 By William Tatsuda August 26, 2005
One of those reasons was that there has not been a satisfactory explanation to the public as to why the Thomas Basin T-Pier design was not chosen. This design was long recommended by the City's consultants, because it provided for more ships, had less impact on water views, did not impact City Float, cost significantly less, and did not screw up traffic and parking along Tongass Avenue. The cruise ship companies had already signed a memorandum agreeing to fund the cost of this alternative. This design was apparently shot down because North end property owners threatened to vote no, and more importantly the Trident cannery objected. To my knowledge Trident has not given the public specific, detailed, and verifiable reasons why the T-Pier would force them to close the cannery or halt plans to further develop their site. What are Trident's development plans? Exactly how would the T-Pier prevent their operations? They should provide us with maps, diagrams, blueprints, or whatever it takes to show us what the problem is. Trident should not be allowed to shoot down the best port design by simply threatening us and telling us not to do it, just because they say so! The City should not have spent all that public money on telling us how to vote. The City spent at least five times more telling people to vote yes than the No Vote people spent. The City should have gathered all the facts and presented them in a fair and unbiased fashion. The voting citizens are not a rubber stamp, nor are they as stupid and ignorant as some have implied. William Tatsuda
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