First in a series on the candidates for Anchorage mayor
Amy Demboski spent all last summer scouring Eagle River for a plot of land where she and her family could build a new house.
She found the land and she and her husband had saved up money for a deposit. Then the plans were put on hold. They decided to put a large chunk of their savings, now about $44,845, toward a different investment -- Demboski's campaign for Anchorage mayor.
Demboski sees it as money well spent.
"I felt this was a good investment in the city of Anchorage," said Demboski, a first-term Assembly member for Eagle River and Chugiak. "Because I truly felt we needed a conservative in the race."
Of the front runners in the race, the 38-year-old Demboski is pitching herself as the most conservative. She frequently voices her support for a more limited government and a lower burden on taxpayers. She says she opposes abortion and same-sex marriage.
Demboski has also made a point of distancing herself from the state's Republican Party establishment. Recently, she said, a friend called her a "little R." She was fine with that.
"'Little R's' are Republicans on principle. They believe in little government … driven by principle, not party," Demboski said in an interview recently.
It's an open question whether her independent streak will translate into enough votes to propel her into the mayor's office. She's a relative political newcomer. But her supporters say that for better or for worse, the plain-spoken, hardworking Demboski is being no one but herself.
"That's pretty much what I like about (Demboski)," said Bill Evans, a fellow Anchorage Assembly member and a supporter. "You see what you get with her."
Assembly track record
In nearly two years on the Assembly, Demboski has backed many of the fiscal policies of Mayor Dan Sullivan. She also supported the Sullivan administration's efforts to keep a rewrite of city labor law, a position that did not endear her to municipal union members and that turned into a loser when voters overturned the labor law in November.
She's also opposed Sullivan on big issues, like the administration's attempt to build a $10.5 million indoor tennis facility in West Anchorage. She's increased her criticism of the city's problematic SAP software implementation and helped lead a successful push for an external review of the project.
"I did find her to be more independent than I thought she would be," said fellow Assembly member Elvi Gray-Jackson, who is supporting Ethan Berkowitz in the mayor's race but speaks highly of Demboski as a colleague. The two women have combined forces on public safety issues as well as a successful push for an external review of the SAP project.
Assembly member Bill Starr, who also represents Chugiak-Eagle River and is supporting Dan Coffey for mayor, said Demboski has brought policy ideas to the table but can be less sure of herself at times. He said she generally needs more political experience before seeking higher office.
"I don't think she's ready for mayor," Starr said.
While Demboski stresses her fiscal restraint, she makes exceptions when it comes to the SAP review and public safety. She pushed to allocate nearly $190,000 of reserve funds for an additional van for the Anchorage Safety Patrol, the service that picks up drunk people from Anchorage streets, and $400,000 to boost paramedic staffing to downtown Anchorage. She supported spending $200,000 for the SAP review.
In all of those cases, Demboski says, she was focused on saving money in the long term.
"I believe in sound fiscal policy; I believe in not spending more than we have," Demboski said. "To me it's the bedrock of what makes a conservative. It's truly the limited role of government."
Her cautious approach to policy backfired in November, when she introduced an ordinance to ban commercial marijuana establishments in Anchorage. She said at the time she wanted to wait and let the state figure out its regulations first.
But the measure, coming on the heels of the passage of Ballot Measure 2, provoked public fury. Even after the Assembly rejected it 9-2, Demboski has continued to be associated with the issue. When marijuana became legal on Feb. 24, a pizzeria in Eagle River offered a special "Cheech and Chong" pizza; if you wanted the pizza without oregano, it was called the "Amy Demboski."
Demboski took the ribbing in stride and even capitalized on it. The next day, a photo was posted on her campaign Facebook page showing her holding a box of cheese pizza.
"I pride myself on consistency," Demboski wrote in the post. "I went to Pizza Man today and had them hold the green; I ordered the Amy Demboski!"
She works for us
In downtown Eagle River, the closest thing Demboski has to an office is the bustling Jitters coffee shop, where she sometimes shows up as early as 6 a.m. for meetings.
"The best place to go is where the people are," Demboski said last month, sitting at a table in the cafe.
At Jitters, Demboski, a 1994 graduate of Chugiak High School, already has a captive audience. The place is often packed with retired cops who are eager to tell her what she's doing right -- or wrong.
When she walked into the cafe on a weekday in February, two men sitting at a table near the front flagged her down. They wanted to talk about her chances in the election, theorizing over runoff percentages and which candidates would draw votes from whom.
In an area of the Anchorage Bowl that doesn't see the same level of services as the city core, Demboski has been willing to go to bat for them as a representative, her supporters say.
"She gets out to talk to people," said Bob Nisson, 66, a Jitters regular. "She's looking for solutions. She works for us."
Demboski has received political endorsements from groups like the Alaska Republican Assembly, based in the Mat-Su but with members in Anchorage, which has separately formed an independent group to get her elected. She's attracting support from conservatives who are frustrated by mainstream Republican Party politics and eager for a change.
"Am I sure that Amy will do a better job? No," said Tom McGrath, a longtime Spenard business owner and a supporter of conservative causes. "But I don't think she'll do a worse job (than past mayors), and I think she'll have some fresh ideas."
Early on, Demboski said she was contacted by the leadership of the state Republican Party and asked to withdraw her candidacy. She says she was told she had no chance of winning. She said she refused to step down.
"They don't get how I tick," Demboski said. "I'm not in it for politics. I'm in it for purpose. The community deserves an honest choice -- bring it on."
Tomorrow: Dan Coffey