Anchorage Deputy Library Director Judy Eledge has resigned.
Mayor Dave Bronson announced Eledge’s departure in a brief statement on Tuesday, saying her last day will be May 15.
Eledge’s departure comes hours before the Anchorage Assembly was set to vote on a resolution recommending that the mayor ask for and accept her resignation.
The resolution was sponsored by Assembly members Kameron Perez-Verdia and Chris Constant. They laid out three pages of reasons why Eledge should step down, including her racist comments toward Alaska Natives caught on tape, workplace complaints for discrimination, harassment and bullying, and the ongoing legal and financial liability of keeping her employed. The resolution also heavily cites reporting last month by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica about Eledge’s inflammatory private and public comments, which also targeted LGBTQ+ legal protections.
Eledge’s tenure with the city was marked with controversy from the start.
She was initially Bronson’s pick for library director, despite not having a degree in library science — a requirement for the position. She later resigned from the top library position, with the mayor’s spokesman saying she did not want to go through “what has been an unfair disparaging” of the mayor’s nominees. Bronson later named her deputy director of the library, a position that doesn’t require Assembly approval.
Bronson’s two-sentence statement Tuesday did not provide comment on Eledge’s resignation outside of announcing her last day.
