Politics

'Speed-dating' forum Friday with the Anchorage candidates for mayor

Anchorage community activist Mao Tosi is hosting a mayoral candidate meet-and-greet event Friday, though it's in an unusual format and stirred a bit of controversy this week when not all the candidates were initially invited.

A flier posted online bills Dan Coffey, Ethan Berkowitz and Andrew Halcro as the candidates participating in the event. The format is set to resemble speed-dating, where groups of voters rotate through rooms for set time periods and ask as many questions as possible.

On Thursday, Tosi said the list of candidates will be expanded after several candidates contacted him asking to be included.

Tosi said this is the first time he's hosted an event for Anchorage mayoral candidates. He's separately involved with the recently-formed community action group We Are Anchorage, which is hosting its own forum for mayoral candidates on March 12.

"I've wanted to do a meet-and-greet for some time, but I wanted to do it my way," Tosi, who is also the manager of Northway Mall, said Wednesday. "I had to … figure out the best way to keep it lively and get the questions answered and connect voters to the candidates that I'm connected with."

He also said he wanted to host a fun, relatable event. The event flier reads, "We got 99 problems … our vote is one," referencing the Jay Z rap song.

Tosi said the venue, KoGi Buffet on Northway Drive, only offers three private rooms. So, he said, he invited Coffey, Berkowitz and Halcro, candidates he already knew personally.

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That left eight other candidates who weren't invited, and Amy Demboski's campaign noted the snub. A spokesman for Demboski, an Anchorage Assembly member, said Wednesday that the campaign sent an email to Tosi asking why she wasn't included.

"Candidate forums when you're just helping out your friends, it definitely seems a bit slanted," said the spokesman, Cale Green.

On Thursday, Tosi confirmed that Demboski would in fact be participating, as well as Dustin Darden. He said he's figuring out how to make the logistics work, and evaluating whether to hold a separate event for school board candidates.

Tosi said he has not yet endorsed a mayoral candidate, and the meet-and-greet will factor into his endorsement.

On Facebook, Tosi said 99 voters would be invited, playing off the Jay Z song. But he said the cap isn't strict.

"We definitely hope there are more," Tosi said. "And that's a good problem."

Devin Kelly

Devin Kelly was an ADN staff reporter.

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