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Open primaries and Rank Choice Voting work To the Editor: During election season, have you ever found yourself feeling stuck voting for someone you really don’t support… feeling like you are picking the candidate you dislike the least, or “the lesser of two evils” we might say? Well, a lot of your fellow Alaskans did and in 2020, the Rank Choice Voting (RCV) measure was passed and implemented. This law allowed for open primaries and ranked voting in general elections. How does that affect voters? First, open primaries give us more choices...
So, I’ve been thinking To the Editor: Small or large, nearly every entity (private business, government, non-profit, social club, volunteer organization, etc) is potentially susceptible to toxic personalities that create a hostile environment. When that happens, it is not always apparent to those at the top of the leadership chain, especially in a large multi-departmental entity. When the hostile environment is being created by someone in a supervisory position, a quandary is created for the subordinates: confront the behavior and hope it g...
Borough’s garbage tax To the Editor: Proposition 2, a sales tax increase, lost in the recent municipal election by only five votes, one of them mine. I supported the proposition in concept. My “no” vote was in protest of the borough’s garbage tax. Like all homeowners, I have to pay $33.34 per month for weekly pickup of 32 gallons of garbage. That isn’t technically a tax. It’s a fee I must pay regardless of whether I want, need, or use the service, so yeah, it’s a de facto tax. That $33.34 buys me 52 pickups of garbage totaling 1,664 gallons...
Whichever side wins the national election Nov. 5 needs to think about why they did not get a larger share of the vote. Not that they ever really expected to win over the hearts, minds and ballots of 60% of voters. The honest reality is that most candidates would accept 51% as a clear victory in this divisive world. OK, maybe they’re prefer 52%. But they’ll happily declare a mandate on the thinnest of margins. Gloating is ugly. It makes sore losers out of disappointed losers. Even worse, many of those sore losers are increasingly embracing anger...
Your vote matters To the Editor: As you may remember, I won a seat on the Borough Assembly last October by 1 vote… the very last vote to be counted from absentee ballots. Nearly a year later I am still grateful and humbled by that outcome. After the election, people shared stories of: driving through the Yukon to mail their ballots, voting via email from Europe, voting from college, and even a few stories of nearly forgetting to vote after dinner on election day. To be Captain Obvious, if any of those folks did not vote, the outcome of the e...
Proposition 4 To the Editor: Concerning Proposition 4, Long Term Indebtedness for Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Projects totaling $19.3 million, of that total over $3 million is dedicated for the proposed Scow Bay vessel washdown project, including a heated wash down pad so we can wash our boats in winter. There has been much good information sharing on the need for pump station, waste water treatment, sewer lines, etc upgrades. But there is not a single word in the proposition description letting voters know about the chunk dedicated...
Don't kill the goose laying the golden egg To the Editor: I will vote No on the proposition to raise the sales tax cap from $1,200 to $5,000. I think it is poor economics. No one will be affected more than commercial fishermen vessel owners. Typical vessel maintenance or repair projects are usually well above $1,200. Fishermen are hard hit by the downturn in the commercial fishing industry and need to economize as best possible. Raising sales tax on their Petersburg purchases will be one more reason to use marine services elsewhere. Vessel...
In early August an ad-hoc meeting was held in Ketchikan by a group consisting of knowledgeable residents who had followed the Alaska Marine Highway Service (AMHS) since its inception in the early 1960s. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss how to revise the system. We addressed AMHS maintenance: when vessels are taken out of service, why can’t they be promptly repaired? They could then be made ready for service. We discussed using money made available to AMHS through the Infrastructure Legislation to restructure the system. Finally, we d...
A shout out to those that support a local paper To the Editor: I would like to give a shout out to Orin Pierson and his staff for the weekly printing of the Petersburg Pilot. Also to the community of Petersburg and all who support the local newspaper. The people of Petersburg are fortunate to have a weekly newspaper. I would like to point out a few items (seriously, quite a few items) I found in last week’s newspaper. A shout out to the sale of Tides Inn, A victory article for the Trollers, who is in lead of the Alaska House primary, yesterday...
Sincere thanks for saving my life To the Editor: I would like to sincerely thank those involved in saving my life. I will start with my neighbor Bill Miller, owner of Calder Mountain Lodge, for running me quickly into town in his jet boat, and there, waiting at the North Harbor ramp, a big thank you to the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department EMS team – not only did they transport me up the steep ramp, keeping me as comfortable as they could, and to the hospital – they later transported me to the airport for a transfer to a Coast Guard hel...
It is time for the Petersburg community to seriously consider the future of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) branch of Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department (PVFD). Volunteer numbers have reached a crisis level. EMS response capability is in jeopardy and burnout is becoming inevitable. It's tempting to imagine that when you or a loved one experience a medical emergency in Petersburg and you dial 911 a paramedic is ready and waiting to be dispatched. Just like in the movies, they'll sprint...
To modernize an old expression, Alaskans are fiddling while the Permanent Fund burns. Not literally, of course. The Permanent Fund’s stocks and bonds, real estate deeds, lease agreements and investment contracts are all safely stored. But the fiddling part, that’s true. And because it’s a state election year, we can expect a lot of candidates to turn up the volume on their fiddles. No matter how off-key the music, no one ever loses an election by playing happy tunes about big Permanent Fund dividends. No one wins an election talking about...
