Larry Baker, at center of multiple allegations against Mayor Dave Bronson’s office, is back as adviser

Dave Bronson, left, at a news conference on May 24, 2021, after being elected mayor of Anchorage, alongside Larry Baker, who was one of the leaders of his transition team. (Marc Lester, Anchorage Daily News)

Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson’s office on Wednesday said the mayor has again hired local political veteran Larry Baker as a consultant on a contract that started July 1 and runs through Dec. 31.

Baker’s influence as one of the mayor’s most trusted advisers came under scrutiny earlier this year as a series of controversies shook City Hall, in which numerous top officials were fired or resigned.

In a scathing demand letter sent in January, former municipal manager Amy Demboski, who Bronson fired in December, made numerous allegations of unethical and illegal actions by the Bronson administration — with Baker at the center of several of the claims. Baker left an office he had in City Hall following Demboski’s allegations, and the contract he had at the time ended Jan. 31.

Baker is a former Anchorage Assembly member, former state legislator, and for six years served as chief of staff to former Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan.

His current contract, first reported by the Alaska Current, mirrors his previous contracts to work as a top advisor to Bronson. It amounts to a total pay of $29,500 over six months — which is just below the $30,000 threshold requiring Assembly approval of sole-sourced contract work.

Photos of Baker’s current contract were anonymously sent to the Daily News on Saturday using an encrypted email service. The mayor’s office did not immediately fulfill a request for a copy of the contract from the Daily News, and did not answer questions about Bronson’s reasons for hiring Baker again. The mayor’s office later confirmed that Bronson had re-hired Baker.

Anchorage Assembly Chair Christopher Constant said he has not yet seen the contract but has requested a copy from the administration.

“He’s already cost the taxpayers millions, providing bad advice to the mayor, who listens to him, and obviously continues to listen to him,” Constant said. “And he’s been indemnified from the harms he’s caused — which is highly unusual. So yes, I have a lot of questions. A lot of questions.”

Prior to Demboski’s explosive departure, the city had awarded Baker three consecutive six-month contracts for $29,500 to work for the mayor as a policy adviser. Demboski’s letter alleged the back-to-back contracting was a “clear violation of the law” limiting the size of such contracts.

The work spanned a period beginning July 1, 2021 through Jan. 31 of this year, with the exception of a three-day break between contracts in August 2022.

In each of the contracts, the city signed the agreements after Baker had already started working, and took the unusual step of removing an indemnity clause that would have made Baker legally liable for his work. That means any lawsuit settlements or judgments against the city of Anchorage arising from Baker’s actions on behalf of the mayor would be paid by the city — with public money — rather than paid by Baker.

Demboski’s accusations included that Baker attempted to use his influence to get charges of domestic violence and stalking against his business partner dropped, pressuring former municipal attorney Patrick Bergt. The city’s deputy municipal manager was named as the victim in the city cases, and in a state felony stalking case that recently went to trial.

[From Mayor Bronson’s first day in office, a domestic violence case loomed over Anchorage City Hall]

Demboski also claimed that Baker and the mayor, in “knowing violation” of city code, pressured then-director of Maintenance and Operations Saxton Shearer to green-light millions in construction work on the East Anchorage Navigation Center and Shelter project without first bringing the contract amendments for Assembly approval. Bergt resigned last June, prior to Demboski’s firing. Shearer resigned this May.

Demboski also alleged that, over Thanksgiving weekend, the mayor showed up with a firearm at Baker’s house in response to a trespassing call that had already been reported to police.

Bronson has repeatedly refused to publicly address Demboski’s claims, saying city attorneys advised him not to comment on “potential litigation” or personnel matters. Baker has not answered previously emailed questions and declined previous interview requests from the Daily News.

Bergt in the past declined to say whether Baker pressured him to drop or reduce the city charges against business partner Brandon Spoerhase, citing concerns that he could break legal rules protecting confidential communications between attorneys and clients. Spoerhase pleaded no contest to criminal mischief and violating a protective order in the city cases, and prosecutors dropped several other charges.

In the felony stalking case, Spoerhase accepted a deal for a reduced charge, pleading guilty to misdemeanor stalking in the second degree on June 29, according to court records. He can’t have contact with the deputy municipal manager or go within 500 feet of her residence or workplace — City Hall. He’ll serve two days in jail, with 358 days of the 360-day sentence suspended.

Baker had served as a court-appointed third-party custodian for Spoerhase in the cases, and at one point paid his $200 bail.

On the same day as the disposition of Spoerhase’s stalking case, June 29, Baker and Bronson’s chief of staff, Mario Bird, signed Baker’s contract to again be adviser to the mayor.

Constant questioned the mayor’s decision to re-hire Baker, saying it could lead to further negative impacts to the city, and that the city still deserves answers from the Bronson administration and to know the truth of Demboski’s claims.

“They are certainly allegations, right? I’m not a court, I’m not a prosecutor. But, that said, we’re still under threat of a lawsuit from Demboski,” Constant said.

In May, the Anchorage Assembly rejected a proposal from the administration to pay $550,000 to settle Demboski’s legal claims. With the settlement rejected, Demboski is free to sue Bronson and the municipality, and further litigation is expected, though no lawsuit has yet been filed. At the time of the vote on the proposed payout, many Assembly members said a lawsuit would be the city’s best chance at uncovering the truth of her claims.

Constant said he sees Baker as a major reason for a three-year delay in opening the former Golden Lion Hotel as low-income housing for people who may otherwise be homeless. The city began housing people there last week.

Baker’s home is a few hundred yards from the former hotel building in Midtown. When former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz proposed in 2020 that the city buy the Golden Lion and turn it into a substance abuse treatment center, Baker and five others formed a nonprofit to oppose the plan, with Baker as its director.

Bronson’s campaign for mayor capitalized on backlash against then-city leaders and their homelessness plans, rallying opposition against buying and using the Golden Lion. Later, when Bronson won election in May 2021, he chose Baker to co-chair his transition team.