Dear Editor: I will be voting “no” on ballot Proposition 2, which requires an economic impact statement (EIS) for an initiative to proceed as it will squelch citizen initiative efforts in Sitka.
In the last 30 years, I have signed many petitions and have voted “yes” or “no” on many propositions. I have never felt that Sitka has been bombarded with frivolous citizen initiative efforts. The City and Borough of Sitka maintains a list of past initiatives. An easy way to get there is tinyurl.com/sitkavotes. It is a glimpse of democracy in action in Sitka.
This proposition would get in the way of that democracy. Meeting this EIS threshold would be well within the financial means of powerful organizations and large industries. To a single citizen or a small non-profit, it could be the barrier that keeps their voices from being heard.
When I heard about this initiative, I wondered whether other municipalities were enacting such measures. What I found was that, across the U.S., there are increasing attempts to curb citizen initiatives – mainly at the state level. This includes requiring more signatures, limiting signature-gathering time, putting in procedural barriers, and requiring supermajority votes. Thankfully, most of these initiatives have failed.
Sometimes during ballot campaigns, we are bombarded with information. So much information is available – from the City and Borough of Sitka, the Chamber of Commerce, the State of Alaska, the U.S. Census, industry reports, newspaper articles and more. In the last election, abundant information was provided to voters, and they decided. They did so in the absence of a mandated EIS.
I would read and consider an EIS if one were available. I would also be interested in an environmental impact statement, a quality-of-life impact statement, an equity impact statement, and an impact-on-democracy impact statement. These are all legitimate issues that any given voter could base their entire decision on. And, if a voter felt that there was not enough economic information available, they could simply vote “no” – as I will be doing.
Kari Sagel, Sitka
