2 Bronson spokesmen will leave mayor’s office for jobs with Anchorage School District

Two of the longest-serving members of Mayor Dave Bronson’s administration are leaving their roles at City Hall for positions at the Anchorage School District.

In an email sent Tuesday morning, Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt informed school board members that Corey Allen Young and Hans Rodvik, as well as KTUU videographer Michael Nederbrock, will join the school district in different capacities.

Young has worked as the communications director and a policy adviser for Bronson since a month into the mayor’s term in summer 2021. In that time he has been the public face for some of the administration’s high-profile scandals, including the mayor’s order in 2021 to halt water fluoridation — which Young denied, despite having been emailed information about the incident — and former Health Department director Joe Gerace’s fabricated credentials and mismanagement. In 2022 Young earned a salary of $95,435 and $54,252 in benefits, according to a city memorandum on executive compensation.

An East High School graduate, Young will begin as an assistant director of communications with the school district on Aug. 7 as the new school year gets underway. Young worked in Alaska TV journalism before moving to public relations for nonprofits and state government, including a stint working for Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

According to a statement sent from the mayor’s office, Young and Rodvik will help select replacements for the communications roles.

Rodvik, also a graduate of the Anchorage School District, will handle internal communications for the school district when he starts Sept. 18. He has worked as a deputy communications director for the mayor’s office since December 2021, a position budgeted for $87,859 in salary in 2022.

The email to the Anchorage School Board does not list salary or earnings for the new hires, though a public job posting for the assistant communication director positions gives a range of $112,000- $115,000, depending on experience.

Nederbrock, who began working for the district in June as a digital media producer, spent 20 years as a videographer and left KTUU in May.

Bronson, who is up for reelection next spring, has seen exceptionally high turnover among top staff during his tenure. In the last year alone, his chief of staff, chief fiscal officer, human resources director, Solid Waste Services director, maintenance and operations director, municipal manager and several more prominent political appointees have all left.

“Mayor Bronson greatly appreciates the great work (Young and Rodvik) both have done on behalf of both him and the Municipality of Anchorage, and he wishes them well in future endeavors!” the mayor wrote in a brief statement.

Neither Young nor Rodvik agreed to an interview on their departures.

Rodvik and Young’s departures were first reported by the Alaska Current.