By THE ALASKA STORY
Sept. 7, 2026 — A group of Anchorage residents say they have launched an effort to recall Mayor Suzanne LaFrance, accusing her administration of failing to meet municipal reporting requirements governing the use of surveillance technology.
Recall organizers say they submitted their application and initial sponsor signatures to the Anchorage Municipal Clerk on Sept. 3. The clerk qualified the sponsors’ signatures that same day and notified the group that the municipality has until Oct. 5 to certify or reject the recall application, according to an announcement by the group calling itself Recall Mayor LaFrance.
The group’s Facebook page, created on Sept. 4, had but one follower as of Monday morning: The Party for Socialism and Liberation-Anchorage.
That apparent preliminary qualification by the clerk does yet not authorize organizers to begin collecting the thousands of voter signatures that would be required to place the recall before voters. It means only that the initial sponsors have been verified as qualified Anchorage voters. The clerk and municipal attorney must now determine whether the stated grounds are legally sufficient.
The application alleges that LaFrance violated Anchorage Municipal Code by failing to perform duties prescribed under AMC 3.102.040, which requires the mayor or a designee to transmit an annual surveillance report to the Anchorage Assembly and post it on the municipal website no later than June 1 each year.
Organizers say the 2024, 2025, and 2026 reports were not provided by their respective deadlines.
LaFrance took office July 1, 2024, one month after the deadline for that year’s report. The 2024 deadline therefore occurred during the administration of former Mayor Dave Bronson. It will be up to the clerk and municipal attorney to determine whether the recall application states legally sufficient grounds specifically attributable to LaFrance.
The disputed reports describe municipal use of unmanned aircraft systems (drones0, facial-recognition technology and other surveillance tools. Municipal code requires information about how frequently the technology was used, the purposes for which it was deployed, how collected information was handled and whether its use resulted in complaints or legal proceedings.
At its Sept. 1 meeting, the Anchorage Assembly postponed accepting the reports after members raised concerns about their content. According to the recall group, the documents included specific addresses where drones had been deployed, potentially creating privacy concerns, while other portions lacked dates or offered vague explanations for their use.
The dispute comes as the municipality expands the Anchorage Police Department’s surveillance capabilities. The Assembly recently approved nearly $599,000 for technology associated with APD’s Real-Time Crime Center while considering separate legislation that would place additional restrictions on government surveillance and the handling of collected information. Privacy protections and oversight of the new technology have become points of disagreement as the project advances.
“Alaskans’ right to privacy is not negotiable,” the recall group said in its announcement. “Protect your privacy: Recall LaFrance.”
The listed media contact for the recall campaign is Michael Patterson, a longtime left-wing Anchorage political activist. Patterson has been affiliated with the Anchorage Democratic Socialists of America and has worked as an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Marxist-Leninist organization.
Patterson is an Iraq War veteran who has publicly discussed support for socialist political theory after leaving the Army, participating in the Occupy movement and helping establish the PSL organization in Anchorage. He has frequently testified before the Assembly and has organized demonstrations involving policing, Israel, and other issues.
If the clerk certifies the recall application, the office will prepare a master petition and establish the number of signatures required. Under Alaska law, a recall targeting a municipality-wide official must collect signatures equal to 25% of the votes cast for that office in the most recent regular election. Petition sponsors then have 60 days to gather the signatures.
Alaska law permits municipal officials to be recalled for misconduct in office, incompetence or failure to perform prescribed duties. Recall organizers are not required at the application stage to prove their allegations as they would in a civil or criminal trial, but the allegations must be stated with particularity and constitute legally permissible grounds for recall.
LaFrance has served as mayor since July 2024, after defeating incumbent Mayor Dave Bronson in that year’s runoff election. Her term runs through June 30, 2027, and she has filed for reelection for a second term. The mayor had not issued a public response to the recall announcement as of Monday.
