Borough mayoral candidate Jan Hill said she’s ready for a promotion after four years on the assembly-school board. "I think I still have a lot to contribute, and I want to do it at the level of mayor. People have been encouraging me to run and I think this is the right time to try."

Hill, 51, is community liaison for the Chilkoot Indian Association. She was elected to the assembly-school board in l997.

A member of the assembly’s solid waste planning committee, she disputes opponent Fred Shield’s claim the borough wasted money on the issue. "We spent $40,000 for the solid waste plan, and I think were on the right track. We would have made better progress if the city hadn’t pulled us into the Haines Sanitation lawsuit. That’s where the waste was."

Hill defended the borough's $175,000 upgrade of Mount Riley Road. saying the job was necessary to sell adjacent borough lots. "It certainly wouldn’t have been any cheaper to wait a few years."

Hill is not in favor of consolidation. She wants to continuing studying options for combining governments. "I’ve always been a supporter of the third class borough, but I can see where there’s some issues with that. I don’t believe the people have ever told us which option they want us to pursue." Hill said the current petition gives too much political power to voters inside city limits.

She said the city council and borough assembly should set regular joint meetings to discuss common issues.

Hill said she favors repealing the tour tax, but thinks it would be a bad political move. "If we put it to a vote and the 4 percent tax was repealed, there would be another initiative petition presented, at a higher rate, and we’d be worse off than we are now."

Hill favors area tourism planning, and said she’s in favor of "reasonable" land use planning by service areas.

She is in favor of borough funding for Haines Friends of Recycling, and is against the borough buying out Haines Sanitation to operate a municipal waste facility. "Not at the current price, anyway," Hill said.

A lifetime resident and Alaska Native, Hill said she’d like to see Tlingit language classes offered with with the same emphasis as French, Spanish and Japanese.

She said she wants to improve the evaluation process for school staff. "It’s a little shaky the way it is now. Evaluations should be for improvement, not criticism."

She said she supports testing school district employees for drugs when cause is shown.

Hill said she would keep regular daily office hours if elected.

Fred Shields candidate profile

Mayoral candidate Fred Shields said the borough can do better than it has done under recent leadership.

Shields, 50, is trying for a second term as the borough’s top elected official. He served a single three-year term as mayor and school board president after being elected in l988. During his term, Shields served as president of the Southeast Conference, a regional business and municipal association. He owns and operates a Fort Seward gift shop.

Shields said he’s tired of seeing the borough waste money. "I feel that we’ve been able to turn a great deal of money into garbage. We spent money on a recreational facility on private land for which we have no authority, and put a great deal of money into a road that benefits few. We were entangled in a totally unnecessary lawsuit that was very wasteful."

He’s critical of the borough assembly’s role in poor relations with the City of Haines. "The borough has reached an apex of antagonism with the city. This is a very bad situation that’s cost all of us money. I feel I can do a better job than this."

Shields said he’s in favor of combining city and borough governments. He said if elected, he’d call a joint meeting of the municipalities to hammer out a compromise consolidation charter. "There are some changes that need to be made."

He said the local economy can best be served by holding the line on property taxes, and using federal Tongass economic recovery funds for economic development rather than balancing the borough budget. He supports tourism planning, and thinks the city and borough should convene a joint tourism planning committee.

Solid waste management planning is far from over, Shields said. "This is where the borough has turned dollars into garbage. First of all, let’s review the study the borough paid $40,000 for, and second, we should move toward implementation."

He said he’s not in favor of municipal takeover of private waste and recycling programs. "I’m not in favor of the municipality doing something private enterprise can do. The borough needs to keep solid waste management active, but taking over solid waste, maybe the time for that hasn’t come yet."

Shields said budget decisions should be made by a committee comprised of assembly and facility representatives. "That committee would create a balanced budget."

He said the school district does a good job of educating most students. "We have students who aren’t served well at both the top and the bottom. We need to find out why, and address that." He said he does not support drug testing for school staff members. "I think we’re hiring professional people and I’m not in favor of drug testing."

Shields said he’ll devote himself to the job. "I promise to spend the time and energy necessary to do not only the local work, in terms of administration and running the finances. I will also represent the borough at the regional and state level. We will participate in Southeast Conference, in regional DOT meetings, and Alaska Marine Highway issues. If it affects the Haines Borough, we will participate."