Mayor-elect LaFrance announces 18-member transition team
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Suzanne LaFrance announced her transition team selections on Thursday as she prepares to take over the office of mayor next month.
Following May’s runoff election race that saw her comfortably beat out incumbent Dave Bronson, LaFrance will be sworn in July 1.
The announcement comes days after the former Assembly Chair named Katie Scovic and Becky Windt Pearson as her chief of staff and municipal manager, respectively. Transition team members fall into one of three categories: good government; safe streets and trails; and building our future.
The transition team will meet with stakeholders and develop a ”concise list of actions the Municipality can take to make progress,” among other tasks.
“Anchorage faces big challenges and also big opportunities to move our community forward,” LaFrance said in a statement. “It’s going to take all of us working together. I’m honored to have talented leaders on board as we engage our community to identify obstacles and opportunities.”
| Good Government | Mike Abbott | Eleanor Andrews | Jane Angvik | Jennifer Johnston | Jasmin Smith | |||
| Safe streets and trails | Bob Doehl | LeeAnn Garrick | Walt Monegan | Beth Nordlund | Dave Rittenberg | |||
| Building our future | Sheldon Fisher | Carol Gore | Joelle Hall | Radhika Krishna | Aaron Leggett | Bill Popp | Ivy Spohnholz | Jonathon Taylor |
Scovic served as LaFrance’s campaign manager during the election this year, and previously spent time as communications director under former interim mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson. She also worked as a senior manager at Agnew Beck Consulting in Anchorage and as associate director of homelessness initiatives at Cook Inlet Housing Authority. Scovic has a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public policy and administration from Northwestern University.
Pearson previously spent time as the Anchorage municipal attorney under Mayor Ethan Berkowitz from 2017 to 2020, having racked up experience in the judicial system as a law clerk in the Alaska Supreme Court, as well as an attorney and shareholder at Asburn & Mason, P.C. She is currently the senior vice president at GCI Communication Corp, where she is also the general counsel and chief administrative officer. A press release by LaFrance’s office states that Pearson “guided the $1 billion sale of Anchorage’s Municipal Light & Power utility to Chugach Electric Association, Inc.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
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