More than 50 people attended an assembly candidate forum at the Chilkat Center on Tuesday evening where four candidates running for two open seats outlined their positions on current Haines issues.
Chilkat Valley News and KHNS hosted the event. CVN publisher Kyle Clayton and KHNS reporter Henry Leasia moderated the forum. They asked candidates nine questions, followed by a specific question for each of them. For the first time in three forums, candidates Sean Maidy, Barbara Mulford, Paul Rogers, and Will Prisciandaro all attended at the same time.
The moderators asked questions about the University of Alaska’s timber sale, the election versus appointment of board and commission members, policing outside the townsite, taxes, the borough budget and individual questions based on previous statements.
All of the candidates wanted to keep the borough’s appointment process, rather than electing advisory board members.
Leasia asked candidates what the assembly’s response should be to the University of Alaska plans to harvest its timber holdings.
Mulford said, “I feel that if the university comes forth with a plan to develop their own property under that land use zone that the university should be allowed to do so.”
Rogers agreed with Mulford, and said that the sale of timber to fund higher education “is an essential service that’s provided.” There may be town members opposed to the timber sales, Rogers said, but it’s the university’s property and “I think that they should be able to do what they wish to do with it.”
Prisciandaro agreed selling the land is the university’s right, but “[the university] need[s] to take into account the stakeholders in this valley and how they are affected by land sale.”
Prisciandaro said a better idea would be to draw up a negotiation with the university that considers those stakeholders and “better suits the way this valley wants to remain.”
Maidy said the assembly needs to be more professional in their business dealings. “I think that taking an adversarial tone and being full of conflict before we really have any of the information provided, it’s shooting us in the foot,” he said. If citizens are adamantly opposed to timber sales, Maidy said the focus needs to instead be on changing the law.
At the Mosquito Lake forum, Maidy said he’d talked to “every decision maker” about getting a state trooper back in Haines. Leasia asked Maidy, “Who have you spoken with, and do you think one assembly member lobbying with decision makers is effective?”
“I don’t have the list,” Maidy said. “I’ve spoken to the troopers- the former guy in charge and the new guy in charge, I’ve talked to the deputy commissioner, I’ve talked to the former chair of the Public Safety commissioner, the AVA, I believe it was…” he said. Maidy said he thinks one assembly member lobbying for something does make a difference, and that even one citizen lobbying for something makes a difference.
Prisciandaro answered a question about where he’d like to see slow and steady economic growth in Haines, as he mentioned in a previous forum.
He said there is growth potential in areas like telecommunicating, tourism, and the fishing industry. “These are all low impact, they bring people in, but … they would increase the town’s tax base,…without crushing us, with a whole lot of people at once,” he said.
Clayton asked Rogers about his statement that, “it’s important to stand guard over the constant expansion of government. “In what ways has the Haines Borough expanded that you find inappropriate?” Clayton asked.
“I think that the borough often looks at expanding regulations-and the solid waste management plan is an example of that- where they had a tax proposal but they didn’t really have a plan,” Rogers said. “I would much rather see them develop a plan that takes into consideration what businesses are already available in the town before they try to force something on people in the town.”
Mulford, who said in a previous forum that her personal opinion on Tier 3 is unimportant as a prospective borough assembly member, and that she would vote based on what the majority of the community wants, was asked how she quantifies support and if she’ll use that method to vote on other important issues.
“They’re doing it right now with the expanding police force,” Mulford said. She said that despite opposition at Mosquito lake, assembly members still chose to put expanding police force on the ballot. As for Tier 3, Muldford said that it doesn’t yet have the nomination process to be vetted. “Of course I want to protect our waters, but I don’t live on the Chilkat… I don’t have stock in a mine, and I truly truly feel that I don’t have an opinion on it,” Mulford said. “I’m probably one of the most neutral people around and I want to hear from the community.”
Elections will be held on Oct. 2. Look for the CVN candidate interview spread on page 6 for a more thorough breakdown of their positions on issues.