Anchorage Assembly votes down proposal to research fellow member over city-funded journey

The Anchorage Assembly voted Tuesday towards opening an investigation into whether or not a member’s use of metropolis funding for journey was grounds for removing.

East Anchorage Assembly member George Martinez’s journey to New York in December 2024 had been underneath scrutiny. Martinez had already taken warmth in latest months over his use of marketing campaign cash in December 2025 to fly to Florida for what he described as a marketing campaign planning session.

The Alaska Public Offices Commission, the state’s marketing campaign finance watchdog, discovered that Martinez’s use of marketing campaign funds for the journey was inappropriate and fined Martinez greater than $5,000. He was additionally censured by the Assembly for the December 2025 journey.

After the APOC ruling, Eagle River Assembly member Donald Handeland performed a casual overview of Martinez’s prior journey in his capability as an Assembly member. Handeland claimed he discovered discrepancies with Martinez’s December 2024 New York journey and submitted a decision that might’ve directed the town lawyer to research Martinez, to see if the discrepancies constituted a breach of public belief and whether or not that made him topic to removing from the Assembly.

Because Martinez would have had a battle of curiosity voting on the investigation decision, he sat within the Assembly viewers Tuesday as members debated the movement.

According to public data Handeland submitted, Martinez traveled to New York in December 2024 so as to meet with the manager director of the town’s Office of Nightlife, also referred to as its “nightlife mayor,” who works to foster New York’s nightlife economic system.

Martinez additionally mentioned he was fascinated by attending an International Conference on Extreme Tourism Activities, which ended up being held just about. In his request for journey authorization, Martinez mentioned the convention would supply “insights into the latest trends in extreme tourism, destination tourism, and how creative economies can be leveraged for economic development.”

Handeland, in each the documents he submitted to the Assembly and on social media, claimed Martinez’s fundamental cause for touring to New York was to attend the convention. Handeland additionally claimed the convention didn’t cowl the matters Martinez mentioned it could.

“He was in New York for that conference in a hotel room,” Handeland mentioned at Tuesday’s Assembly assembly. “Who knows what was happening? And then he submitted a record sitting there saying how great this conference was. He put that on the official record.”

Former Assembly Chair Chris Constant, who accepted Martinez’s journey, referred to as Handeland’s movement for an investigation a “political document.” The main objective of the journey was to satisfy with the nightlife mayor, and the convention was secondary, Constant mentioned.

“The official travel was all approved in writing,” Constant informed Assembly members. “I signed them myself. The allegations are false and do not support removal.”

Martinez’s fellow East Anchorage Assembly member Yarrow Silvers accused Handeland of omitting details about the journey, particularly that the principle objective of the go to was the assembly with the nightlife mayor. She referred to as it an “incomplete and misrepresented record” that broken Martinez’s repute.

“I believe that if a member, in writing policy, particularly a policy that carries as much weight as the removal of an elected official, were to cherry-pick, misrepresent, or be untruthful about the record which they were in possession of, that this would also constitute a serious breach of public trust, as well as the trust of the people on this body,” Silvers mentioned.

Silvers proposed adjustments to the decision that additionally would’ve prompted metropolis attorneys to research Handeland’s accusations as effectively, however she eliminated her modification in the midst of Tuesday’s debate.

Handeland mentioned his accusation doc, which was co-sponsored by Eagle River Assembly member Jared Goecker and South Anchorage member Zac Johnson, obtained enter from metropolis attorneys.

“This has all been done through attorneys who have looked at this and say, ‘This doesn’t look good,’” Handeland mentioned. “This is not something that we’re just willy-nilly pushing here.”

But Assembly lawyer Matthew Hurt mentioned he solely put the accusation doc collectively for Handeland.

“The original accusation document was submitted by me based off of evidence that was provided to me,” Hurt mentioned. “To answer your question as to whether or not I conducted an independent investigation or attempted to corroborate any of the evidence, no, I did not.”

After greater than 90 minutes of debate, Assembly member Daniel Volland of North Anchorage mentioned he was involved that the information of the accusation might have been misrepresented.

“I no longer believe the accusation document,” Volland mentioned. “Knowing what I know now, I think it is flawed.”

Assembly members ended up voting 6 to five towards transferring ahead with the investigation decision. Handeland, Goecker and Johnson have been joined by Assembly chair Anna Brawley and South Anchorage member Keith McCormick in assist of the movement.

Reached for remark after the vote, Martinez mentioned the Assembly performed its course of, and added that he was wanting to get again to his work as an Assembly member.

In response to the elevated scrutiny of how metropolis officers approve journey, Brawley requested the town’s audit division to overview journey approval procedures and insurance policies between January 2025 and April 2026. She mentioned the findings of the overview could be introduced on the Assembly’s subsequent Rules Committee assembly, set for Aug. 13.