3rd Anchorage Assembly member faces possible recall election
Posted November 18, 2021 2:25 pm.
Last Updated November 18, 2021 2:32 pm.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A third member of Anchorage’s governing body could face a recall election.
The municipal clerk’s office on Wednesday certified an application to begin the recall process against Anchorage Assembly member Jamie Allard, Alaska Public Media reported.
Chelsea Foster of Anchorage, who submitted the application, and other recall organizers have until Jan. 17 to collect at least 2,530 signatures in Allard’s district to force a recall election. Allard represents suburban Eagle River and Chugiak,
Recall organizers claim Allard violated the Open Meetings Act when using her Assembly email to reply to all Assembly members when responding to a constituent. They also claim she violated health mandates put in place by the Assembly during the pandemic, including not wearing a mask in public.
The municipal attorney’s office in a memo said the application satisfied the requirements for issuing a recall petition for signature gathering.
The memo noted one of the grounds cited in the effort to recall Allard, remaining in the Assembly chamber Aug. 11 after being informed that the gathering was too large under then-COVID crowd capacity restrictions, was the same used in a recall petition against another Assembly member, Meg Zaletel.
Zaletel won her recall election this month. Felix Rivera won a recall election last spring.
An email seeking comment was sent to Allard Thursday.
The Associated Press