Dog Ordinance
Dear Editor: This letter is in response to the banning of dogs at all public green spaces and ball fields in Sitka. By all means, the new Moller field is off limits. No one is questioning that. However, banning all dogs from all fields and providing one field at Kimsham for dog owners is not an equitable arrangement. There are too many of us. The potential addition of Keet Gooshi Heen is particularly concerning.
Dog owners are taxpayers, too. Through our taxes, we’ve paid for those fields and their maintenance. These are spaces belonging to the public and are for public use and enjoyment. It is reasonable to anticipate enjoyment is different things for different people. Softball players, football teams, soccer, and Little League use those fields approximately three months or so out of the year. Yet these public areas will be banned to anyone with a dog for the entire year. This certainly feels as though certain groups are more generously regarded than others with our publicly owned, multi-use spaces.
We understand dog poop is unwelcome on fields our kids play on. Our kids are, or have been, the Little League and soccer players as well. Not all dog owners are irresponsible just like not all ballplayers are irresponsible. Some teams leave behind a terrible mess of beer cans, cigarette butts, soda containers, sports drink bottles, candy wrappers, juice boxes, soggy clothing, old food, and just general garbage which is easily found at the ball fields in the summer. Cleaning up after ourselves is a civic and personal responsibility, and that extends to both dog owners and sports teams using those fields.
In regards to KGH specifically, that field is used by many families throughout the year. They play with their kids and other families. They can be seen playing frisbee, football, catch, batting practice, and more often than not have the family dog with them. It’s their idea of fun and recreation.
Part of what makes a healthy, safe, community is encouraging families to get out and enjoy public spaces and positively interact. Encouraging this type of activity is desirable at the community level. It is good public stewardship, and good public health. There is the added bonus that having people at KGH engaging in positive activities tends to serve as a deterrent to those who go there and engage in illicit activities. Maintaining this field for family and community enjoyment creates a safer neighborhood, and maintains property values. This is particularly important when the cost of living in Sitka is becoming very prohibitive and not very “family friendly.”
To put Sitka’s proposed ordinance in a broader perspective, consider the fact Juneau allows dogs on enclosed fields for “exercise or training purposes.” Of course clean up is mandatory, and turf fields are simply off limits. The fine schedule is substantially different as well, first offense is $25, then it increases to a cap of $100. With this idea in mind, we would like to suggest allowing lower Moller, one Kimsham field, and KGH to remain dog-friendly, with priority to sports. This is similar, although more restrictive, than Juneau’s policy, but is more appropriately balanced. Is there some reason why Sitka can’t adopt this strategy?
Finally, no fine in the world is going to prevent loose, unattended dogs from going to the bathroom on open fields such as lower Moller, around the fields at Kimsham, and KGH. Some owners will always be irresponsible, just like some of the baseball and softball players will leave garbage behind. Then there are some of us who will always come along and clean it up. It seems all groups need to be more mindful of cleaning up after themselves. It’s just the responsible, polite thing to do. Depriving taxpaying families of healthy recreational outlets of their choice at publicly funded spaces is an inequitable distribution of access. Those public spaces belong to everyone in this community, and should not be held in trust for a few. Everyone should have the right to use them responsibly and that means cleaning up after yourself and leaving it clean for others.
Carin and Bill Adickes,
Ernie Eggleston, Gaylen Needham,
Stan and Joni Filler, Laurie Hood,
Michelle Kennedy, Susan Royce, Julie Schmitts, Ted Howard,
Laurie Johnson, Jim Phillips
and Teka Lamade
Coastal Cleanup
Dear Editor: This past summer, the Cape Decision Lighthouse Society was awarded a $2,300 grant from the Ocean Foundation for a coastal cleanup from Howard Cove to Port McArthur. The Ocean Foundation is a unique community foundation with a mission to support, strengthen, and promote organizations dedicated to reversing the trend of destruction of ocean environments around the world.
Their slogan is “Tell Us What You Want To Do For The Ocean, We Will Take Care Of The Rest.” They work with a community of donors who care about the coasts and oceans; we are also grateful to the Alaska Brewing Company out of Juneau who was our financial supporter. In this manner, TOF grows the financial resources available to support marine conservation in order to promote healthy ocean ecosystems and benefit the human communities that depend on them.
Approximately seven miles of coastline was scoured, by a group of hardy volunteers, and yielded 150 cubic feet of trash, mostly plastics and Styrofoam. We had expected to find lots of debris from the Japanese tsunami, but there were only a few items from Japan, and one or two from Russia.
Fifteen volunteers came out of the woodwork to clean up marine debris on miles of coastline on southern Kuiu Island, our neighbor to the south southeast. We would like to publicly acknowledge and thank to The Ocean Foundation Coastal CODE Fund, and the Alaska Brewing Company for helping us get our volunteers out to the beach clean up adventure at Cape Decision lighthouse and near coastlines.
The Cape Decision Lighthouse Society is dedicated to the preservation of the Cape Decision lighthouse and surrounding wilderness areas for public recreation and education. Any interested in joining our nonprofit organization, owners of the of the former USCG lighthouse and 214 acres of Lighthouse Reserve on the southernmost tip of Kuiu, are welcome to call Karen at 747-7803 to inquire. Thank you, dear Editor, for publishing our thanks!
The CDLS Board of Directors
Karen Lucas, Kari Johnson Fish, Mike Mayo, Chris Brooks,
Brandon Marx, Dick Dapcevich, Sean Cavlan, Brian Cornelius
Stardust Ball
Dear Editor: Raven Radio would like to thank all those who made the 2012 Stardust Ball and Lip Sync Extravaganza possible through donating their time and resources to make this year’s event a huge success. The crowd of creatively costumed guests packed Harrigan Centennial Hall on Oct. 27 to enjoy the sounds of the Nervis Rex from Anchorage.
A special thanks goes out to the fantastic staff at Harrigan Centennial Hall, the Sitka Hotel and Victoria’s for band accommodations and meals, and the Pour House for donating a portion of the bar proceeds from the night to Raven Radio. Thanks to the crew at Old Harbor Books, House of Liquor, Agave, Larkspur Café, J Bradley, Dan Littlefield, Colin Herforth, Ritch Phillips, Glorious Youth Parade, Sheryn and John Ferrick, Megan Pasternak, Pamela Ash, Kayla Boettcher, Doug Comstock, Jamal Floate, Aaron Swanson, Blake Conway, and Noah and Courtney from Harry’s for taking photos throughout the evening.
We also wish to thank our volunteer decorating crew of Cheri Hample, Jen Houx, Rachel Ramsey, Dorothy Oribison, and Christian Blanco. The Jesuit and Americorps volunteers took on the task of cleaning up after the ball.
Thank you to Mim McConnell, Ashia Lane and John Straley for taking on the difficult task of judging the lip sync acts. And Jeanne Stolberg, Paul Columb and John Stein for selecting the costume contest winners this year.
It’s not too early to start planning for next year. See you Saturday, October 26, 2013, for the next Stardust Ball!
Raven Radio Board and Staff
