Constant’s secession suggestion should Eaglexit stage left
When Downtown’s Christopher Constant first ran for the Anchorage Assembly I remember chuckling at his campaign signs, which read simply “Constant Assembly,” imagining them as the manic plea of some 24/7 public forum fanatic obsessed with nonstop assembly meetings.
The joke isn’t quite as funny now that Constant seems genuinely interested in making permanent the assembly’s recent Barnumesque turn toward three-ring territory with his cynical proposal to turn the silly Eaglexit amusement into a full-blown citywide freak show.
Constant threw unnecessary gasoline on the smoldering Eagle River secession “debate” when he used social media to announce that he wants the assembly to seek a municipal advisory vote on whether Anchorage residents support cleaving the Chugiak-Eagle River area from the greater municipality. Constant told the Anchorage Daily News his proposal is nothing more than a good faith effort to gauge community support for the idea.
“It’s just the idea that I’ve been hearing long and hard from members of the Eagle River community — that they’re interested in leaving the municipality. This is an opportunity to poll their neighbors of the municipality as a whole.”
What Constant really means is he wants to get people riled up, and he knows the “Eaglexit” movement is an ideal way to widen the growing divide between the far left and right in Anchorage.
Over the past year, a pair of women from Chugiak-Eagle River — assemblywoman Jamie Allard and municipal manager Amy Demboski — have crystalized their status as leaders of the so-called “Save Anchorage” movement, a group of MAGA-aligned conservatives that helped propel Dave Bronson to the mayor’s office and who have fueled sometimes ugly confrontations over masking and other social issues during assembly meetings.
For Anchorage’s left, Demboski and Allard are now regarded as near demons, and by extension many have decided that if Demboski and Allard are all Eagle River has to offer, we might as well call the area Meadow Lakes South and hand it over to the Mat-Su.
This enmity happens to have coincided with a grassroots organization known as “Eaglexit,” which was formed in 2019 for the purpose of trying to create a separate government in Chugiak-Eagle River — which the group claims would be more responsive to voters’ needs and improve on everything from schools to roads in the area.
Constant knows that between the Eaglexiteers and the growing faction of “let ’em go” leftists who would prefer to see Eagle River sent packing, he’ll be able to unite the right and left in their mutual hatred for one another. It’s world-class trolling to be sure, but as an act of statesmanship it’s about as constructive as ripping up someone’s speech or wearing Hulk gloves onto the House floor.
The fact is, few people either in Chugiak-Eagle River or Anchorage actually support splitting the city from its largest suburb. None of the six community councils north of Anchorage has voted to support exiting the municipality, and one — Eklutna Valley — has already taken a strong position against such a move. In a rejection of the proposal, that council voted 15–1 for a resolution “disassociating” itself with the idea unless an independent analysis found property taxes would be reduced and services increased under a separation.
That hasn’t happened. Thus far, the leaders of the Eaglexit movement have produced a pair of reports showing how much they estimate their new government would spend on services based on comparable area governments. This is a far cry from analyzing actual tax burdens and services under an independent city — something that actually as been done before. In 2007, Northern Economics found services for Chugiak-Eagle River residents would likely be reduced and taxes increased were the area to separate from Anchorage.
Let’s say for debate’s sake, that Chugiak-Eagle River could sustain itself and reduce property taxes for its residents were it to break away from the municipality. There’s still the issue former assemblyman Fred Dyson said would always be the biggest stumbling block for separation — how to divide the spoils.
Since incorporating as the Municipality of Anchorage in the 1970s, Anchorage — which includes both the city proper as well as Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Chugach State Park, Chugiak-Eagle River and the small communities of Eklutna, Bird, Indian and Girdwood — has grown by leaps and bounds and now includes hundreds of schools, a massive public safety department and billions of dollars worth of public facilities infrastructure — including the Anchorage Landfill and the Eklutna Dam, both of which are in Chugiak-Eagle River. Deciding how to divide property and how to apportion ownership of these joint properties would likely entail years of litigation and millions of dollars of tax dollars in studies and lawyers fees.
All of this to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. The truth is, Chugiak-Eagle River and Anchorage work well together and most folks have no desire whatsoever to change things. What good can come of splitting the Anchorage School District into two entities, or breaking APD into competing departments? Will your life change in any meaningful way if Chugiak-Eagle River suddenly has its own assembly meetings and school board? Nope.
Although the Anchorage Assembly is currently perceived as leaning left, it’s a myth that Chugiak-Eagle River residents are beholden to city power or unrepresented on the assembly. Through both the community council system and decentralized Parks and Recreation and Road boards, Chugiak-Eagle River actually has a great deal of autonomy. The area even has separate rules for home inspections from Anchorage and its own land use section in municipal code. (And with two of the 11 assembly’s members, the area is technically over-represented if we’re going by strict population figures.)
Eagle River secession is an idea that’s supported almost exclusively by people on the political fringes. Those on the far right hope to see Chugiak-Eagle River turned into some kind of conservative utopia were all the streets are plowed and all the sex-ed classes are about why plowing is bad; those on the left want to see Anchorage rid of its basket of deplorables so the city can move ahead with its dream of becoming Austin, Alaska.
They’re both wrong, and assemblyman Christopher Constant should withdraw his proposal to bring the issue to a vote. At a time when we should be working to find common ground, the last thing this city needs is a constant fight over why we need to split up.
This column is the opinion of Matt Tunseth, a freelance writer from Alaska who has worked as a journalist at the Chugiak-Eagle River Star, (Kenai) Peninsula Clarion, Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, Alaska Dispatch News and the Anchorage Daily News.