21 thoughts on “Socialist organizer helps launch recall effort against Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance”
Stopping surveillance and upholding the 4th amendment should be a populist right issue. I can’t believe we are allowing the left to take it.
I remember the days when we were on the right side of 80/20 issues.
The right can still take part in this recall, LaFrance gets out of office either way
Suzanne LaFrance is the worst mayor Anchorage has ever had. She refuses to meet with constituents who request appointments with her. She authorizes the expenditure of municipal funds and legal settlements that are a complete waste of our money. She has created new administrative positions and hired lots of new staff that are not needed (they run interference for her). She does not read her incoming email messages and admits this. She never shows up for meetings or events without a prepared script. She does not allow APD to deal effectively with the chronic homelessness we see all over town. She does not respect service-disabled veterans and appears unreasonably to be afraid of us.
In summary, Suzanne LaFrance is completely inept. She should resign immediately and stop with her stupid, scripted videos. If she does not resign, a recall is the best strategy for us to be rid of her. Anchorage must elect somebody more capable, equipped, and suitable to lead Anchorage. And the different and better replacement is certainly not “my” assembly representative Anna Brawley.
I whole heartedly agree with E.B. and I fully support the socialists trying to recall Mayor LaFailure. Need to add the roads are terrible under her administration. Fix the roads! Where are you spending/wasting all the tax money you get for fixing and maintaining the roads??? Are you busy painting murals of roads?
Don’t forget the tens of millions for the homeless/vagrants/drug addicts. And for the starving teachers, fire fighters and police.
I saw you at the 4th of July celebration at the American Legion property on Fireweed. I was surprised when I observed that you were unable to offer a few sentences of gratitude without a SCRIPT when you marched up to the stage and demanded our attention. The many military personnel, veterans, and family members who attended the event deserved much better from you. While you were hiding under a tree, I approached you and asked to meet with you after the event. You told me the young woman, who accompanied you to this peaceful event and served as your body guard, would call me the next day to schedule a meeting. However, the next day OR the day after that OR the week after that nobody called me. You are a disgrace to all of us, Suzanne!
Anchorage deserves much better. Please resign immediately so we can get our town in order before winter sets in. If you won’t resign then a successful recall effort is our best solution. Where can we sign?
Sounds like you have a personal beef with the mayor. Do you have a history with her, like did she cut you off at an assembly meeting?
Barbara gave a complete explanation of her encounter with the noshow mayor. Reading comprehension appears to be a special talent you lack.
I disagree. I think Suzanne’s videos are informative and educational. Do you think the Mayor’s job is about governing? I think showing up for video opportunities are the job of the Mayor’s. Governing is for people who are serious.
Do you attend Turnagain Community Council meetings? Would be a good place to express this concern on record.
Oh, so socialists/communists are doing the work that Republicans should be doing? I smell a rat.
Can we also vote to exile her to somewhere more aligned with her values? Perhaps Portland?, since she goes there so often.
She isn’t communist Enough!!?
This is great fun. I will sign the petition. You don’t have to agree with the stated reasons to like the result.
Bring it on. Constant’s puppet has been a failure since she joined the ASSembly.
They are not wrong about the mass surveillance state that LaFrances police department is trying to create. It’s just flock cameras by another name!
Question: Why can’t we have nice things?
Answer: Anchorage has lost its civic pride.
Question: How to we restore civic pride to Anchorage?
Can we use this surveillance to find out what happened to the tiny little houses we paid to build? Last I heard they were sitting in a parking lot. Empty.
Update…The “tiny” houses were not big enough for the “unhoused”.
As it turned out the homeless clients got spoiled with more roomy hotel rooms with their own showers and other amenities all indoors without having a cramped lifestyle.
The Leftists eating the Leftist. Poetic justice in one sense. In any case, Leftists will devour us all if not stopped.
[…] abrupt announcement comes a little more than a week after The Alaska Story reported that longtime PSL organizer Michael Patterson was serving as the media contact for the campaign to […]