Dozens of people hold signs calling for a cease fire in Palestine / Gaza during the March 5, 2024 Anchorage Assembly meeting.
It said so in no uncertain terms; its members even voted 8-4 to adopt an amended resolution to convey that very message, after failing to pass, without debate, a similar resolution put together a week earlier by Assembly members Karen Bronga, Felix Rivera and George Martinez.As an example of how unschooled and out-of-touch the Assembly was on the issue, Bronga said she saw the first resolution as uncontroversial and even thought sponsors might end up with a “badge of honor” for conjuring it up.
While the first resolution was tabled — too much of this, not enough of that — the softened measure passed despite some yelling from the peanut gallery and surprising admissions by Assembly members, such as Meg Zaletel, who said she felt “in over her head” on the issue. To her credit, Zaletel also at one point correctly opined an Assembly resolution on the subject was “inappropriate.” Others said they felt out of their lane, “inept,” or not up to snuff on the subject.
While our august Assembly ponders the imponderable and solves world problems its members admit they do not fully understand, the rest of us can look at a once-robust Downtown a casual observer could believe slowly is dying, or snow that will turn into glaciers before it is plowed, or the prospect of running out of natural gas to heat our homes.