Dennis Wheeler, the former Anchorage Municipal attorney under Mayor Dan Sullivan, was awarded a contract not to exceed $50,000 by the Anchorage Assembly. According to his LinkedIn page Wheeler started Wheeler & Associates in July 2015, when his time as Municipal attorney under Sullivan ended. Under the contract Wheeler’s bill rate is $200/hour. He will be providing “assistance with Assembly advice and drafting AO/AR/AM/memos related to COVID-19 response and CARES Act funds allocation and distribution.” The contract is from August 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

You can see the contract here.

The money for the contract is paid for by CARES Act funds. On July 28 the Assembly passed a resolution authorizing $175,000 for the “purpose of funding of increasing Assembly capacity through additional aide hours and hiring additional support for the Clerk’s and Assembly Counsel Offices.” Yesterday, we reported on Assembly Chair Felix Rivera making a Facebook post in a closed Facebook group stating the Assembly was looking for six people for a three and a half month contract. Those contracts would also be authorized by the resolution. Those six contracts, at $11,200 each, equals $67,200. Adding the $50,00 for the Wheeler contract leaves $57,800 left to allocate from the $175,000.