December 26, 2007
Wednesday

I am not only concerned about the spending practices but the priority process in which the Ketchikan City Council implements the budget. Is it through a strategic plan or just what ever happens to be in front of them at the time? The cruise ship dilemma facing southeast should be top on the list on City Council, and Borough Assembly agendas but it appears little or no attention is being paid to this issue, there seems to be a lot of emphasis on a library though.

I have not seen any assurances by our Council or Mayor for that matter that the tour industry port of call issue is even on their radar. Maybe it is considered a borough issue. Either way setting the budget may become much simpler in the very near future because one of the only constants in Ketchikan right now will be dramatically and predictably reduced and that is the influx of visitor industry dollars that we have infused in our budget process.

I would like to hear from our Mayor (Mayors) more and how he (they) are going to help in this particular issue. There are many ,many more subjects than the intertie going on in Ketchikan and the library. The Assembly and City Council needs to lead the way in potential revenue loss issues. Address the issues prior to them being a crisis.

Crisis management is very time consuming and stressful for everyone involved and crisis management leads to poor decision making. The library and some of the other budget line items seem insignificant and unsustainable if we start losing millions in visitor industry dollars.

Charles Edwardson
Ketchikan, AK

Received December 24, 2007 - Published December 26, 2007

Related News:

Governor Palin Asks Customs to Exclude Alaska Cruises from Proposal; New interpretation for Hawaiian Cruises Would Hurt Alaska Visitor Businesses - Governor Sarah Palin has asked the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection to back off on a proposed rule interpretation that would harm the Alaska tourism industry.

At issue is the agency's proposed interpretation of an 1886 maritime law that would require foreign-owned cruise ships running between the U.S. West Coast and Hawaii to spend at least 48 hours in a foreign port. The vessels would also have to spend at least half as much time in a foreign port as spent in all U.S. ports of call. - More...
SitNews - Wednesday - December 26, 2007

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City Council Spending By Bill and Linda Auger

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