According to merriam-webster.com, the definition of “emergency” is “an unexpected and usually dangerous situation that calls for immediate action.” The Haines Borough is unaware of this definition.
This definition does not provide for subversion of the public process. The definition calls for a “usually dangerous situation” to exist. Clearly, the people of the Haines Borough need to define the term emergency for the borough, because the borough cannot be trusted to use emergency powers.
Last time emergency powers were used it was because the weather was “unusually good;” the Haines Borough used emergency power to bypass the existing public process concerning heli-skiing days. This time the borough somehow thinks that because the person that the borough had “set up” for the job declined the job, it is an emergency.
Nothing could be further from the truth. It is not an emergency when a recently created position is declined by the first candidate offered the position. There is no dangerous situation created. There is no public emergency. It is not an emergency when a position that never existed before goes unfilled after one person declines the position.
It is not even clear that economic development is the responsibility of the borough. The borough should instead concentrate on the clear responsibilities it already has: basic police, fire, road maintenance, etc. The borough should not waste tax dollars on economic development, until such time as the basic services are all operating correctly. Like the sewer treatment plant! Fix that, please!
Fred Einspruch