Published: October 05, 2008
Received: October 04, 2008

To all Ketchikan Residents: I'm Todd Phillips and running for the Borough Assembly. I've lived here for the past 11 yrs. Six of those years is owning a business downtown with my wife Julia called Trinkets. Last three years I have been on the KVB as Advisor and board member the last two. This past year I helped start the Downtown steering Comm.,of which I am treasurer. I have chosen to run for the Assembly to help continue Ketchikan's future growth in a very rough economy.

Ketchikan is too dependent on tourism, if the cruise industry pulled up tomorrow where would we be, it's like the worlds dependency on oil we're at there mercy. With proper economic development through tax incentives, rent reductions, tax abatements etc, we can attract other industry here and also help local businesses start up. We are now in the process of hiring a Economical development mgr. and we need to give this person the proper tools to work with so he or she can attract other businesses to come or start up here (this includes local people).

On Education, it is vital to make sure our youth have proper training, our drop out rate is terrible and this needs to be fixed. Funding for programs that help better prepare our youth for the business world, college, and trades should be a priority and not looked at as just a cap for funding, money doesn't necessarily make for a better education but it is a vital part in getting the tools for our students to use.

Now that Ward Cove is being handed back to us, we need to make sure that we don't dance the same dance again. Lets use those 9 properties to attract different businesses and not put our eggs in one basket by having only one industry go in there. This could be one of the tools for the Economic Dev. Mgr. to use to attract some diversification.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what needs to get done. I'm for the purchase of South Point Higgins beach. Using the CPV money for downtown improvements,i.e.. the library and Performing Arts Center, or a waste management plant on ward cove for cruise ship waste water and then charging them for off loading there waste water. What an industry that would be and the jobs it would create at no cost to the tax payer.

This I hope tells you how committed I am to improving Ketchikan, but I can only do it with your vote on October 7th. Lets work together to make this community reach it's potential. Teamwork is the way to do it and we have a great staff at the borough that will help us get there.

Thanks for reading this and I hope to have your vote. I can be reached at 225-5224, 225-5857, and 617-1981 for questions or comments.

Todd Phillips

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