Kudos to Koenigs To the Editor: Good for Donald Koenigs pursuing his request for public records. In years past most of my requests for public records were stymied by city employees, sometimes with hostile undertones. I did not have the wherewithal to pursue the requests. Karen Olsen Circle of Life To the Editor: Life has a way of making circles and my parents Earl and Mary Benitz, recently made their circle back to Petersburg. I impulsively said, “Well I’ll take care of them” three years ago and it’s been an adventure with me. They are back an...
True political leadership requires accurately describing the challenges facing our state and nation and proposing realistic solutions. Nancy Dahlstrom, a Republican running for Alaska’s sole Congressional seat, has already failed this test. In an interview broadcast on Alaska News Nightly on July 16, Ms. Dahlstrom stated that, if elected, her “first priority” representing Alaska in Congress would be to get “the border wall closed” and force “16 million-plus people who are in the country illegally” (an inflated number) to “go back to where t...
Technically, Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto blocked five bills from becoming law that the state House passed after the constitutional adjournment deadline. But don’t blame him for killing the new laws. The House is the guilty party. The 40-member House, managed the past two years by a splintered and often disorganized 23-member Republican-led majority, couldn’t manage to get its work done before the clock struck midnight. The governor did not hold them up; no power outage set them back; there was no IT meltdown or online hack; nothing slowed them...
Unbelievable. Elon Musk is promoting and pushing errors and false news into the heads of people around the world. All for personal profit or personal ego. Maybe just for personal fun. Whatever the reason, it’s irresponsible and dangerous. Musk, a serial entrepreneur who seems to have invented most everything but cold cereal, believes Grok, his artificial intelligence service pedaled through X, formerly known as Twitter, should be a news source. Not necessarily a trusted news source, but that’s not important in his world. “What we’re doing o...
Request for support of Kake Fireman’s Tournament To the Editor: The Kake community is busy preparing to host our 42nd annual Kake Fireman’s Tournament, which will be held from July 31st to August 2nd, 2024. We greatly appreciate the past and present support of those who made this event happen. We are reaching out for donations to make 2024 the best year yet! We are anticipating a Men’s Open Bracket, a Women’s Open Bracket, and, with significant enough numbers, a Men’s 35-and-older Open Bracket. We also showcase kid’s games, shooting co...
The melting of one of North America's largest icefields has accelerated and could soon reach an irreversible tipping point. That's the conclusion of new research colleagues and I have published on the Juneau Icefield, which straddles the Alaska-Canada border near the Alaskan capital of Juneau. In the summer of 2022, I skied across the flat, smooth and white plateau of the icefield, accompanied by other researchers, sliding in the tracks of the person in front of me under a hot sun. From that...
The state of Alaska, with all the legal wisdom of a political agenda and the flowing words of a high-priced law firm, has filed a claim against the federal government. Nothing new about that — the state has filed and signed onto more lawsuits against the national government in recent years than President Joe Biden has forgotten dates or former President Donald Trump has told lies. Nothing to be proud of in any of that. The state’s latest legal endeavor came July 2 in a dubious lawsuit — with a few errors and omissions for poor measure — that as...
A long time ago, the Sentinel called out a mayor for taking an action without city council approval (this was before Wrangell became a borough). The mayor had sent a letter to a federal agency, stating the city’s official position on an issue — but it was merely his personal opinion. There was no council discussion, no public notice. It wasn’t that controversial a position, but the point was that the mayor, no matter how well meaning, should not speak for the city without first making sure the elected council is in agreement. The mayor came...
Thank you for the show of support To the Editor: What an amazing celebration of life for Lyle. The show of support from everyone – all the food, cards, flowers, donations and hugs. And all the warm words of comfort were very much appreciated. It has helped to make Lyle’s passing a little easier. The Bennett family...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy, his attorney general and others in the administration are spending a lot of time and state money defending Alaska against its perceived political enemies, fighting the U.S. government at every turn of the river, protecting Alaskans from the latest federal regulations and standing up for conservative values. The list includes picking fights with private banks that want to move away from oil and gas lending, egging on fights over library books, supporting the state of Texas in its fight to string razor wire along the border...
In January, the Wild Fish Conservancy — the same Washington-based conservation group that unsuccessfully sued to shut down last year’s SE Alaska troll fishery for king salmon — filed a petition with the federal government to list Alaskan Chinook salmon as a threatened or endangered species and designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act. This action obligated the National Marine Fisheries Service to conduct a 90-day evaluation of the petition. And despite finding that the petition “contained numerous factual errors, omissio...
Thank you to all the hard-working retail workers To the Editor: Not unlike the Lower 48, Petersburg is experiencing a lack of available job applicants to fill many positions, which leaves a couple choices: longer lines or reduced hours of operation. Retail is not everyone’s first job choice, mainly due to the hours of operation. Food establishments require hours of preparation before the first customer can be served. Grocery stores require employees to order goods, unload trucks, stock shelves, price merchandise, and process items through t...
Good Job Power and Light To the Editor: On May 16, there was a ribbon cutting at the new Blind Slough Hydro Power Plant. It was well attended and the Power and Light employees were noticeably proud of this accomplishment, as they should be. Replacing a 100-year old facility is always a challenge. In 2018, the Petersburg Borough engaged with McMillen Jacobs Associates to perform a condition assessment of the entire project. They recommended a full replacement of the powerhouse. Following this recommendation the Borough passed a bond for project...
