As residents of Haines Borough we rely on our local officials to seek out and support opportunities that maintain and enhance our quality of life.
Our power source in Haines is reliant on a submarine cable that supplies electricity from Skagway. The fact is that one day the submarine cable will fail. Proper planning for the future cable failure brings to focus that the most important issue facing our borough today is the need to secure the Connelly Lake Hydropower Project so that we have clean, reliable, sufficient and affordable energy for our valley. Without this issue being addressed all other conversations about the sustainability of our valley are invalid.
The residents of the community need to continually remind our assembly members that they represent us. The needs of the people of the valley must remain in focus with every decision that is made. In the past two years, it appears that some of our assembly members have lost perspective of the fact that they are public servants and represent all the people of the valley.
In order for our form of representative democracy to work it is necessary for the public to stay engaged in the process. Residents that fail to stay engaged during local elections risk being represented by public servants that literally and figuratively turn their backs on public input and the public’s best interests. As citizens, voters and taxpayers, we must call for more from our elected officials. Voice your opinion by voting on October 4th.
Brenda Jones