Invest in the Ferries
Dear Editor: Many of the strongest and best memories from my childhood growing up in Juneau revolve around riding Alaska’s ferries to swim meets to communities like Petersburg, Sitka and Ketchikan. And later, as an adult, I have traveled across Southeast on ferries dozens of times for family trips, to deliver orthopedic clinics and surgery to remote communities, for hunting, and for basketball games. Those trips opened my eyes to the astounding beauty and breadth of our state, and they introduced me to people from across the region. Ferries play such an integral role in the way of life in Southeast, and defunding them threatens the prosperity and health of our coastal communities and villages.
The Dunleavy budget proposes to zero out the Alaskan Marine Highway System, freezing all transportation starting this fall. This proposal will devastate the economy of Southeast Alaska by astronomically driving up costs and cutting off communities from affordable resources. Not only is this proposal reckless, it is un-Alaskan, and we must urge our legislators to properly fund our critical infrastructure. At the same time, we should absolutely use this moment to contemplate ways to make the ferry system more economically sustainable.
It has been heartbreaking to witness the demise of the ferry system over the past years. First, insufficient ferry routes have made travel within our coastal communities much more expensive by forcing residents to instead have to fly. Second, the lack of predictability of the ferry schedule has made it nearly impossible to coordinate school events with other businesses, such as health care enterprises, because of the selection of boats and poorly scheduled sailings.
As the ferry system has lost funding and dependable scheduling has fallen away, we have seen a rapid decline in ridership. I once rode the M/V Fairweather from Juneau to Petersburg for a clinic and to do surgery. Unbelievably, there were only six passengers on board, but there were 10 crewmembers. Obviously that represented really poor scheduling and boat selection by ferry management, and with that boat churning away to the tune of 500 gallons of diesel an hour, that ride must have been a great big red X for the state that day. We have to do better.
Doubling down on this failure by gutting the AMHS entirely will ensure Southeast Alaska’s recession will only deepen. In addition to state funding, we should expect and demand a great deal more federal funding to support this critical piece of our highway infrastructure and we should work towards connecting our communities by road wherever feasible. We must continue to find creative ways to tighten our belts, but we cannot put those cuts on the backs of rural Alaskan people. If we shut down the coastal community ferry system, not only will the results be bad for business, but the lack of local transit will also destroy that which makes our state so special and culturally different: diverse communities at the geographic bounds. Yes, it costs more to live in the bush communities off of the road system. But, without access to those communities, Alaska will no longer be the unique place that it is. Invest in Alaska by investing in the ferry system.
Alan Gross, M.D., MHS, Anchorage
Budget Town Hall
Dear Editor: The House Finance Committee is conducting town hall meetings around the state so community members can weigh in on Gov. Dunleavy’s budget. Rep. Ortiz will be in Sitka this Sunday, March 24, at Harrigan Centennial Hall from 2 to 5 p.m. This is everyone’s chance to weigh in on the budget.
Gov. Dunleavy’s budget will cut funding to K-12 schools by 25 percent, slash the university budget by 41 percent and decrease funding to ferries by a whopping 75 percent. Seniors at the Pioneers Home will see their monthly bill increase from approximately $6,000 per month to over $15,000 per month. Cities will see a considerable decrease in their revenues. Sitka will no longer receive the fish tax that is collected from our fishermen and the state will no longer reimburse school bond debt. This translates to a reduction of $3 million in revenue to the city.
I believe that Gov. Dunleavy’s budget will be an economic disaster for the city and the state. There will be an exodus of people from the state. Families with children will leave and families with children will not move to Alaska. The death of the ferry system will drastically impact Sitka and will devastate the villages. Instead of going along with the governor, the Legislature could choose to decrease the PFD and implement a state income tax rather than gutting essential services.
Please attend the town hall this Sunday to testify or just listen.
Susan Litman, Sitka
Hospital Proposal
Dear Editor: Hurray! Hard copy of the consultants’ hospital proposal is available at our Sitka Public Library! It is called “CBS Affiliation Consultants on behalf of the CBS Negotiating Team.” It is addressed “to Sitka Community Members.’’ That sounds pretty inclusive of us all.
Thanks, Shannon Haugland, for the excellent summary of the summary in the Monday, March 18, 2019, front page of the Daily Sitka Sentinel.
Thank you, too, CBS negotiating team, whoever you are, and Sarah Cave, David Hueber, the Sitka Assembly, the hardworking city employees – and the Sitka Public Library – for making this very important draft document available for those of us who have been wondering “whatzahappening?’’
An Assembly meeting addressing hospital issues is tonight, at 6 p.m., Wednesday, March 20, at the Harrigan Centennial Hall. See you there.
Cheers for hard copy, for discussion - and the Sitka Public Library for having a special place in the library for public documents.
Nancy Yaw Davis, Sitka
