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Record of Proceedings

Anchorage Women's Commission Meeting - August 10, 2026: New Commissioner, Committee Updates, and Women's Equality Day Resolution

Assembly & Committee Meetings — Monday, August 10, 2026

BodyAnchorage, Alaska

SessionAssembly & Committee Meetings

DateMonday, August 10, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 32:10

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:06

So we are gonna officially call the meeting to order at 4 32 p.m.

0:17

We have a quorum.

0:20

Um, and others will join as they are able.

0:23

Um, we know Leslie will not be here tonight, um, but we are unsure of some of the others, so we'll just get going.

0:32

Um, start with our pledge of allegiance.

0:41

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

0:58

Now we have uh roll call.

1:08

So we have Ariana Present.

1:12

Celeste.

1:14

Present.

1:16

Beth present.

1:19

Christy is present, and then our newest commissioner, um, Melissa is also present.

1:26

I am present.

1:27

Yes.

1:28

Great.

1:30

Um Leslie Count is excused because she let me know.

1:34

Yeah, so Leslie's excused, and then we'll see who else will be attending.

1:39

Um approval of the agenda.

1:45

Um I will warn that I have two agenda amendments for some more recent things that came up after the agenda was created.

1:56

Um, but we'll open the floor for a motion on the agenda.

2:01

Motion to approve the agenda.

2:05

Second.

2:06

Oh, second.

2:07

Oh, go ahead, Beth.

2:10

Either way is fine.

2:12

All right, and then um discussion.

2:17

I'll go ahead and propose the two amendments.

2:20

I'm looking at Ariana going, am I doing it right?

2:23

I really tried.

2:25

Yeah, I can I can be chair for a second if you want to be the person who's moving your amendments.

2:32

That would be great.

2:33

Okay.

2:34

So I have um two, can I do them both at the same time or do I do them one at a time?

2:40

I think you can do them, and if somebody wants to divide the question because they don't like one of them, that's fine.

2:46

Um, but we'll just say that they're probably gonna pass.

2:50

Right.

2:51

Yeah, they are not, they're not huge things.

2:53

One is I'd like to add introductions to the agenda after the approval of the minutes, since we do have a new commissioner who was just appointed two days ago or confirmed two days ago.

3:05

Um, and then the second one is under new business.

3:10

Um, we'd like to discuss the women's equality day resolution that was shared with us from um a group of assembly members and the mayor's office.

3:22

Um, and that would be again under new business.

3:25

Okay, so we have the addition of introductions after disclosures and the introduct and then the addition of the women's equality day under new business.

3:35

Uh, can I get a second on the motion?

3:41

Thank you.

3:42

Um, and as long as everybody's okay with it, we'll do this by consent.

3:47

So just wave your hand or shout if you're wanting to vote against this.

3:55

Beth, you want to vote against?

3:57

No, I didn't, I don't think so.

3:58

Sorry.

3:59

No, no, no, no, no, no.

4:01

You're good.

4:01

Melissa, you want to vote against?

4:04

I would put it on for that.

4:07

Since I didn't hear any nays, um, this passes uh by assent, and the motion carries.

4:13

I will hand the chair back over to our uh lovely chair, Christy.

4:19

Okay, and so then now that it's been modeled, it was explained.

4:23

I didn't quite understand it.

4:25

Now that it's been modeled, um, we've had a second on approving the agenda, and I will open this up to approval by assent.

4:34

If you do not want this to pass, make some kind of virtual or live action motion.

4:46

All right, seeing no dissent, um, approval of the minutes has passed.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Women's Rights██████████████████████████26%

Strategic Planning█████████████████████21%

Procedural█████████████████17%

Public Engagement█████████████████17%

Public Records Management████████8%

Ethics Training██████6%

Meeting Procedures█████5%

Summary of Proceedings

Anchorage Women's Commission Meeting - August 10, 2026

The Anchorage Women's Commission held a regular meeting on August 10, 2026, starting at 4:32 p.m. The meeting included the swearing-in of a new commissioner, committee reports, and discussion of a Women's Equality Day resolution. The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format with most members attending via Zoom.

Consent Calendar

Agenda Approval: The agenda was approved with two amendments: adding introductions after approval of minutes and adding discussion of the Women's Equality Day resolution under new business. The motion passed by assent with no dissent.

Introductions

New Commissioner: Melissa Scarborough introduced herself. She is a licensed clinical social worker with a forensic social work practice in Anchorage, focusing on the intersection of mental health, public policy, and community safety. She expressed a commitment to collaborative problem-solving and evidence-informed decision-making.
Existing Members: Beth Fleischer (Director of IT at Alaska Railroad), Ariana (Vice Chair, Executive Director of Federation of Community Councils), Celeste Early (Alaska Community Foundation), and Chair Christy Traver (Victim Services Administrator, Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association) introduced themselves, sharing their backgrounds and motivations for serving on the commission.

