Sage is Home
Dear Editor: We caught my frightened, missing puppy, Sage, on Saturday afternoon, which would not have happened without the help of Search and Rescue – Ethan and Gus, his SAR golden Lab. Cyndi Cassedy, Sandy and Thad Poulson and family, Valorie Nelson, Skye Workman and Karen Royce were all instrumental in helping us find and catch Sage.
My Pop, Al Wilson, scoured the shoreline in his Whaler while a storm was brewing, and he trudged around the area where Sage had been seen, as did my sister, Klaudia Leccese, day after day. Ethan and Klaudia pulled Sage out of a small crevice where she was wedged, between a fallen tree and rocks on a steep, rocky shoreline.
I am so blessed and thankful to have such a supportive community and family! Sincerely,
Kim Elliot and Sage, Sitka
Alaska Day Pie Sale
Dear Editor: The congregation of the Sitka Lutheran Church most sincerely thanks the citizens of Sitka for all their personal, verbal and financial support during their pie sale on Alaska Day.
A total of 184 pies were sold in support of disaster relief efforts in the United States and worldwide.
As always it was an amazing community turnout! We would also like to thank Raven Radio, KIFW, Sitka Soup, and the Daily Sitka Sentinel for their outstanding advertising of this event.
Sitka Lutheran Church
Pie Committee
Cruise Tourism MOU
Dear Editor: Out of the blue, on the cruise tourism issue – in Friday’s packet for Tuesday’s Assembly meeting is a “negotiated agreement” (an MOU, memorandum of understanding) between the City and Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal.
The packet prefaces the MOU with a suggested motion for on-the-spot Assembly approval of the MOU and to “authorize the Municipal Administrator to execute the document.”
NOT SO FAST!
Terms of the MOU are contrary to the Tourism Task Force’s recommendations and the earlier, Assembly-approved negotiated agreement between the business community and other Sitka “stakeholders” — known as Visitor Industry Plan 2.0.
The MOU has a five-year life, locking in agreement for continued massive numbers of cruise passengers. Once the MOU’s language is untangled, a daily “lower berth capacity” (LBC) of 12,859 is allowed, in total for ships docked and tendered. That’s on par with Sitka’s worst day to date. But because ships have more berths than their “LBC,” the actual number of passengers could be as high as 15,000 to 16,000.
On days when the LBC of ships using the City’s facilities is more than 4,500, another section of the MOU requires action by the Terminal that would (once the wording is untangled) limit the all-Sitka total to 8,300 – or maybe 9,600 to 10,900 depending on interpretation and how the terminal might run its operation – plus the city’s unlimited overage beyond the 4,500.
None of the results in last two paragraphs is acceptable. Even the Tourism Task Force recommended no more than 5,000 to 7,000 per day — biased toward high numbers though that body was.
The “quiet day” per week provided for in the MOU isn’t so quiet. Allowed is a 1,250 LBC at the terminal plus 1,000 at city facilities — 2,250 total. However, from the Tourism Task Force’s Recommendations report, quiet days “were defined as 1,000 passengers or less.” Because the terminal’s principal owner was on the task force, the MOU should adhere to that limit of 1,000 total.
In sum, the MOU is unbalanced, and it provides no relief from harms the recently excessive cruise tourism is causing to Sitka’s quality of life. It is shameless, brazen.
Further, the Assembly should reconsider using the contractual approach of an MOU (or MOA). A regulatory approach is better, as explained in a timely article in Bar Harbor, Maine’s Quietside Journal this Sunday — based on the strong opinion of an attorney who served the town’s Appeals Board for many years. See: https://theqsjournal.substack.com/p/ex-appeals-board-attorney-cruise
Larry Edwards, Sitka
MOU and Assembly
Dear Editor: The agenda for Tuesday night’s Assembly meeting includes the approval of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the City of Sitka and the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal. In my initial reading of the document, numerous concerns jumped out at me, not the least of which is the fact that this is more of a contract between two parties. The city hasn’t explicitly retained any enforcement provisions for infringements on agreed limits and parameters, which has the effect of ceding government’s responsibility to the wellbeing of the entire community. However, here are three additional reasons to ask the city Assembly to NOT approve the agreement at Tuesday night’s meeting.
