Planning Issue
Dear Editor: I really am tired of saying the same thing over and over again, so this time I will add one more thing that needs fixing in this beautiful Sitka by the Sea.
I am so thankful that it has now become acceptable to not be politically correct since we all know I am not that. I am hearing the rumbles that letters have been sent to the Planning Commission and maybe the Assembly that Terry’s Tutoring should not be allowed back into the space they occupied for one year on Harbor Drive. Apparently there is some concern that it is not a good place for a “school,” well first of all it is not a school. It is a business, the city has classified Mrs. Bartolaba’s tutoring service as a business and required her to collect and remit sales tax for the services that are provided to the public. Make up your mind city, you can’t have it both ways. Neither you nor the state recognize them as a school, they are not licensed as a school or daycare and never have been nor are they required to be so.
The Sitka General Code 22.16.070 CBD (downtown area) says it is for concentrated retail, personal and business services of all kinds satisfying all residents in one central location. They are a personal service business. Why should they be asked to close down because they don’t have a variance when a variance should not even be required. They need no more parking then a restaurant that didn’t require a variance while in a CBD zone.
Could all this fuss be coming from people who just maybe want to line their own pockets from the sale of well, just who could imagine, and they are afraid the city won’t give them permission to sell (who could imagine what) if there was a school in the area. I hear the daycare which was there has also been told to move. Isn’t it interesting that the State of Alaska recognizes the importance of a downtown daycare and has established one in downtown Juneau, but we see them as a bother. How very sad, we finally get something located conveniently for working parents and now someone has to object for their own possible personal gain.
Wonder if the next thing will be to ask the church to leave or maybe just not have children in their classes and service. And then there are the two stores that sell toys, oh my, for sure they will either have to move or not let the kids keep hanging around to look at the toys. Give me a break folks there are two churches and two stores selling children’s toys all right there, I really can’t see where a daycare and or a tutoring service should be such an issue.
And just in case any of you thought I might be off my soap box about the city financial problems I am not I am still saying STOP, STOP, STOP. Before any more increases of any kind happen or any exemptions are removed you need to take a good look at a real audit. I keep hearing how they have cut employees, yes, a very low-paid part time was cut BUT a high-paid full-time was added. There are many things that should be looked at before more increases should even be considered.
A well-run finance department depends a lot on continuity and people who really understand the full spectrum of how things work. This does not happen well when you have a high turnover of employees. There are 15 positions and in the last five years there have been 14 people leave. The grant position to mention one, has turned over four times. My old job of sales tax clerk is now on their third person and I have only been gone three years. I wish them all the best but for sure there is a problem, and it needs to be addressed before we the people give any more of our money.
There, now I’ll go back to my corner until I get too riled to hold it in again.
Marjorie Parmelee, Sitka
Phone-Free Thanks
Dear Editor: Thanks to everyone who participated in and supported the recent phone-free driver’s appreciation contest: the Hames Center, Sitka Flowers and the Chocolate Mouse, Old Harbor Books, the Yellow Jersey Cycle Shop, the Sitka Police Department, Oceanside Therapy Center and Sitka Community Hospital each contributed wonderful participation prizes. Our outstanding local media helped us “get the word out” and several places in town let us display campaign materials.
Most importantly I’d like to thank everyone who is helping to keep Sitka’s streets safe by making the commitment to drive-phone free. I’m especially grateful on behalf of our most vulnerable roadway users: pedestrians and cyclists.
This past January, I had the opportunity to visit Hawaii, which is one of the 14 states that have banned cell phones for vehicles in motion. When I was there I saw a sign that said: “No Hand Held Devices while driving.” After seeing the sign, I counted the next 100 motorists and not a single person was talking on a phone while driving. When I did the same count in Sitka last year, 21 percent of motorists were distracted with one hand off the wheel and one on something else, usually a phone. This is a dangerous dynamic because a person’s brain cannot do two cognitively demanding things at once. The brain simply gets overloaded and misses things.
Researcher David Strayer of the University of Utah found that talking on a cell phone while driving quadruples your risk of a crash, about the same as if you were driving drunk.
The good news is that many people in Sitka and around the country are driving phone-free. At the beginning of this project I heard lots of close call and crash stories involving distracted drivers in Sitka. Lately, I’ve been hearing more and more local stories about people who put their phone away while driving. This is a positive trend and I sincerely appreciate everyone who is helping our local safe streets movement to gain momentum.
Doug Osborne, Sitka