Discussion Items

Infrastructure Committee (Ariana): The committee has been working on board orientation and digitizing historic files (seven boxes of commission records). Ariana proposed moving to fully remote (Teams-only) meetings, especially in winter. Staff expressed flexibility, with Ashley (program manager) suggesting a later start time if fully remote. No formal motion was made; feedback will be collected via email for a decision at the next meeting.
Outreach & Communications Committee: No members were present. Chair Christy Traver noted the committee is working on establishing an online presence (Facebook page). Leslie is on emergency leave; Christy will follow up with Sharon and Kayla.
Strategic Planning Committee (Christy): The committee is developing a community survey to gather feedback from women in the municipality on their concerns. The survey draft has been shared with committee members Beth and Celeste. The committee is also collaborating with Frankie Dahl (Community Safety and Development) and Emily Bokar (Innovation Strategist, I-Team) to leverage city resources for survey distribution and analysis. Listening sessions with targeted demographics are planned. The committee emphasized the need to balance thoroughness with a reasonable survey length.
Old Business:
- Mayor Visit: The commission had discussed inviting the mayor to the September meeting. Sharon was tasked with confirming availability; no update was available. Chair will follow up. Members noted that if the mayor attends, they should be present in person. Commissioner Melissa Scarborough will be out of town September 3–9 and requested to attend via Teams if the meeting falls on the first Thursday (September 3).
- Records: Ariana mentioned digitizing historic commission files.
New Business:
- Women's Equality Day Resolution: The commission received an invitation to attend the Assembly meeting on August 18, 2026, where a resolution recognizing Women's Equality Day (August 26) will be read. The resolution is sponsored by Assembly Chair Brawley, Vice Chair Volland, and other assembly members, as well as Mayor LaFrance. The commission was asked to send representatives to accept the resolution and possibly speak. Members expressed interest; no formal decision was recorded.

Key Outcomes

Agenda approved with amendments (additions of introductions and Women's Equality Day discussion) by consent.
New commissioner Melissa Scarborough was welcomed.
Infrastructure committee will follow up via email on the feasibility of fully remote meetings; decision deferred to next meeting.
Chair will follow up with the Outreach & Communications committee and confirm the mayor's availability for the September meeting.
Strategic planning committee will continue refining the survey and coordinating with city resources; a draft will be presented to the full commission before launch.
No votes with tallies were recorded; all decisions were made by assent.

Attendance

Present: Ariana, Celeste, Beth, Christy, Melissa (new).
Excused: Leslie Count.
Staff: Ashley (program manager), Arlie (Wick Family Service Supervisor).

Meeting Transcript

So we are gonna officially call the meeting to order at 4 32 p.m. We have a quorum. Um, and others will join as they are able. Um, we know Leslie will not be here tonight, um, but we are unsure of some of the others, so we'll just get going. Um, start with our pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Now we have uh roll call. So we have Ariana Present. Celeste. Present. Beth present. Christy is present, and then our newest commissioner, um, Melissa is also present. I am present. Yes. Great. Um Leslie Count is excused because she let me know. Yeah, so Leslie's excused, and then we'll see who else will be attending. Um approval of the agenda. Um I will warn that I have two agenda amendments for some more recent things that came up after the agenda was created. Um, but we'll open the floor for a motion on the agenda. Motion to approve the agenda. Second. Oh, second. Oh, go ahead, Beth. Either way is fine. All right, and then um discussion. I'll go ahead and propose the two amendments. I'm looking at Ariana going, am I doing it right? I really tried. Yeah, I can I can be chair for a second if you want to be the person who's moving your amendments. That would be great. Okay. So I have um two, can I do them both at the same time or do I do them one at a time? I think you can do them, and if somebody wants to divide the question because they don't like one of them, that's fine. Um, but we'll just say that they're probably gonna pass. Right. Yeah, they are not, they're not huge things. One is I'd like to add introductions to the agenda after the approval of the minutes, since we do have a new commissioner who was just appointed two days ago or confirmed two days ago. Um, and then the second one is under new business. Um, we'd like to discuss the women's equality day resolution that was shared with us from um a group of assembly members and the mayor's office. Um, and that would be again under new business. Okay, so we have the addition of introductions after disclosures and the introduct and then the addition of the women's equality day under new business. Uh, can I get a second on the motion? Thank you. Um, and as long as everybody's okay with it, we'll do this by consent. So just wave your hand or shout if you're wanting to vote against this. Beth, you want to vote against? No, I didn't, I don't think so. Sorry. No, no, no, no, no, no.

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