February 19, 2020
Wednesday AM

So we are selling the port? News to me, and I sit on the Ketchikan City Council.

The argument you will hear lately is, why are we selling the docks, why are we giving it away, why are we going to pay someone else to run them, or why can’t we do this ourselves, and why not just keep doing what we are doing? First, let me be very clear here, we are not selling the docks, We are not paying someone else to run them, nor are we giving it away.

First off, I am not sure how to explain it any clearer, I for one ran for the city council to try and make things fair for everyone in our community, and there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding, as to how we can use CPV funds, Port Fees, and Dockage Fees. CPV Funds are the Head Tax we received for each passenger that comes into our port regardless of whether they get off the ship.

This isn’t as easy as changing an ordinance, or state law. This Law dates back 230 years in maritime law and is a clause in the U.S. Constitution. This Federal Law, has been taken up in litigation, and the courts’ interpretation of this 230-year-old law is, monies earned in CPV funds, have to be used on things that directly benefit the ships. I bet you want to ask, why can’t we just change the law? Well for one, it would take an act of congress, literally.

Case: Take a step back to 2009 remember when the state of Alaska citizens decided that anyone visiting Alaska should pay a $46.00 head tax. The cruise industry objected loudly in federal court stating the maritime law and that the tax blatantly violates said: “Federal law which prevents states from charging marine passengers fees to pay local expenses.” This same suit also claimed that the tax violates constitutional prohibitions against interfering in interstate commerce and that it discriminates against non-Alaskans. So in nutshell, revenue tied to a tourist's head, or collected per passenger must be used for services the cruise lines expect to pay for, and cannot be used for services that benefit the community.

Just ask Juneau what happened when CLIA cried foul on how CPV funds were used there for the infamous whale sculpture. By the way, that was a rouge, the Whale sculpture was actually funded by Juneau's 1% for art tax fund, required with all new construction. 

I hear the community voicing their needs, and demands for the council members to stop catering to the cruise industry and the tourist. Believe it or not, 4 years ago when the council decided for the first time to be directly involved in the industry and took the trip to Florida to see what the industry was doing, it was our first step in becoming more involved, and responsible in the process instead of relying on what the industry wanted to tell us. We began to take a huge part in exploring the various options available to the city including the possibility of a lease agreement. With the intention to work as hard as possible to get more bang for our dollars for the people of Ketchikan.

Right now, we are considering leasing, because, through leasing, it could free up revenue to be used for community needs and things other than the ships, and the port.

What is being missed in the news today is how many of us have been trying to figure out how to collect the funding without taxing the citizens for much-needed services due to the high numbers of visitors.

Ketchikan estimates 2.5 million dollars annually in revenue from the CPV, port and dockage funds. These funds have been used for crossing guards, bathrooms on the docks, and even some bus routes for crew and passengers to access various locations including Walmart. So, it is understandable that the community thinks we never think of them and only cater to the visitors.

We have to be careful how we use these funds, remember we are limited by the laws that govern it. We were able to use CPV instead of taxpayer money to remove the pinnacle that impedes ship access, and we recently used some for 2020 to add additional firefighters and police staff due to the number of passengers and the strain it put on our staff last year.

Simply put, we are currently looking over all the proposals,and at any time we could scrap them all, and keep doing what we have been doing for the past 30 years, or we could scrap them without even giving them the duel diligence of looking over them.

We could just cave to the name-calling, bullying, and harsh criticism of being called criminals for doing our due diligence and reading through each proposal and possibly negotiating a deal that could in the long run possibly pay for the following items Council Member Flora had listed in July.

Currently, Ketchikan relies heavily on the tax revenue we collect in the 4 months that equates to about 69% of our revenue each year.

Would you consider it if a lease would give Ketchikan the freedom to use revenue generated from the lease agreement to fund important items on Council Member Flora’s list, like our infrastructures, water, sewer, garbage, to name a few? Curious, want to know more about the list?

This list was submitted at July 18, 2019 city council meeting, the items include a list of infrastructure that needs our attention and a presentation regarding the Sea Trade Conference he attended in Florida. In this he takes great care in addressing the funds that could be freed up with a possible lease agreement, They are as follows:

Electrical Generation Repair $5Million, Water Division Schoenbar Road Water Main: $5 Million, Wastewater Schoenbar Road Sewer Replacement: $5 Million, Public Works Streets: $10 Million, First responders, apprenticeships, the arts, schools, Public Radio, Humanitarian grants. You can find his document in the July meeting log it is public record.

What are we doing right now that is better than looking at all our options objectively?

Something that seems to be getting lost in the news, and Facebook attacks these days is that there is a fine balance for the industry that we have to consider as a council, I do not believe for one moment there is a single city council member who believes more is better, however; we also have to be realistic in the fact that tourism is our main industry, we have to consider the 65% -79% of our sales tax revenue that comes directly from the tourism season.

A fine balance, protection of our culture, and way of life, and making sure we all benefit losing ourselves is at the front of my daily thoughts as I work through this, and honestly, I believe wholeheartedly, that all of my fellow council members feel the same. Please consider coming to the council meetings, or send an email, or letter, and offer up your concerns and even ideas as to how or what we need to consider in this endeavor. We need to, and we want to hear from you.

For full disclosure, I am currently elected to my second term on the Ketchikan City Council, these are my views, thoughts, and information I have gathered while working on this project. I speak only for myself as a resident, an individual, and not for the council.

Respectfully, 
Janalee Minnich Gage
5th Generation Ketchikan Resident
Ketchikan, Alaska

About

Editor's Note:

The text of this letter was NOT edited by the SitNews Editor.

Received February 17, 2020 - Published February 19, 2020

Related Viewpoint:

SitNews ©2020
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews are considered protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper sources. E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.