1. The Tourism Task Force, which met last winter, recognized that good management decisions require accurate and complete data on the situation at hand. That data currently does not exist regarding the extent of impacts to our local environment, economy and quality of life exacerbated by the greatly elevated numbers of cruise ships calling at Sitka. An important Task Force recommendation, therefore, was that comprehensive and statistically valid data be collected to inform any cruise tourism decisions made by the Assembly on behalf of the city and community of Sitka. The Assembly accepted that recommendation. The current draft MOU, which as written, will lock us into its terms for 5 years, should absolutely NOT be implemented because it is not based on adequate data.
2. The “analysis” memo accompanying the MOU in the Assembly packet states, “The Tourism Task Force report indicated a community “sweet spot” of between 5,000 and 7,000 daily passengers based on lower berth capacity.” This amount may be what the majority of Task Force members decided was the “sweet spot,” but was, in no way, clearly backed up by the limited data they were working with.
In fact, overall community input indicated a slightly more than 50% preference for 5,000 or fewer passengers per day. The 5K-7K number is calculated on a ship’s lower berth capacity, as well, which can be exceeded by well over 1,000 for ships at full capacity, and also doesn’t count the number of crew ashore, which may number in the hundreds per ship on any given day.
Lower berth capacity doesn’t capture true potential numbers. Again, accepting and locking in such nebulous numbers for the next five years without firm realistic estimates and timely good faith reporting by the ships, at the very least, is NOT in our best interest.
3. The wording in the MOU favors the docking preference of a private entity, Sitka Dock Company, of which Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines is a partner. If implemented, the city will agree to limit ships (of more than 1,000 pax) at city controlled docks in order to help enforce the daily numbers. One aspect of this limit is that it will generally apply to smaller ships tendering in. It’s commonly acknowledged among downtown merchants that passengers from smaller, higher-priced ships spend more on more expensive goods, and that throngs of passengers from larger ships with lower-priced cruises spend less and impact the shopping and overall experience of the small ship traveler; not to mention increased bus traffic from the cruise dock.
If you agree that the city Assembly needs to be very clear on all the consequences of this frankly unclear and incomplete document, express your concerns to the Assembly by email, phone call, and best of all, by attending Tuesday’s meeting. A copy of the MOU can be found in the Assembly meeting details (for Oct. 22) on the City website. cityofsitka.com
Barbara Bingham
Tourism Task Force Member
(Winter of 2023-24)
Sustainability Seat
Homelessness
Dear Editor: Sitka thrives on the strength of its community – the connections we share and the support we offer one another. However, amid our unity, there are individuals confronting profound hardships without a place to call home. They are our brothers, our sisters, our friends, each facing challenges that many of us are fortunate enough to not have to imagine.
Homelessness strips away more than just a roof over one’s head; it can erode one’s sense of safety and personhood. Alarmingly, those without stable housing face a heightened risk of violence. The National Coalition for the Homeless reports that individuals experiencing homelessness are four times more likely to be victims of violent crimes than those with housing stability. Each statistic isn’t just a number but a person – a life subjected to fear and harm in our very own community.
This calls for us to look inward and ask what kind of community we aspire to be. Can we ignore the silent suffering of those around us? Compassion must move from being a mere concept to becoming the fabric that unites us all.
Let us open our eyes and hearts to those around us. A warm meal, a kind word, a moment of recognition – these simple acts can pierce the veil of isolation. By acknowledging the struggles of our unhoused neighbors, we reaffirm the values that make Sitka more than just a town but a community.
In these challenging times, may we choose empathy over indifference, action over apathy. Let’s stand together to ensure that every person is seen, valued, and protected. Ultimately, the strength of our community is measured not by our material wealth or industries but by the kindness we extend to one another.
Sitka Homeless Coalition Board
