Mayor Ethan Berkowitz has resigned. His resignation letter was read at the Anchorage Assembly meeting tonight. The resignation is effective Oct. 23.
Berkowitz, while not in attendance, announced his resignation through a written statement read by Chief of Staff Jason Bockenstedt.
“It is with profound sadness and humility that I resign as the mayor of the Municipality of Anchorage,” Berkowitz said. He said as a private citizen it would be easier for him to deal with the damage caused by his admission of guilt to an extramarital relationship, and he wanted to protect his family.
The audience broke into a rousing applause.
On Monday, Berkowitz admitted to having an extramarital sexting relationship with TV news reporter-anchor Maria Athens, who had posted a nude photo of him on Facebook last week.
Check back as this story is developing.
The full video of his resignation letter being read is at this link:
Last week the mayor denied claims made by Athens about his involvement with kiddie porn. The Anchorage Police issued a statement saying they had not found any basis for the claim and the case was closed.
An effort to reorganize the Assembly to put Assembly member John Weddleton in as chair failed on a vote of 8-3. This means Assembly Chair Felix Rivera will become mayor on Oct. 23. He is part of the hard-left radical group that runs the Assembly.
Voting to place Rivera in as mayor rather than Weddleton were those hard leftists: Suzanne LaFrance, Kameron Perez-Verdia, Chris Constant, Forrest Dunbar, and Pete Peterson, and Austin Quinn-Davidson, Meg Zalatel, and Felix Rivera.
