Rivera and Zaletel, who is also head of the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, were disparaged repeatedly throughout the evening. “For all of you that are screaming in this direction, I think you should be screaming in that direction,” said Amber Brophy King, one of the people who spoke Friday, gesturing away from Bronson and toward fellow Midtown Assembly member Meg Zaletel, who was seated in the audience. Many criticized members of the Assembly and vented their anger at a diffuse set of targets, from crime to homelessness to taxes. The overwhelming majority of those who got up to speak during the hour-and-a-half-long town hall were against the facility becoming any kind of homeless shelter. “Our goal is to be polite, be respectful of everyone,” the mayor said. Speaking to the standing-room-only crowd at the start of the event inside the recreation center’s gymnasium on Friday, Bronson said, “We’re not gonna do any politicking here.” That opponent, Travis Szanto, was on hand, and the first vehicle parked in the facility’s crowded lot Friday evening was a pickup truck with a large Szanto campaign sign in the bed. Rivera’s district includes the property, and he is presently up for reelection against a conservative challenger. ![]() Rivera still thinks this is a wise idea to put a homeless shelter in the middle of a very dense neighborhood,” Bronson said in a Twitter post the day before the meeting. Over the last few weeks, the Arctic Recreation Center concept went from a fledgling notion to a political hot potato, with Bronson going to great lengths to promote his town hall ahead of time, and in social media posts associated the prospective purchase with Midtown Assembly member Felix Rivera. ![]() Though the idea of the city purchasing the Arctic Recreation Center and converting it into a 150-bed low-barrier shelter is in the early stages of consideration, Bronson and his allies have made it into a flashpoint just as Anchorage voters are filling out their mail-in ballots ahead of municipal elections. (Anne Raup / ADN)Ī proposal to turn a church-owned recreation center in Midtown Anchorage into a homeless shelter was widely panned at a Friday night event put on by Mayor Dave Bronson. ![]() Mayor Dave Bronson listens as a woman speaks to the crowd at the Friday evening meeting at the Arctic Rec Center.
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