Last week’s CVN insert about next week’s election deserves a factual response.
The insert implied that folks who don’t live here year-round shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Part-time residents and snow-birds of all political persuasions are allowed to vote in Haines’ elections; it’s the law.
The current assembly allegedly failed on tax issues, even though they fired the previous assessor and hired new people who lowered assessments borough-wide. It was stated we are involved in multiple lawsuits when in fact there are no lawsuits filed against the Borough; appeals and requests for mediation are not lawsuits.
The Lutak Dock rebuild stalled because of illegal steel purchases, false statements, a lack of timely information from staff, and no business plan for paying back the local investment of millions of dollars required to get the federal grant. There might have been one code violation, when staff convinced the assembly to pass a questionable motion to revoke a conditional use permit that should never have been approved in the first place.
Asking borough staff reasonable questions and expecting honest and complete answers isn’t being rude, it’s the assembly’s sworn responsibility. I do not believe the people who created so many of our current challenges while on the assembly and planning commission in previous years will be able and willing to solve those problems now if returned to elected office.
Gershon Cohen