If you operate a business that relies on visitors, you might have an issue with the Haines Borough. It’s been robbing you. Let’s start with a bit of history. Since October 1987 when it was approved by City of Haines voters, 1 percent of municipal sales tax has been dedicated to “tourism development and promotion.” The money was intended to…
In spring of 1989, following the published plans of Geddes Resources to open North America’s largest open-pit copper mine 100 miles up the road from Haines, resident Jim Stanford organized a public meeting. Stanford said his meeting would be an objective discussion of the mine proposal. As Geddes officials themselves hadn’t yet come to town to explain their plans, the…
I am missing John and Ray these days. I am missing them like the grandfathers I never knew, or like a crochety uncle I did know. I am missing their visits to the newspaper office, with letters-to-the-editor in hand, or with musings on some local issue, or with questions about a meeting they missed or with a private opinion they…
The most important thing you need to know about tourism in Haines is that the town markets itself independently. We pay 1 percent of sales tax toward a program we direct to bring the kinds and numbers of visitors we want. Want more Canadian visitors? We can advertise in Whitehorse newspapers. Want more cruise ships? We can send a delegation…
If you like Haines the way it is, you have an investment in tourism and in the 1 percent sales tax that funds our local program. Tourism happens in Haines on a small and varied scale, and that’s no mistake. It’s the result of 35 years of stops and starts, ideas, ventures, failures and corrections that’s largely been led by…
When I ran for borough assembly in 2016, I opposed a plan developed by a borough-appointed Solid Waste Working Group for a government takeover of garbage services locally. I’m still opposed to that plan because I believe it’s too expensive – up to 1 percent of sales tax or $628,000 annually, along with tipping fees – and it’s unnecessary. When…
If you have a beef with the Haines Borough government, it’s time to push your point. This is what elections are about. In fall of 2016, the Haines chapter of the Alaska Miners’ Association was concerned about the state’s consideration of Tier 3 protections, possibly including placing those protections on the Chilkat River. So the miners held a local meeting…
There’s a fundamental problem with our form of local government: Residents don’t understand who’s in charge. Consider this statement Haines Borough Assembly candidate Gabe Thomas made to KHNS this week: “I think the Assembly’s main responsibility is to set the budget. It’s not to direct the manager in any other way, besides give her the budget, let her review the…
In the 2006 horror movie classic, “When A Stranger Calls,” a babysitter is spooked by increasingly ominous prank phone calls. When she calls the phone company to trace the calls, she gets the most chilling message — that the calls are coming from inside the house. As a Haines Borough Assembly member, I can relate. Our manager, Debra Schnabel, pursues…
This is what to do with your vote on adding a 2 percent tax on sales of alcohol and marijuana: Vote “no” on both measures. Wait one year until a voter initiative — or the assembly — dedicates income from both these taxes to a comprehensive, community recreation program. Vote “yes” on both measures in 2020. About a year ago,…