Daily Sitka Sentinel

May 28, 2013 Letters to the Editor

Correction
An error was contained in a letter to the editor by Brian Weddel published in the May 24 Sentinel.
The sentence should have read:
‘‘Since the new tax structure includes no promises to create jobs right at a time when oil corporations like ConocoPhillips’ have record profits.’’
The Sentinel regrets the error.

Revitalizing Downtown
Dear Editor: At the 2012 Sitka Health Summit Planning Day last October, a diverse group of 55 local residents brainstormed, evaluated and eventually selected three community wellness goals to focus on for the upcoming year. Revitalizing Sitka’s downtown was selected as a top goal.
    Since then a volunteer group, “Revitalize Sitka: Creating a Vibrant Downtown,” has been meeting in the Sitka Lutheran Church every other week to craft an improvement plan. The group’s vision is for a downtown that is healthy, attractive, accessible, sustainable and vibrant. Our group wants a downtown that works for both visitors and locals. More than 75 people have attended at least one of the public planning meetings and we appreciate everyone’s contributions and good ideas.
    Downtown revitalization projects are common and usually involve public and private components. Sitka’s project is no different and already the private sector has made contributions of time and resources by spearheading the Count-the-Lights contest in December, putting evergreens downtown thanks to Garden Ventures, getting a community mural project off the ground, hosting the Sitka High School soccer team’s Spring Spruce-Up, paying for a public art project on Lincoln Street, doing shop-locally education, and crafting a downtown improvement plan.
    Again, we are very appreciative of everyone’s contributions; it’s been great to see our downtown get some much needed attention. After all, our downtown core is widely used and often provides people with their first and last impression of our town.
    Many people live and work downtown and we are hopeful that they will continue to take initiative and make positive things happen. Private contributions have and will continue to happen.
    What follows is the prioritized list of ideas for our public sector to consider. The Revitalize Sitka: Creating a Vibrant Downtown volunteer group has debated, improved and finally endorsed this list. Our elected leaders will be discussing and deliberating our proposal at this Tuesday’s meeting of the Sitka Assembly.
    Because research shows that a healthy and vibrant downtown boosts the economic health and the quality of life in a community we hope that our top 15 proposals will get serious consideration. Here they are:
    –Purchase new more attractive litter receptacles to replace the big blue ones we have now. Our plan is to strategically place them out of the way of pedestrian traffic. It would be great to offer recycling options as well.
    –Power-wash the sidewalks, City Hall and the public restrooms on the corner of Lincoln Street and Harbor Drive.
    –Buy and give permission to install six salmon-shaped bike racks like the ones Precision Boatworks can custom- make at a great price. The new racks would be strategically placed out of the way of foot traffic and double as public art.
    –Approve a pilot project where Lincoln Street turned into a pedestrian walkway from St. Michael’s Cathedral to Old Harbor Books on four busy Wednesdays this summer ( June 12, 19, 26 and July 10). This closed-to-cars area will feature food booths, live music and other attractions to help draw people downtown.
    –Hire a skilled seasonal employee with a focus on maintaining the new Sitka Sea Walk, Harrigan Centennial Hall and the downtown core.
    –Beautify downtown by buying (from local sources) decorative pots and recommended greenery, shrubs or flowers to be thoughtfully placed throughout town.
    –Support two new plantings/beds – one on Harbor Drive next to Bev’s Flowers and the second a narrow strip along Harbor Drive between the corner at Lincoln Street and the City Hall parking lot.
    –Make Lincoln Street one way from St. Michael’s to the stop light. This has been proposed in the past and has a public safely benefit as well as creating more space for pedestrians and diagonal parking.
    –Give approval to paint two unique murals (fish stencils) at the start of Lincoln Street, one on the grey “jersey barrier” across from the Cable House and the second on the retaining wall at City Hall.
    –Give permission and resources to paint the rusted city payments box on Lincoln.
    –Give approval for a group such as the Sitka Fine Arts Camp to paint one transformer box and turn it into another piece of public art that showcases our town’s commitment to the arts. 
    –Promote clean air downtown with idle-free signs and an accompanying policy. Car exhaust is harmful to health, causes pollution and detracts from walker’s experience.
    –Support housing downtown with verbal endorsement and potential policy changes. It is more efficient to build up than to sprawl out.
    –Help install the eight new banners by local artists scheduled to go up in June, leave them up (weather permitting) until after the big tourism conference in October, and purchase eight additional banners for 2014.
    Think about how to make Sitka’s downtown work now and in the future. 
The civic-minded people who have made improving our downtown a priority have different reasons for doing so. Some have said the empty store fronts were depressing and something had to be done; others have mentioned the need to boost the economy and support a visitor industry that has been greatly impacted by the great recession; others see the potential to make our downtown a place of health, beauty and pride for the people that live and work here year-round.
    There are many reasons and many ways to invest and improve our downtown. We welcome them all, and we believe we have a really good downtown that with a little work and creativity has the potential to be truly spectacular. Gunalchéesh and thanks to everyone who is helping us to do just that.
Revitalize Sitka:
 Creating a Vibrant Downtown
Doug Osborne, Angela McGraw, Robert Medinger, Jill Scheidt, Charles Bingham, Mim McConnell, Phyllis Hackett, Jeff Budd,
 Dana Pitts, Cyndy Gibson,
Stephanie Brenner, Penny Lehmann

March Against Monsanto
Dear Editor: On May 25, over 150 Sitkans joined more than 2 million people in the first global March Against Monsanto, protesting Monsanto’s products, pollution, corruption, and lies.
    Gunalchéesh to the many people who made Sitka’s event a success. Thank you, Chuck Miller! Dressed in your Tlingit regalia, your presence and leadership turned this event into a ceremony in which we honored and upheld Native peoples, values, and beliefs. Thanks to the Haa Toowu Litseen drummers and the dancers who assembled from various Native dance groups.
    Your offerings brought spirit and power. Thanks to the many speakers. Together, we shared a wealth of information addressing a broad range of topics including health, environment, politics, science, and spirit. We addressed global problems and local solutions.
    Thanks to the Sitka Sentinel, KCAW, and the Sitka Conservation Society for pre-event publicity. Thanks to the Lutheran church for lending chairs and podium. Thanks to the officials who gave us permission to meet on Castle Hill. Thanks to the Harbor Department for opening the restrooms under O’Connell Bridge. Thanks to several people who professionally covered the sound, photography, and video. Because of your work, people from around the world will watch our event online and learn of Sitka’s commitment to stand up to corrupt business while standing for the environment, humanity, and freedom.
    Now what? Prior to the Internet, Monsanto and the media controlled the Monsanto story. The lame-stream media largely ignored our two-million strong protest or they used it to spread more Monsanto propaganda. If we’re going to stop Monsanto, we must share the real story. Use your God-given gifts to share that story. Sing, write, talk, debate, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, email, sign petitions, call legislators, buy GMO-free food, plant organic seeds and seeds of truth, or support the Sitka Food Co-op, etc. If you don’t blog, but you have something to share, email your message to me, and I may post it on our website.
    I’m using my gifts to write a book to expose Monsanto lies. I plan to give the Kindle version away prior to the next March Against Monsanto in October. And in 2014, David and I will use the gift of running as we run across America to share the truth about Monsanto and the biotech industry. We’re running the country because it’s not right that Monsanto is running the country. We’re blogging at runningthecountry.com.
    Thanks again, everyone! Organic blessings to all of you as we move forward.
Brett Wilcox, Sitka