August 31, 2007
Friday PM

The question is "What's Next"? Or what's wrong and where do we go? I like the fact we as a whole can decide or make a choice. When I have concerns is when a few or one or two individuals take it upon themselves to decide for us. I am glad to hear so much support for democracy or governmental process or support for majority rule to decide this latest initiative brought by the people of Ketchikan.

So with that said, I support limited entry management of quantity of jewelry stores. My reasoning or opinion is that I've seen the quality of jewelry stores decline. Meaning I like seeing high quality, high end jewelry stores but what I've been seeing is more and more jewelry surplus type stores. And when winter or tourist season ends our downtown looks like its preparing for a typhoon hurricane which is depressing even after some paint . I would like to see more year round businesses open and maybe some day we could have a nice gallery walk around the holidays. And I think the initiative would support that change.

To give a little personal information, our family shops a lot on-line just because the lack of choices and quality and prices here. When I first came here in the late 70's, Tongass store was the only place to shop and what I learned quickly is Alaskans always planned as to what goods were going to be bought and what was priority. Milk was sold frozen and even movies had to be taped by someone because of lack of the availability of TV stations or cable. I can also remember all the loggers and fishermen and when a Navy boat came in, it was like the wild west. We've come a long way since then I hope. I remember people saying these words, "There's one church for every bar in the town of Ketchikan". Like they say, what's next. Are we going to start limiting the places of worship? I don't know.

As I get older what I decide as priority has changed and matured and what I thought was a worthy fight in my past days has changed. Reasoning and hindsight are my tools today. And maybe as a community as a whole we can use reasoning and hindsight and learn from our past and avoid making this initiative into something that it is not. We as a whole can make that decision. A progressive decision, mature decision, and one that is best for our community. But most importantly, a decision made by a US citizen. Democracy, freedom, let's keep doing it because it does not come free.

Elroy C. Edenshaw
Ketchikan, AK

Received August 30, 2007 - Published August 31, 2007

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