A car dealership on Tudor Blvd. near the site of one of the mayor’s chosen locations for vagrant services had five of its vehicles vandalized last night. The manager of the dealership had last week given impassioned testimony about the overwhelming amount of crime and vagrancy near the dealership.
And then the vandalism came, with hundreds of thousands of dollars of merchandise destroyed. A coincidence? Possibly.
Save Anchorage, a new community grassroots group, is a lead group on a protest against lawlessness and the lack of support for police officers in Anchorage. Actually, they’re protesting the general disintegration of the social fabric in Anchorage of late.
Citizens will gather at New Seward Highway at Benson Blvd., near where the new Carrs grocery store is located, from 4-6 pm.
Sources within the group said they’re standing up against the mayor of Anchorage and the municipality’s lack of support for law enforcement, the mayor’s attempt to force vagrants and drug abusers into centers to be located in family neighborhoods, and the new ordinance by Assembly member Meg Zalatel to tie the hands of police officers when it comes to their duties to keep people safe.
“People are just ‘over’ it with this administration,” the source told Must Read Alaska. “They want their community back.”
NO IN-PERSON TESTIMONY ALLOWED ON CONTROVERSIES AT ASSEMBLY
At Tuesday’s Anchorage Assembly meeting, the mayor’s vagrant plan will be up for public testimony.
So will Zalatel’s “use of force” ordinance, referenced above.
The Assembly will also consider Chair Felix Rivera’s proposed ban on counseling for those who have gender confusion issues. Rivera’s ordinance prohibits any sort of “sexuality conversion therapy” for those who want to attempt to overcome homosexuality or other sexual variations.
The Assembly will consider an ordinance prohibiting evictions of people who do not pay their rents, offered by Rivera.
The Assembly will hear Mayor Ethan Berkowitz’ proposal to establish an Office of Equity and Justice in his office.
But curiously, no one will be allowed in the Assembly Chambers to testify on these or myriad other controversial items coming before the Assembly.
The mayor has prohibited gatherings in the city and therefore all testimony will be done telephonically.
