Dear Editor: When I campaigned for the position of mayor in 2024, I was open about wanting the question of industrial levels of cruise tourism to be put to a vote.
Many of the questions asked at the recent forum have been raised many times over several decades – concerns about the impacts and costs existed well before 2022. This ballot proposition comes after several previous studies about how higher levels of passengers might or might not benefit Sitka, and binding votes about what, if anything, the city of Sitka should invest in it.
The proposition we will vote on at the end of the month is the first to ask Sitkans about how many people we are comfortable inviting into our remote island home. I will be voting for this cap because adding 50% to our population on any given spring and summer day is already a sacrifice. Cruise tourism is known to be a boom and bust industry, dependent on the dirtiest of the fossil fuels and low regulation for its profits. For this reason, among others, it cannot be a substantial part of Sitka’s future.
A vote for passenger limits is a vote for devoting less of our time to managing the cruise industry’s impacts. It is also a vote for using our time, energy and resources to create something better for everyone.
Leah Mason, Sitka
