You know I’ve been watching and participating in the politics of this town for almost 30 years now and I’m always amazed at how we continue to make the same mistakes over and over. Take last week’s article “Borough staff shakeup: 3 employees to leave, Chief looks to Wrangell.” Other than negotiating with a contracted employee whose contract is up, the article didn’t mention any attempt by the borough to keep the people currently in those positions. The borough manager mentioned “non-competitive” wages as the reason one position hasn’t drawn any interest, and then goes on to say that wages don’t necessarily bring “motivated” individuals. It was the city then and now the Borough who allow good people to leave instead of offering incentives to stay. The end result is a higher wage offered to potential candidates because of the lack of interest and less than competitive wage offer. Our beautiful valley is not going to put food on the table or “motivate” career minded people to settle here. It’s the money, and it will always be the money that attracts qualified candidates to apply and stay. Instead of saying goodbye to qualified people, try saying, what can I do to get you to stay?
Gregory Goodman