Oil Business
Dear Editor: As young Alaskan business owners, we would be very appreciative of an organization like the Chamber of Commerce to represent our business interests. However, it seems that the Chamber has no regard for the interests of Alaskan businesses. If they did, their annual “Business Report Card” would represent a variety of industries.
The Report Card is meant to be a type of voters guide, and gives grades to state legislators based on their business support. Despite having a diverse array of member businesses, the Chamber appears to base their report card purely on allegiance to the oil industry. Considering the fact that less than 5% of Alaskans are employed by the oil industry, and that the scorecard seems to ignore fishing, tourism, education, healthcare, timber and everything else, it is clear that Alaskan businesses are not being well represented by this oil faction.
We know that Alaskans benefit greatly from our oil resource. In the face of declining production though, how is it fathomable that it’s in Alaska’s best interest to subsidize some of the largest corporations around? After the passage of SB 21, the oil tax deal, it’s a question many of us are asking. This multibillion dollar handout is not even a subsidy: it comes with no secured, tangible benefits. It’s nothing more than a straight-up handout.
We are amazed that a “conservative” organization like the Chamber could possibly support such a grandiose government handout. And it appears that they do support the handout, based on the grades administered to legislators last year. While Sitka’s Republican Sen. Bert Stedman (a real business-minded representative) was given an F for his performance (he also happens to oppose the oil tax giveaway), his colleagues Cathy Geissel and John Coghill were awarded an A+ and A-. Go figure: Geissel is married to an oil industry lobbyist (literally) and Coghill is arguably the most party line Republican senator.
It is presumable that this year’s Business Report Card will applaud the legislators who supported this massive handout. It’s hard to say whether the Chamber’s endorsements, or corporate money and lobbyists are responsible for the oil tax giveaway, but Gov. Parnell and his cohorts should accept their A’s in shame. The Chamber should also award itself an A for its efforts in giving away the future of Alaska’s businesses and economy. In a time when our schools are scrambling to survive and small businesses are closing their doors, these “representatives” just sold out our future for no good reason at all.
How does it make business sense to “invest” in a declining industry and leave 95% of Alaskans by the wayside? The tried and true Alaskan model of harvesting renewable resources, coupled with our abundant renewable energy opportunities should be the focus of a business-minded Chamber that truly wants to represent Alaskan businesses and the people behind them. It is clear to us that the Chamber of Commerce does not represent the best interest of our business; think twice before assuming it represents the interests of yours.
And by the way, there is good news: we have a chance to repeal the oil tax giveaway. To join statewide efforts to put it on the 2014 ballot for repeal, email: sitka.repeals.the.giveaway@gmail.com.
Adam Hackett and Lexi Fish
Global Warming
Dear Editor: Are you getting tired of being cold? The global warming people told us we would be warming up and it seems we are going the other way. I do a fishery that happens in the spring time (from March through May) and the last several years the temperature has been noticeably colder. Yet these people still try to ram global warming down our throat. I have a question for these people, are you pushing global warming because you actually were getting warmer or because this would be a good way to destroy the economy?
These people are also very sneaky in that they will change the subject to climate change when it is convenient. We should not let them change from one term to the other because it is convenient to do so. They started this the term global warming, so now they have to own it. We have to remember who these people are from the socialist environmentalist, to teachers, and even preachers. These people are ruining a whole generation of kids. Now kids are graduating and they don’t want to work in a job that makes their hands dirty they would rather work in a community organizing job that gets paid from your taxes and they think they are saving the earth by going this route.
And then you have the businesses who want to win awards by going green. But, I bet if you go into their stores you will find things that either had to be drilled, fished, cut or mined. So you business people may be fooling some people, but the rest of us just look at you and shake our heads.
For all of you who are hoping the Calvary will show up and save us from these left wing kooks, I am afraid they are not coming. It is up to each one of us to recognize who these people are. Remember them when they run for any office. Call them on everything they say because they think you are an ignorant hillbilly . It does no good to debate these people , they will just flat out lie. To them you can’t take care of yourself and you need them. And of course everything they tell you they won’t do themselves.
Mike Svenson, Sitka
A Job Well Done
Dear Editor:
I saw a recent comment by the current Activities Director for Sitka High School, Mike Vieira, that has caused me to write this letter. In that comment, he related that being at the airport at near midnight this past Wednesday to greet the inbound Dimond High School Baseball team for its games against SHS was to be his last formal action as the AD. By the way, a pretty common action for him was to be at the airport or ferry terminal at all hours, greeting visiting high school students to participate in SHS events and sports, such is the nature of the job.
I don’t want Mr. Vieira to quietly sail into the night, as he acepts a job within SHS to be a teacher, which is a good thing for him. What I want to do is ensure that there is an understanding of just how well he has done his job as the SHS Activities Director.
Among the things that we all do around Sitka, one of the things I enjoy most, is being a sports official. I get to see Mike’s work on a regular basis and have also had the distinct pleasure of watching him produce positive things for his coaches in tough moments. the AD works on ALL activities and their annual schedules, he negotiates schedules with other schools for the games we enjoy locally, he works to house all visiting students, he meets all groups coming to Sitka regardless of the hour, he works to keep open communication with all families of participants especially housing parents, he’s fostered a fantastic working relationship witrh the business community as SHS has enjoyed substantial financial support base from the business community in his tenure, he’s worked with the broader Sitka community to pull off great events like the Region V Basketball Tournament, he’s worked with parents, parents and more parents on their needs for their student participants, and he has worked with all the activities’ coaches to help ensure things go smoothly for the seasons. He’s been at many of the events as a fixture, the AD - it’s the nature of the job. And he did it well enough that he has set a very high bar of excellence within the region. SHS and the community should be proud of how well he executed the job.
His willingness to always be the face of SHS activities, in good and in tough moments, speaks volumes of why people and businesses have been so willing to support SHS activities in action and financially.
He has earned the ability to choose to go watch SHS events and I suspect that his family will enjoy having their evenings and weekends back, and I do know that SHS activities have been very, very successfully run on his watch and respected within the region. While he is moving on to be an educator at SHS, I believe he has already been an educator with his contributions.
Thank you, Mike for all that you have done as the SHS AD, for the kids and for having SHS represent the community well.
Cheers,
Keith Perkins
