Censure of Assembly Member Martinez

At a glance

Censure vote (July 21, 2026): Resolution AR 2026-191, which censures Assembly Member Martinez based on findings of the Alaska Public Offices Commission and reaffirms the Assembly's commitment to campaign finance integrity and the commission's authority, passed 8-3 as amended. Sponsors: McCormick, Baldwin Day and Scout. Martinez was recused.
What: during appearance requests, Pastor Leon D. May (River in the Desert Community Church, president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Anchorage and Vicinity and of the Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation of Alaska), joined by other clergy, asked the Assembly to rescind its censure of Assembly Member Martinez.
Position stated: the speakers said the censure was unnecessary after Martinez paid a fine of about $5,000 to the state's public offices commission, that it harms the Assembly's record, and that the commission treated another public figure more leniently. These are the speakers' characterizations; the transcript does not show the Assembly's findings.
Assembly response: no motion was made. Baldwin Day said she had committed weeks ago to meet with Pastor May, lost track of it, and intends to follow through.
Note: this is the second appearance on the topic; the speaker referred to an earlier meeting. Martinez did not speak on it.

Postponed from July 7. The Chair ruled earlier that Martinez had a potential conflict of interest, and he was recused.
Volland moved approval (seconded by Baldwin Day). A motion by Volland (seconded by Park) to postpone indefinitely failed 3-8 (aye: Brawley, Volland, Park). A call for the question by Goecker failed 6-5.
The meeting was extended to 11:15 p.m. (11-0) and then to 11:30 p.m. (11-0).
Baldwin Day Amendment 1 (seconded by Handeland) rewrote Section 3: instead of noting Martinez's stated intention to comply, the Assembly "acknowledges Assembly Member Martinez's compliance with the Commission's order and his timely completion of the repayment the Commission directed." Passed 10-0 (Silvers out of the room).
Final vote, as amended: passed 8-3. Aye: Handeland, Goecker, Silvers, Baldwin Day, Scout, McCormick, Park, Johnson. Nay: Perez-Verdia, Brawley, Volland.

Pastor Leon May appeared at appearance requests (addendum item); the minutes do not record his topic. The earlier appearance of October 20 is described above.

About 7 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-10-20 - Assembly Regular	7

Pastor May was granted five minutes as a group and asked for the censure to be rescinded; Baldwin Day committed to meet with him.

Pastor May appeared at appearance requests; topic not recorded in the minutes.

AR 2026-191 censuring Martinez approved 8-3 as amended after Baldwin Day's Section 3 amendment (10-0); postponement failed 3-8; Martinez recused.