Mr. Rozbicki seems to have a somewhat unusual take on fact, logic and a few other things. For the record what we are talking about is public financing of private business – not about whether advertising works or how tourism fits into our overall economy. In other words, not whether I put gas into my car, but whether I should have to pay to put gas into yours. But if you really do want to talk about the overall impact of tourism, fine. That would put all aspects on the table, like how residents feel about having their waterfront turned in a parking lot decorated with a big white toilet. How jetboats impact another part of Haines’ “very lifeblood.” How helicopters impact the upper valley residents. What’s going to happen when Peak Oil really kicks in? Stuff like that. Not to mention how that survey says only 15 percents of Haines people “make most of their money from tourism.” Kind of interesting, don’t you think, when we’ve put so much money into it for 25 years? And are supposed to put more?
But all this isn’t what I was talking about, you note. Only about whether all of us should have to pay to promote the business of a few. We don’t pay to promote Haines fishermen, do we? They pay their own way, like the rest of us. My personal life? Gee, Ned, I never knew you cared.
Sally McGuire