Trolley Ride
Dear Editor: Betty Eliason Child Care Center would love to say thank you to Sitka Tribal Enterprises for providing a complimentary trolley tour for the school age class and teachers.
The children were very excited to take a “free” ride on the trolley and get to see parts of Sitka that they do not have opportunity to see otherwise. This is the second time that Sitka Tribal Enterprises has provided this generous service to us. The children have made a connection to the community through this service and they love to wave to the trolley drivers whenever they see them.
Thank you for helping make our summer exciting!
Tammy Thom for
Betty Eliason Child Care Center,
Staff and School Age Class
Administrator Interviews
Dear Editor: I would like to thank our Assembly members for understanding the importance of our business community and economic development in Sitka as they proceeded with the candidate interviews Tuesday and Wednesday evening. The Sitka Chamber Board of Directors shared some questions with the Assembly on Monday as they prepared for the upcoming interviews.
It is important to the Sitka Chamber that the new administrator has the education and business experience necessary to successfully manage the City and Borough of Sitka under the direction of the Assembly. It is equally important that the new administrator understands the need for new economic drivers in Sitka.
These are the questions that the Sitka Chamber Board of Directors proposed:
1. We request and expect a strong leader who can provide direction to the Assembly while also taking direction from the Assembly. How do you see yourself balancing these two very important functions?
2. What role should the City and Borough of Sitka and the administrator as the leader take in strengthening and growing our local economy?
3. The City and Borough of Sitka has recently considered raising taxes and fees as a way to balance the budget. Another way to solve the budget issue is to promote new economic development. The city has an economic development line item in the budget, which includes approximately $1.6 million for loans to government and $1 million for loans to private businesses. How would you plan to effectively utilize these funds for the economic benefit of the Sitka community?
4. What is your education and business experience as it relates to the position of the Sitka city administrator?
While not all of the suggested questions were asked, some were and I want to make sure that the Assembly knows how much the Sitka Chamber appreciates being heard. I feel that these questions are very important when planning for the future of Sitka. The video conference interviews were quite short, just 30 minutes long, which greatly limited the number of questions that could be asked. I sat through all of the interviews and after seeing the efforts that the Assembly made when choosing their questions, I feel confident that they will ask their own version of our questions in greater detail when conducting the next round of interviews in person.
Jennifer Robinson,
Executive Director,
Greater Sitka
Chamber of Commerce
Legion Picnic
Dear Editor: The American Legion would like to thank the following companies for their donations to our annual Legion picnic: Sea Mart, Agave, Salvation Army, Ben Franklin, Harry Race, Northern Sales, Odom Corp. and K&L Distributors.
If we forgot to mention anyone else we apologize and thank you as well. Thank you all very much.
American Legion
Administrator Selection
Dear Editor: As a “once a year visitor” to your community, I want to commend your publication and your reporter Shannon Haugland for doing such an outstanding job in presenting the process of the selection for a new city administrator.
It surely is democracy at its best.
Ernest Weinberg
Sudan Medical Project
Dear Editor: I was raised in Sitka, but I’m writing this letter from Washington, D.C., where I am currently studying in the master of science in foreign service program at Georgetown University. I’d like to let my hometown know about an incredible Alaskan nonprofit that I’m involved with, the Alaska Sudan Medical Project, www.alaskasudan.org. I hope to volunteer with ASMP and travel to South Sudan over my upcoming Christmas break, and I’m currently raising funds for this trip.
I served as a community health volunteer in the U.S. Peace Corps in Nicaragua from 2009-2011. I worked in a small village to promote maternal and child health and prevent HIV/AIDS. Never again will I take for granted the clean water, nutritious and accessible food, and the economic opportunities we enjoy in the U.S. After returning to Alaska after Peace Corps, I started volunteering locally with ASMP in Anchorage in 2011.
In July 2011, after more than 50 years of bloodshed, Africa’s largest country split in two and the Republic of South Sudan became the world’s newest country. South Sudan has a struggling health care system and very limited access to infrastructure like running water or electricity.
Dr. Jack Hickel, of Anchorage, founded ASMP in 2007. He was inspired to start ASMP after visiting the village of Old Fangak, South Sudan, with Dr. Jill Seaman (a 2009 MacArthur fellow). Since 1989, Seaman has split her time between Bethel – working for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation – and in Old Fangak, South Sudan. Hickel works at Southcentral Foundation hospital in Anchorage and now travels to Old Fangak with ASMP annually.
With help from ASMP, the village of Old Fangak is now finishing construction of a health center and has begun building a second clinic. ASMP also is assisting in the construction of a school and to implement an immunization program. One of the most important things to me about ASMP is that it strives for sustainable development where it works, providing training, jobs, and micro-loans for locals.
I’m about halfway to my fundraising goal of $4,500 to pay for ASMP project supplies as well as my transportation. While in Old Fangak, I will assist in health education, youth outreach and get firsthand experience that can help me continue to be an advocate for ASMP and South Sudan. While in D.C., I’ve been engaging with the Embassy of South Sudan. At my invite, my graduate program at Georgetown University hosted the South Sudanese Ambassador for a speaking engagement this spring.
I would greatly appreciate any support you could provide ASMP and my fundraising project. I’ve set up a website for folks to learn more and to donate if they wish: www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/pennygage/southsudan On the website, there is a link to a short video about ASMP called The Village. My email address is also listed on the website; feel free to contact me with any questions. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.
Penny Gage,
Sitka High School Class of 2004,
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Class of 2008
