Anchorage City Hall. (Jeremy Kashatok/Alaska's News Source)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Anchorage’s first ever chief equity officer has been fired by the Bronson administration, according to a press release from the local NAACP.

Clifford Armstrong III was appointed by then Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson in April. Part of his job was to promote equity and opportunity within the municipality, as well as work with the mayor’s office to ensure community representation and to help create opportunities for communities of color, the disability community, immigrants and refugees, LGBTQ+ residents and more.

Anchorage’s NAACP president posted the release to his Facebook page on Sunday. The NAACP claims Mayor Dave Bronson fired Armstrong illegally “in attempt to cover up report of Municipal record on equal opportunity in hiring.”

The organization claims Armstrong was fired without cause or consent from the Anchorage Assembly. This is required by a section of municipal code, which reads “the chief equity officer may be dismissed by the mayor only for cause shown, and only with the concurrence of a majority of the assembly.”

Armstrong confirmed that he was fired to Alaska’s News Source via text message late Sunday night.

“I can confirm that the administration took measures to keep me from actively performing my job by involuntarily separating me on Thursday, October 7th,” he wrote. “As you likely are aware, per the muni code, it is not within their authority to do so without cause and approval of the assembly. They gave me no cause, and the assembly was not consulted.”

The NAACP is now calling on the administration to rehire Armstrong, adding that he had recently written a report about how the city complies with federal civil rights laws.

“Chief Equity Officer Armstrong had written a report documenting the city’s failure to comply with federal civil rights laws, a failure which puts at risk federal funding used by the city,” the release said. “Armstrong was terminated after sharing the final report with high-ranking Bronson administration staff in an apparent attempt to cover up the report.”

Alaska’s News Source has reached out to the administration for comment, but has not heard back by the time of publication.

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Anchorage’s first ever chief equity officer fired by Bronson administration, NAACP says