Radio show host Amy Demboski brings the receipts, accuses Bronson of lying about $550,000 settlement offer

By SUZANNE DOWNING

Aug. 11, 2026 – Amy Demboski, the former Anchorage municipal manager who was fired by then-Mayor Dave Bronson, brought the receipts on her former boss this week, saying the Republican candidate for governor lied about his role in a proposed $550,000 settlement of her claims against him and the Municipality of Anchorage.

Demboski made the case first on her Facebook page, where she paired a video of Bronson, in an interview, denying that he offered her a settlement with documents she posted that tell a different story.

She then elaborated on her morning radio program on KVNT, saying the issue is relevant now because Alaska’s primary election is one week away. She did not want someone who lies about his own conduct to advance into the final four for governor.

Bronson, in the video sent to Demboski by a third party, denied offering her the settlement and suggested that he opposed the payment.

Demboski responded with a split-screen video, walking viewers through the history and then producing the paperwork.

The Facebook posting is at this link. The documents are below.

One document was the proposed “Settlement and Release of All Claims” between Demboski, the Municipality of Anchorage and Bronson. It stated that the parties wanted to reach a “full and final settlement” of claims Demboski had asserted against the city and Bronson.

Under its terms, Demboski would agree not to sue the municipality or Bronson. In exchange, the municipality would pay her $550,000, subject to appropriation by the Anchorage Assembly.

The proposed agreement also contained a jointly negotiated public statement declaring that the outcome resulted from “good faith negotiations between both parties.” Bronson’s portion of that proposed statement said he was pleased that the dispute had been resolved.

Another document Demboski displayed was Anchorage Resolution 2023-162. It proposed reappropriating money to pay the claims asserted by Demboski and another former municipal employee, Heather MacAlpine.

At the top, the resolution states that it was submitted by the chair of the Anchorage Assembly “at the Request of the Mayor.” It was prepared by the Anchorage Department of Law.

That language is central to Demboski’s rebuttal: The settlement was not something she demanded on her own. The documents show that Bronson and the municipality were parties to a negotiated settlement and that an appropriation measure was placed before the Assembly at the mayor’s request.

The Bronson administration entered into the proposed $550,000 agreement in 2023, but it depended upon the Assembly appropriating the money. The Assembly rejected that payment, and Demboski subsequently filed suit. Contemporary media reports also described the measure as Bronson’s requested settlement.

The dispute began after Bronson fired Demboski in December 2022. Demboski, a former Anchorage Assembly member and state official, had served as municipal manager from shortly after Bronson took office in 2021. As manager, she oversaw the city’s day-to-day operations.

Before her firing, Demboski sent Bronson a detailed email raising concerns about operations inside his administration. Among the issues she identified were the city’s operation of the Sullivan Arena beyond its established capacity, contracting practices, harassment, and what she described as a hostile work environment.

Her attorney later alleged that Bronson fired her in retaliation for raising concerns about potentially unlawful and unethical conduct. The claims included alleged violations of Anchorage’s whistleblower protections, retaliatory discharge, gender discrimination and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Bronson and the municipality denied wrongdoing.

Demboski also resurfaced an unusual mock ordinance signed by Bronson and his wife while he was mayor. The document purported to allow Demboski to “curse freely” and referred to her as an “aggressive potty mouth,” the “Shadow Mayor” and the “sole female member of the Men’s Club.” Although apparently intended as office humor, Demboski presented it to remind voters of the culture inside the administration and Bronson’s familiarity with it.

As for the settlement and looming litigation, a second settlement was negotiated in 2024 for $250,000. The Assembly initially rejected that agreement before reconsidering and approving it.

The immediate political damage for Bronson may come less from reopening the old City Hall fight than from the paper trail surrounding his new denial.

The documents show a formal agreement naming Bronson as a party, describing negotiations between both sides and promising a $550,000 municipal payment if the Assembly appropriated the funds. The accompanying resolution says it was introduced at the mayor’s request.

Demboski’s message to Republican primary voters was blunt: This is not a disagreement over how two former colleagues remember a contentious personnel dispute. She says Bronson’s latest account is demonstrably false, and that voters should consider his willingness to deny documented conduct when they go to the polls to choose the next governor.

Documents included in the Demboski post on Facebook: