrades, including body-worn and in-vehicle cameras for police officers? Explain.
I think that body cams and dash cams are helpful. Video helps provide clarity in difficult situations when police interact with the public. When the government maintains a monopoly on violence, it is so very important that the public can feel there is accountability.
11. Describe, with specifics, how you would expand and diversify Anchorage’s economy.
I would leave it alone. Remove all possible barriers to entry.
12. What’s your vision for Anchorage’s economy in the future?
It would be a city where you would be able to open a small business, or a large one, with a minimum of municipal regulation.
13. Is taxation in Anchorage too high/about right/too low? Explain.
Too high.
14. Do you have ideas for alternative sources of city revenue? Explain.
No. I think workers should be able to keep their money.
15. Are there city programs or services you would cut? Explain.
I’m sure there are, my baseline feeling about government is that in an ideal situation you wouldn’t notice it working. Anything that exists to bother people would need a compelling reason to be maintained.
16. Are there city programs or services you would expand? Explain.
No.
17. What’s your view of current Anchorage land-use plans? Would you push for changes?
I have no opinion, I don’t know much about it.
18. Homelessness remains a persistent, significant problem in Anchorage. What specifically would you do differently from previous administrations?
I’m not sure that I would do much differently. Ideally, you would be able to provide mental health services to those who need it, but the nature of mental illness and the medications used to treat it is that many people do not wish to pursue treatment. Drug and alcohol addiction, of course, contribute to the issue. But I don’t think those populations can be addressed with the same tools. I am concerned with the public health issue created by encampments, and do not think they should be tolerated near playgrounds or schools.
19. Name a program dealing with homelessness in Anchorage that you believe is working.
I don’t know enough about the existing programs to address this.
20. Please discuss your commitment to transparency and openness in Anchorage municipal government. Do you have suggestions for improving either?
Government meetings should be open to the public or livestreamed. A municipal YouTube channel that addressed weekly activity would be nice.
21. What’s your assessment of Anchorage’s transportation infrastructure? Do you have a plan to improve it? How?
It seems that buses make it around, and I’m satisfied with the amount of snow plows.
22. Are there specific transportation projects you would initiate in the municipality if elected? Explain.
No.
23. The past year has been marked by increasing civic discord in Anchorage. What would you do to reduce frustration, distrust and anger that increasingly has characterized civic conversation?
Removing mask mandates, reframing the conversation about masking/social responsibility. Making everyone around you responsible for your health and happiness will only increase tension. The creep of politics into every facet of public life, and increasingly the push to insert politics into private life, forces people who disagree on things which are not that important into conflict. I think an emphasis on minding your own business would be healthy. Happily, most people are just living their own lives with no particular malice directed at their neighbors.
24. What other important issue would you like to discuss?
Did not respond.