The initiative on the local ballot is about your values and rights.
If you value subsistence fishing holes and feel a better design that would allow some curves and a 50 mph speed limit up the Chilkat Valley, rather than a straight highway with a 55-mph speed limit, should be considered before filling rivers and wetlands in the Chilkat River, you should vote “yes.”
If you value healthy watersheds and wild fish stocks in Chilkoot more than roads, helicopter landing pads, and tons of fill and concrete up Chilkoot in salmon spawning habitat (for the questionable benefit of Canada) and feel the Borough Assembly should ask you first before jumping into that boondoggle, you should vote “yes.”
If you value healthy salmon, halibut, shrimp, and crab in your harbors and in your freezer more than acid drainage from mine waste, you should vote “yes.”
If you think the Borough Assembly should ask the people before planning a railroad up the Chilkat Valley, you should vote “yes.”
If you believe the voices of people should have a fighting chance against power that comes with the money of big industry, you should vote “yes.”
If you live here and want a say in the future of your community, you should vote “yes.”
Only you can stand up for your constitutional rights. Voting “yes” on the referendum is a great first step in letting your government know that you believe the rights, voices, and opinions of the people who live here come first.
Kathleen Menke