Community Hospital
Dear Editor: As the Assembly entertains sale of the Sitka Community Hospital property, it should respect the long history of the property by seeking options that maximize the public good.
For well over 50 years, Sitka Community Hospital provided wellness and care from birth to the end of life, serving all Sitkans. Under the current lease to SEARHC, Sitkans continue to receive quality care at the facility. If the City elects to issue a Request for Proposals for this property, the RFP should be written to ensure that the property is used in a way that will maximize benefits for Sitkans for the next 50 years, rather than simply selling the land and building to the highest bidder.
The asset purchase agreement for Sitka Community Hospital was designed to meet short-term needs of SEARHC while preserving long-term options for the community. It includes a five year lease of the buildings and land to SEARHC. This provision was intended to give SEARHC time to construct a new medical campus on Japonski Island, including a long term care facility, a medical office building, and a critical access hospital. The lease includes flexibility to be extended if extra time is needed for construction.
The original agreement provides that the land and buildings will revert back to the City at the end of the lease. There are two buildings on the property: Sitka Community Hospital and Mountainside Clinic. The clinic building is nearing the end of its useful life, but the hospital, while outdated for use as a modern healthcare facility, is in very good condition with decades of life left for a wide range of other purposes. The original agreement with SEARHC would allow this prime, centrally located property and sturdy building to be repurposed for another public use.
While we can’t predict Sitka’s future, we already know that the City needs a new police station and more affordable housing. Someday, future Sitkans might need publicly-owned land further above today’s high tides. If we decide to give up a prime piece of City real estate and a solid publicly-owned building, it should only be to achieve a public purpose that will benefit our entire community, both now and for the foreseeable future. In my opinion, selling the property to SEARHC with assurances that it will continue to be used to provide services to Sitka residents would meet the public purpose test. Selling it to a private developer without restrictions, for private profit, would not. If the City elects to proceed with an RFP, the criteria for selecting a
new owner should be maximum public benefit for the longest period of time, not the highest price in the present.
At Sitka Community Hospital, we liked to say we were striving for a healthy Sitka. Let’s ensure that this important property continues to achieve that purpose.
Rob Allen, Sitka
(Editor’s Note: Allen was CEO of Sitka Community Hospital from 2015 to 2019)
Herring
Dear Editor: Like everyone here, I look forward to the return of spawning herring to Sitka Sound and the abundant life and energy this season brings. My family commercially fishes for sablefish, halibut and salmon, all dependent on herring.
I worked 20 years for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Sitka during the 1980s and ’90s as a commercial groundfish biologist. I enjoyed this work immensely, including as a diver on herring egg surveys and helping to monitor the sac roe fishery. I have close friends from my time there and respect the biologists both past and current tasked by the Board of Fisheries to assess and manage the herring fishery.
When I started at ADFG in 1982, ecosystem-based fisheries management (rather than single species) was just gaining traction nationally. Even back then it would have been unacceptable to allow a new fishery for herring because they are such an important food for so many other species. Since then, 6 of the 7 sac roe fisheries in Southeast Alaska have been closed due to reduced stocks. Today climate change is impacting our marine environment creating unpredictable and rapid changes that add another layer of risk to this critical prey species.
Recently I have been deeply moved by the voices of the Kiks.adi women, the herring ladies. In 2018 I had the privilege to attend a Herring Koo.eex’ inspired by Louise Brady, Kh’asheechtlaa, and held during the Board of Fisheries meeting. I have participated in many BOF meetings and have listened as Tlingit elders testify on their knowledge and concern for herring. The Board of Fisheries is very Western centric with a primary focus on herring as a commodity. The Herring Koo.eex’ was a vibrant living ceremony to honor the herring and the sacred role they play in Tlingit culture and way of life.
I am pro-commercial fishing yet there are larger things at stake than the continuation of this sac roe fishery. No matter how abundant the herring are in Sitka (the last stronghold for herring in Southeast), or how conservative the management has been, I do not believe a continued directed sac roe fishery is wise. The Board of Fisheries will revisit Sitka herring management during their winter 2022 meeting and the public may comment on the proposals the board has received. The herring proposals are found here: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/regprocess/fisheriesboard/pdfs/2020-2021/proposals/se_5.pdf. Comments may be submitted here: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=process.comments
Tory O’Connell Curran, Sitka
Seafood Donation
Dear Editor: Sitka High School foods and nutrition classes would like to thank the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust and Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association who have helped us on our journey this school year by donating Alaskan seafood.
As part of our curriculum, we try to use local foods as much as possible. These foods help expand our learning, use of food service techniques, and increase our understanding of different cultures. These donations stretch our food budget, allowing us to experience more and make our class more real to (Alaskan) life for each student.
Students have had the opportunity to visit local retail and restaurants, earn their State of Alaska food workers card, work as a member of a team, and learn cooking technique and a love of cooking. A huge thank you goes out to the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust for their generous and fresh donation. We have so much gratitude to you, thank for supporting career and technical Education in our community.
Meggan Turner, Sitka High School
Foods and Nutrition Teacher
