Watch: Bronson announces mayoral transition team

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Anchorage presumed mayor-elect Dave Bronson held a news conference on Monday to announce his transition team for taking office.

With few ballots left to be counted, Bronson declared victory on Friday while candidate Forrest Dunbar conceded. As of Friday, when the Anchorage Election Commission was scheduled to adopt its report on the election results, Bronson was ahead with 50.66% of the votes. He was ahead of Dunbar by 1,191 votes, or a margin of 1.32%.

The Anchorage Assembly is scheduled to certify the election results on Tuesday, and Bronson will be sworn in on July 1.

“Last Friday’s numbers solidified our win in this race,” Bronson said Monday. “I’m extremely humbled by the people of Anchorage and their decision to elect me as mayor.”

Bronson was flanked by Craig Campbell and Larry Baker, two long-time political insiders who will co-lead Bronson’s transition team. Campbell is a former Alaska Lt. Governor and Baker is a former lawmaker and served as chief of staff to former Anchorage mayor Dan Sullivan. Both men have also served on the assembly.

Bronson’s transition plan includes the formation of five teams to develop action plans for issues that he has identified as priorities.

The teams include:

1. Policy
2. Economic Recovery
3. Personnel & Organizational Structure
4. Budget
5. Public Safety

A sixth team listed in Bronson’s plan will focus on communications strategy. A spokesperson said Monday the communications team is separate from the other five teams.

Bronson has not identified who will be leading the teams, but said they’ll be turning in written reports before he takes office and those reports will be made available to the public.

“I know there are some people in Anchorage who did not vote for me,” Bronson acknowledged. “As mayor, I will work to bring the city back together so we can make Anchorage a more vibrant place than ever to live.”

The Municipality of Anchorage is again pursuing the purchase of the former Alaska Club building on Tudor Road to create a new homeless shelter, an effort that will likely be ongoing when Bronson is expected to take office.

“It’ll land on my desk on July 1, and on July 1, we will look at that decision very carefully,” he said.

Actions Bronson previewed for his first day in office include the appointment of Anchorage’s next police chief and an immediate hiring freeze.

Acting Anchorage Police Chief Ken McCoy is under consideration, Bronson confirmed, but the decision will be made by the time he is sworn in.

“We will not have a shortlist by July 1, we will have a an appointed or a designated police chief by July 1,” Bronson said.

Among the promises Bronson campaigned on is reducing the size of government. The plan he released Monday said his transition team will look for inefficiencies, areas to consolidate and potential reductions.

Bronson said his campaign is committed to transparency.

“We will be very transparent,” he said, “both in our policies and in the execution of those policies.”

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with more information and quotes.

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