Candidate profile: Dave Bronson aims to take Anchorage in new direction

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - In a crowded field of mayoral candidates, Dave Bronson says his years of leadership experience as an Air Force veteran make him the right choice to move Anchorage past the COVID-19 pandemic.

If elected, Bronson plans to immediately roll back the emergency orders that have been in place over the course of the pandemic.

“First and foremost, We’ve got to end the shutdown, and then we’ve got to immediately start dealing with the other problems we are facing,” he said.

“Our local government has gone off the rails, and with all these problems,” he added. “The crime, the vagrancy, the homelessness. I think it’s time for someone, a strong leader, to step up and get these things fixed,” Bronson said.

Part of Bronson’s plan for jump-starting the economy includes offering a rebate to local businesses that were shutdown by emergency orders during the pandemic.

“We’re going to rebate to them that portion of their property taxes as an economic stimulus to get them back on their feet,” he said.

Bronson also wants to empower the Anchorage Police Department to ‘take back the streets.’ He envisions a system where repeat offenses related to homelessness and drugs will be tracked.

Bronson says the ability for people to migrate back into the streets will be eliminated, and rehabilitation will be prioritized.

“The goal at the far end is that they are productive members, tax-paying members of society,” he added. “That’s what modern societies do. That’s what I intended that this city is going to do.”

As a candidate for mayor, Bronson also wants to change the current structure of Anchorage’s city government, in an effort to lower building costs and speed up the city’s construction permitting process.

“I’m going to bring planning over into the building process, so that one department head will be responsible for making sure that process is quick and smooth and effective,” he said.

Bronson’s campaign slogan is “A New Direction.” When asked about that direction, he told Alaska’s News Source:

“It’s going to be a choice between collectivism, which is the path we are on, versus individual liberties — Where we take responsibility. We do our own work and take responsibility for ourselves. That’s the path back. That’s the path I intend on taking and if people agree with that, then I am a real good choice for that.”

Bronson is one of 15 candidates running for mayor of Anchorage. Alaska’s News Source will offer continued coverage of candidates and ballot proposals from now until the April 6 election.