Daily Sitka Sentinel

Assembly Charting Position on Herring

By ABIGAIL BLISS
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly voted Wednesday night to create a three-person committee to draft a petition stating the city’s position on the Sitka Sound herring fishery.
    The action came during the continuation of the regular Assembly meeting, which had run to 11:30 p.m. the previous night.
    Assembly members Richard Wein, Bob Potrzuski, and Aaron Bean volunteered to serve on the drafting committee, which was created during a discussion of a sac roe fishery moratorium. Bean, who put the discussion on the agenda, advocated for the City to petition state officials to stop the annual commercial sac roe herring fishery until concerns about over-fishing are addressed.
    The low return of commercial grade herring caused the commercial sac roe seine fishery to shut down far short of the target harvest level set by Fish and Game. Many local subsistence advocates see the decline in the herring run as a sign that the resource has been over-fished for years.
    Wein told the Sentinel that the goal of the committee is “to come out with an intelligent statement concerning the herring fishery in Sitka based upon public input and scientific facts.”
    He said the Assembly’s power is limited, but members could send a message to those with more authority.
    “We, as an Assembly, cannot do anything about the herring fishery, meaning that we can’t say whether it can happen or not, but we can make a statement about the facts of the herring fishery to Fish and Game and other entities,” he said. “My opinion is that the first steps are for us to have fact-finding, find out who are the stake players, and start to accumulate data, and then we will be able to have those stakeholders participate and, hopefully, maybe even develop a town hall on the issue.”
    At Wednesday’s meeting, Bean made a motion to petition the state to “impose a moratorium with the following conditions: that the state of Alaska recognize and adopt herring as a forage fish, and also adopt an ecosystem-based management tool.”
    The Assembly voted 7-0 to refer the motion to the committee, which will aim to create a “polished” statement and may invite members of the public to help.
    Some 15 members of the public weighed in on the herring issue Wednesday, with a few suggesting possible actions by the Assembly.
    “I’ve seen a tremendous diminishment of the resource,” said Pat Alexander. “I disagree with (the fishery managers) because I know what it was before.”
    She thanked the Assembly for listening and added, “It’s make or break time for Sitka… You’ll be remembered for this, whatever action you take.”
    Roby Littlefield thanked Bean for “finally putting a voice to our frustration.”
    Paulette Moreno called in from Colorado to state her support of the resolution, citing Sitka’s significance “on a worldwide level” as an opportunity for the Assembly to make a stand on a big stage.
    Patty Dick added that the Fish and Game management was a “circus.”
    “I’m furious, absolutely furious with the way this fishery has been managed,” she said. “That’s not science; that’s a scam.”
    Others, like Wayne Unger of Silver Bay Seafoods, stood up for Fish and Game, and cautioned against relying on individual opinion.
    “I think Fish and Game works hard. I think they’re professionals… And I think this is an insult to them, and it’s an insult to the industry, as well,” he said. “I don’t know that your opinion is better than anyone else’s… If you’re going to have an opinion, have an educated one.”
    Tim Ryan of Sitka Sound Seafoods, too, advocated for relying on “years of facts” rather than personal opinion.
    Looking at Bean’s memo, he said, “Where does it say ‘we, we as a community?’ It says, ‘I’”
    Among those who spoke up, however divergent their opinions were, there was a consensus on two things: the poor state of the fishery, and the value of dialogue.
    As Mayor Matt Hunter noted, “If there is someone who’s not concerned, they don’t know what’s going on.”
    What remained uncertain, however, was what the Assembly could do about it.
    Municipal attorney Brian Hanson said that he doesn’t believe the City has the authority to impose a moratorium, but the Assembly can request that state officials impose one.
    “I’m aware that anything we do here tonight is meaningless,” Wein said, noting that the value lay more in the discussion itself than any statement it might produce. “My only goal here today is help to bring the groups together, and to make some sort of decision without animus.”    
    Assembly member Steven Eisenbeisz requested that, moving forward, the Assembly take into account the views of all user groups in their statement.

