LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
Assembly Swears In McConnell, Guevin
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Mim McConnell was sworn in as mayor and Tristan Guevin took office as a new member of the City and Borough Assembly at Tuesday night’s regular meeting.
The other winner of an Assembly seat in the Oct. 7 election, Steven Eisenbeisz, was out of town on a hunting trip and will be sworn in later.
The new Assembly members replace Pete Esquiro and Mike Reif, neither of whom sought re-election.
Before the swearing in, the mayor presented Esquiro with a framed certificate, and thanked him for his four years of service on the elected body.
He had a few parting words of advice for the new members, urging them not to spend money they didn’t have. Esquiro said that message hasn’t changed since he took office four years ago.
“I may sound like a broken record,” he said. “I want to remind you one last time of some of the values I’ve held on the Assembly. I hope some of you will retain those values.”
He encouraged the elected officials to distinguish “wants” from “needs,” and focus on the work that has to be done, such as infrastructure repair. “The difficult part is you have to have the will, you have to have the guts, to say no. There’s nothing wrong with saying no to the things that are in the ‘I want’ category.”
Reif was not able to attend the meeting, and said his good-byes at the last meeting.
Consent Agenda
Five of the seven Assembly members in office prior to the election – McConnell, Esquiro, Matthew Hunter, Aaron Swanson and Ben Miyasato – were present for the meeting, and acted on the old business items on the agenda. In addition to Reif, Phyllis Hackett was absent. The five approved the consent agenda, which included:
– appointing Patrick Williams to the Health Needs and Community Services Commission, and Mike Reif to the Investment Committee.
– approved a $31,000 budget adjustment for Pacific High School; and a design-build contract to CH2M Hill for $119,500 on the Monastery and Baranof Street water and sewer replacement project.
New Assembly
Guevin took his seat after being sworn in and, along with McConnell, Swanson, Hunter and Miyasato handled the rest of the agenda in short order.
The Assembly approved:
– a resolution asking the U.S. government to work with the International Commission and the Alaska British Columbia Transboundary Region – and use powers under the Boundary Waters Treaty to ensure that Alaska resources are not harmed by upstream development in British Columbia. The resolution relates to new and proposed industries – including open pit mines – on rivers in B.C. that may affect Alaska’s commercial, sport and subsistence fisheries.
Sophie Nethercut, Sitka Conservation Society’s Tongass community organizer, urged the Assembly to approve the resolution, which passed 5-0.
– a resolution opposing the proposed rule on the definition of waters of the U.S. under the Clean Water Act. The Assembly passed the resolution 5-0. Hunter noted that if the rule passes, “It would be hard for private landowners to do anything ... It’s not a good idea.” The rule would give the U.S. government jurisdiction over Sitka’s waters, the resolution says.
– approved giving an old ambulance to the city of Hollis. McConnell said she had been pulled in different directions on this issue, but Hunter encouraged the Assembly to approve the gift of the ambulance, which has been stripped down.
“It’s a tradition ... for Alaskans to take care of each other,” Hunter said. “That’s very much alive in emergency services.” He said this community has benefited when larger and wealthier communities – or state and federal agencies – have given emergency equipment to Sitka. He said the benefit of giving something “our neighbors can’t afford” far outweighs the funds that would have come in from its sale.
In other business, the Assembly welcomed the new Sitka Community Hospital CEO Jeff Comer; Kettleson Memorial Library Director Robb Farmer; and the five exchange students at Sitka High School.
At the opening of the meeting, Electric Department Director Chris Brewton said the defective transformer at the Blue Lake power house will cause delays from the previous date for getting the new hydroelectric plant on line. “We’ll be on schedule, not ahead of schedule,” he said.
The hydro plant, with new generators, was scheduled to be put into service on Oct. 18, but that will now happen at a later date, Brewton said in an earlier interview. He said the transformer has 1,500 gallons of oil that will have to be removed.
And under persons to be heard at the end of the meeting, Alexander Allison asked the Assembly to get to work on a public boat haulout for Sitka. He said Sitka’s small boat fleet is leaving town to get boatwork done in Hoonah, Wrangell and Petersburg, and Sitka is losing out on all the benefits that go along with having a haulout. He also urged the Assembly not to give away the city’s waterfront.
Official Election Results
As certified by the Assembly the results of the Oct. 7 election were:
Mayor: McConnell, 1,003; Orion Hughes-Knowles, 670.
Assembly (top two elected): Eisenbeisz, 771, Guevin, 747; Thor Christianson, 726; Lillian Feldpausch, 578; Aaron Wamsley, 304. (Richard Parmelee and Dennie Daniels withdrew from the Assembly race, but received 40 and 33 votes, respectively.)
School Board (two elected): Tim Fulton, 1,433; Tom Conley, 1,336.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.