New Police Building
Dear Editor: I am very thankful to Raven Radio and Enrique Pérez de la Rosa for highlighting the need for a new Sitka Police Department building on the local news. I would like to encourage all citizens of Sitka to read the more extensive article at the Raven Radio site. It explains the need in more detail.
There are grants and other sources of support that can pay for a vast amount of the project and these funds need to be sought after by the City of Sitka.
I would appreciate your expressing your understanding of the need for a new police department building to the Assembly. It should not be in the long term, but in the short term.
Lorraine Inez Lil, Sitka
Dunleavy Budget
Dear Editor: As we flood the Centennial building and the AK Legislative office with written and spoken testimony dealing with the most absurd and damaging proposed state budget ever, do you wonder how did things suddenly get so extreme? I keep thinking, this is not normal. How could an Alaskan governor propose such a budget that would tear apart our state like this? Why would he do this? I started researching because I heard some testimony that referred to the “Koch money.”
One thing I know is that the Tea Party could be called the Koch Party or the Corporate Profit party. It is an extreme right-wing political group. The Tea Party has invaded the Republican Party and paralyzed the U.S. Congress by blocking all legislation that benefits people instead of corporations. Tea Party Republicans have been bought with millions and millions of campaign donations that guarantee they vote to enrich their donors. One of the many Koch Party fronts is called Americans for Prosperity (AFP). They have an Alaska branch. There is a smell of Koch in Dunleavy’s budget! No wonder it did not make sense to Alaskans, it is not Alaskan!
AFP is all about corporate control, nothing else. We now know that “Stand for Salmon” vs. “Stand for Alaska” was all about clearing the way for the Pebble Mine. AFP and other outside contributions tricked Alaskans into thinking that ensuring clean water for our salmon was not as important as corporate profits. AFP has their hooks into Dunleavy. Last week, AFP and Dunleavy held five policy forums (AFP organized all of them) in Anchorage, Kenai, Fairbanks, Wasilla and Nome where, “people could learn about their visions for Alaska.” But this AFP/Dunleavy event had limited access. In order to get in, you were supposed to register online ahead of time on a first-come, first-serve, basis. Places they picked for the forums could only accommodate small numbers of people, but AFP stated, “If people want to protest outside or shout support for certain things, they’re more than welcome to do that.” There were people protesting at all of them. Also at the forums, it was required for people to write their questions on cards so AFP could choose which questions to answer. The forums were run by AFP and Dunleavy.
Just so you know, Dunleavy is very serious about cutting out the ferries. People who are not from here just don’t get that the water is our highway. Something tells me that is why AFP/Dunleavy didn’t bring a forum to Sitka to tell us their “vision for Alaska.” They probably didn’t want to face the push back on the axing the ferry, education, university, health care, Pioneers Home, etc. funding in Sitka. Sitka is standing strong and standing together on vocalizing our displeasure at the absurd Dunleavy budget.
So there it is. Alaska has been invaded by the Koch front, Americans for Prosperity. Alaskans have always worked together Democrats, Republicans and Independents, but now our governor and some of our legislative members are influenced or controlled by Koch money. Let’s find out who they are? Alaska should not be scammed into handing our rich natural resources over to the Koch political machine. It is important that we kick Americans for Prosperity and their money out of our state. I don’t want to “learn about their visions for Alaska!’’ Alaskans can run Alaska without help from Koch AFP. We are independent people who value our children, our land, and our elders.
Patricia Dick, Sitka