PUBLIC VOTE ON PROPERTY SALES
    The Assembly voted 6-1, with Wein dissenting, to approve on first reading an ordinance to eliminate the Sitka General Code’s mandated public vote to ratify sales and leases of city land over a certain value.
    The ordinance, sponsored by City Administrator Keith Brady, would remove the code provisions that require a public vote on the sale or lease of city property valued at $500,000 or more, and the demolition of public buildings valued at $125,000 or more.
    Hanson said that he and attorney Michael Gatti, who provided outside counsel on the matter, believe Sitka’s current code to be unconstitutional.
    One member of the public, Travis Hudson, raised concerns about the timing of the ordinance.
    “We’ve known about the situation at least for several years,” he said. “Why is it now being fast-tracked? I think it’s to prevent citizens from voting on the future of our hospital… There will be situations, like the hospital, that you will want the community to be a part of deciding the best path.”
    “This doesn’t have to do with the hospital,” Brady countered. He said the ordinance was in response to direction from the Assembly to “look at selling property, to get it off our books so we have more property that’s taxable.”
    “This would help us do that a lot quicker,” he said.
    Assembly member Ben Miyasato added that he’d brought the idea to the administrator some six months ago. He said the intent of the ordinance was to make Sitka more affordable, and he regretted that the timing seemed suspect.
    “We keep hearing the same thing: ‘I’m leaving. It’s not affordable,’” he said.
     Potrzuski observed that he’d sworn an oath to uphold the U.S. constitution, the Alaska constitution, and the ordinances of Sitka in that “hierarchy.”
    Wein argued that eliminating the requirement of public approval on such transactions would prevent “big issues from coming before the public.”
    “This is now taking things out of your hands and subjecting it solely to the Assembly,” he said, addressing the members of the public at the meeting and watching from home.
    Brady’s memo to the Assembly noted that municipal property transactions would still involve public hearings because of the requisite two readings for such ordinances. Additionally, Hunter pointed out - and Hanson confirmed - that the Assembly could still conduct an advisory vote on any sale, lease, or building destruction.
    An advisory vote helps the Assembly gauge public opinion, but it does not bind it to falling into line with the result, Hanson explained. A referendum or initiative, on the other hand, compels the Assembly to do what the public wants.

CELL SERVICE ENHANCEMENT
    The Assembly unanimously approved on first reading the transfer of $295,000 from undesignated bond funds for a public-private partnership between the City and GCI. The project would repay the city investment quickly, electric utility director Brian Bertacchi said. It would create an ongoing revenue stream for the city and also improve local cell coverage, he said.
    The funds would enable the electric department to build five new cell service poles, which will be owned by the City and leased by GCI, which will install its cell equipment on the poles.
    “The payback is only three years, and thereafter the electric department will be making $100,000 a year of revenue on these poles, which is a huge benefit to help lower rates for the entire community,” Bertacchi said.

In other business, the Assembly:
    - voted unanimously on second and final reading to adopt the 2012 editions of the building code in the Sitka General Code to match the State of Alaska Administrative Code Statutes.
    - voted 1-6, with Ben Miyasato dissenting, to postpone adjustment of the 2018 budget for a $75,000 landslide study of the areas around the hillside water tank, Keet Gooshi Heen elementary school, city recreation fields, and Sitka High School. Assembly members will take up the topic again at their May 8 meeting, and expressed hope that more information and relevant City staffers would be available at that time.
    - unanimously approved on first reading an ordinance adjusting the fiscal year 2018 budget to purchase $27,705.16 worth of upgraded protective gear for 17 police officers and 8 fire department staff members.
    - held an executive session to discuss options for strengthening infrastructure for bulk water export and public industrial supply water. When they returned, they voted unanimously on second and final reading on an ordinance to transfer $100,000 from the Raw Water Sales Tax Fund to the Electric Department to evaluate the delivery system for bulk water and options for improvement.
    - voted unanimously on second and final reading to adjust the fiscal year 2018 budget to reflect an additional $6,700 in funding for the Sitka Police Department from a Justice Assistance Grant amendment.
    - voted unanimously on second and final reading to authorize the purchase of two Transportation Work Identification Credentials readers for the Sitka harbors with $17,500 of CPET funds. The digital readers scan the ID cards of cruise ship employees to “document their credential,” Wein told the Sentinel. He said the new dock at GPIP will need one, too. “Either they’re going to have to bring the machine down to GPIP every time a boat comes in… or they’re going to have to buy another one,” he said.
    - The Assembly voted unanimously to approve a resolution increasing the fees for the city haulout grid, fishermen’s work float and the Eliason Harbor loading zone. Commercial fisherman Jeff Farvour said he supported the measure, and advocated for the formation of a work group to focus on the gaps in harbor funding.