Last night the Anchorage Assembly voted to certify the recent Anchorage municipal election. It was the first vote-by-mail election conducted in Anchorage. The Municipal Clerk, Barbara Jones, answered questions from Assembly members about the election. While a few minor issues were addressed, the overall sentiment is the election was a great success. The election saw the highest voter participation ever in an Anchorage municipal election. The Assembly voted to 11-0 to certify the election.

After, the Assembly voted to elect a new Chair and Vice-Chair. There were two nominations for chair, Forrest Dunbar and longtime Assembly member Dick Traini. Dunbar was elected as the new Chair. Dunbar has served as Vice-Chair for the last year. Eric Croft was elected Vice-Chair, no one else was nominated for that position.

Recently, a number of longtime Assembly members have been termed out or not run for re-election. The election of Dunbar as Chair signifies a new era of leadership on the Assembly. Dunbar posted this on his official Facebook page earlier in the day before the meeting.