I am very disappointed in the Haines Borough government because of the actions they have taken to rush through and pass the minor offense violation Ordinance No. 15-06-413 (MOV) without due process of law. The MOV contains violations of our U.S. Constitution and violations of our Alaska State Constitution.
In researching how other communities in Alaska have dealt with the MOV issue, I contacted the clerk of the municipality of Skagway, Ms. Emily Deach, and asked how Skagway is dealing with this issue.
Ms. Deach replied: “We have worked slowly throughout the last year to move all fines for violations of municipal code to civil fines, so the citations would stay in the municipal realm and not go to the court system… Generally we needed to reduce the fines to process them locally instead of through the court system, as higher fines are subject to a requirement that the municipality provide a public defender for the violator.”
The Municipality of Skagway gets over 900,000 visitors annually and has a summertime population of approximately 2,000 people. Only the four police officers and one public safety officer can write citations.
Skagway has handled this issue by dealing with it in the municipal realm. We can do the same thing in Haines and maintain home rule government.
Please contact your assembly members and ask them to not pass the MOV.
Paul Nelson