Regrets, victories, & advice: Mayor Bronson reflects on his time leading Anchorage

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - After three years at the helm of Alaska’s largest city, Mayor Dave Bronson agreed to sit down with Alaska’s News Source for an interview about his tenure as mayor.

Bronson lost a runoff special election to Suzanne LaFrance, who will become the first woman to be elected as the mayor of Anchorage when she is sworn in July 1.

Bronson first won office during a wave of anger over COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and the homeless epidemic.

During his three-year term, Bronson and the Anchorage Assembly had a very strained relationship, most notably over a homeless shelter in East Anchorage and divisions of power.

Bronson pointed to what he called his victories in office, including obtaining funding for the newly renamed Don Young Port of Alaska, pay raises for law enforcement, working to lower Cook Inlet energy costs in what he termed an energy “crisis,” and his efforts to keep the city budget under the tax cap.

Watch the full interview with Mayor Dave Bronson in the window above.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

What are you most proud of?

A: “Well, we’ve accomplished a great deal. We secured $270 million for the port. We got $200 million from the legislature, it’s the largest appropriation in the history of the state.”

Q: What is your biggest regret?

A: “Single biggest regret? Well, I may have probably, you know the personnel — there’s probably people I shouldn’t have hired. You know that leads to other problems, but the single biggest regret probably is — coming back to the same old issue — is not dealing with the sheltering issue, which would allow us to deal with, not all, but much of the homeless challenges we’re facing in the city. It’s not for lack of trying.”

Q: This is what it’s going to look like until there is a shelter?

A: “Yep.”

Q: If you could go back, having the experience you have now, to offer yourself some advice, what would it be?

A: “I think in the very beginning, we came out and probably fought too much with the Assembly. I mean, that’s a two-way street, but after a few months, that ended and I made a conscious decision, ‘We’re all done with the fighting, we’re going to work where we can,’ and obviously, on occasion, I would do vetoes, but those were on matters of principal, mostly around the issue of executive authority. I need to protect, I took an oath, to protect this office, and there were challenges in that area, but I think we fought a good fight and we accomplished a lot of different things.”

Q: When you look back on your time as mayor, do you think you were successful?

A: “Yes, I think we were very successful, in spite of the road blocks placed in front of us.”

Q: Would you run for office again?

A: “I wouldn’t make a decision to not run at this point.”

Q: What do you think people will remember about you as far as your legacy?

A: I think I’ll let the historians write that. Again, without rehashing everything, I think eventually the truth will come out and we’ll find out we did a good job under withering attack from people who disagree with us. We ran the city well, we maintained our roads, I wish we could do more.”

Q: What message would you have for the incoming mayor? Do you think she’ll be successful?

A: “I very much hope she is. It would be the best thing for our city.”

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