Former Alaska state senator named Anchorage Mayor Bronson’s legislative affairs director

Former longtime Alaska Republican legislator Mia Costello was named on Tuesday as Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson’s legislative affairs director.

The new position will involve her working with the Legislature and the congressional delegation to advance the Municipality of Anchorage’s legislative priorities, such as rebuilding the crumbling Port of Alaska and finding solutions to homelessness, Costello said. When the Legislature is not in session, she will work on similar priorities at a city level and be in charge of organizing appointments to municipal boards and commissions.

Costello served four years in the Alaska House of Representatives starting in 2011 and eight years in the state Senate. She was defeated in last November’s election by Democrat Matt Claman for a West Anchorage Senate seat.

Before serving in the Legislature, Costello worked as a teacher in Anchorage and Juneau and the executive branch for former Alaska Govs. Frank Murkowski and Wally Hickel. Since leaving office, Costello said, she has been substitute teaching for the Anchorage School District.

She said that her new role with the Bronson administration, which she started Tuesday, would pay $122,000 per year.

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In a prepared statement, Bronson said that Costello could help his administration modernize the Port of Alaska, enhance public safety and make Anchorage a more competitive place to do business.

“Her experience in both the legislative and executive branches of government, combined with her diverse history serving our community, make her an ideal choice for this position,” he said.

In January, Bronson was accused by former city manager Amy Demboski of violating city, state and federal laws, sexism, unlawful contracting and other unethical behavior, and the Anchorage Assembly in May rejected a $550,000 settlement with Demboski to settle legal claims against the mayor. Costello said she did consider the list of accusations made against the Bronson administration before taking the new job.

“Absolutely, it did give me pause,” she said in an interview Tuesday. “But at the end of the day, I was born and raised in Anchorage. I love the city. I’m raising my family here. I expect to spend the rest of my life here. And so my love for the city is what is driving me to take this role so that I can be of help in any way that I can to this administration.”

When Bronson took office in 2021, Terrence Shanigan, a former legislative aide, was appointed as the mayor’s first legislative affairs director. Shanigan took over the position of director of boards and commissions in October of that year when his predecessor resigned. A spokesman for the mayor’s office said Shanigan is no longer employed by the municipality.

Costello said she understood that the Anchorage legislative affairs director position had been vacant for some time before she took the role. The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how long the job had been vacant.

Asked whether she would consider running for public office again, Costello said, “I’m not ever going to discount that — if there’s the right opportunity.” But for now, Costello, who described herself as a moderate, said she wanted to stay in Anchorage, help with city government and help improve the mayor’s relationships.