Assembly Decision
Dear Editor: I am both amazed and disheartened by the city Assembly’s actions concerning the Sitka Land Trust’s request addressed at the latest Assembly meeting.
First of all, past Assemblies had forced the Land Trust to sign the document in question. Forced because had the trust not assumed the liability for clean up there would have been no conveyance of the former shop property to allow the housing project to move forward.
Let’s not forget that it was the city itself that contaminated the property and is ethically responsible for its clean up. There is also legal precedence that does not allow the city to waive its responsibility to clean up the site.
Several Assembly members spoke at length about taking responsibility for one’s previous actions. It seems only logical that the city would do the same.
The land trust volunteers have spent hundreds of hours trying to create affordable housing in our community, while the city itself has done little to secure affordable housing in our community. It seems hypocritical that on one hand the Assembly claims to support affordable housing efforts and on the other hand deals a crushing blow to our first real attempt at creating affordable housing.
The land trust has brought hundreds of thousands of grant dollars into this community. These are outside dollars that now circulate throughout our community. The land trust receives little or no credit for all of this economic activity.
It is also unfortunate to hear the cavalier attitude concerning additional mortgage payment that the city would pass onto the future homeowners of these homes. Imagine if you were a homeowner paying $35 a month for the next 30 years to fix a problem that the city created. The city is now refusing to accept their responsibility to clean up this hazard and expecting you, the homeowner, to step in and pay for this clean up. I might suggest that the Assembly members who voted against this solution contribute $35 a month for the next 30 years to the land trust and then at the end of the period determine if that was an insignificant amount of money.
I applaud the efforts of the Sitka Land Trust volunteers and ask the Assembly to reconsider their actions.
Reasonableness demands this reconsideration.
Norman Campbell, Sitka
