When Rachel Saitzyk ran her first successful campaign for planning commission in 2023, she wanted to learn more about the inner workings of the Haines borough. 

She joined the planning commission with a cohort of newly elected members who did not have much experience with the ins and outs of the Title 18 — Haines land use and planning code. The group was later joined by longtime local politician Jerry Lapp, so they got an infusion of experience. 

But still, Saitzyk said there was a learning curve. 

“It has taken probably a year and a half out of the last two years for me to have a grip on what it takes to do a good job and how much time it’s going to take, and how to use code to come up with a plan,” she said. 

Now that she knows how the decision-making works, Saitzyk said she’d like a second term applying some of the lessons she learned during her first. 

“I feel like I have enough of a grip on what it looks like to be a planning commissioner to now be able to use those tools effectively,” she said. “I’ve had enough time to … know more about what is important to our community and what sorts of things are likely to gain traction with the population.”

When asked how she found her way to the Chilkat Valley, Saitzyk jokes that she started flirting with Haines in 2014 and moved here full-time in 2018. 

She works as a professional massage therapist and jumped at the chance to share a workspace with physical therapist Marnie Hartman. 

“I got to move here and get the chance to grow professionally, which does not happen that often.”

She filled her time hiking, trail running, backcountry skiing, swimming, fishing and enjoying the landscape. 

Then, she started attending borough meetings in 2022, making a habit of reading agendas and keeping up with borough business. 

“When I started going to meetings, I realized that it was largely just me there representing the things that I cared about and that the assembly members and planning commissioners needed my support and my input,” she said. 

That motivated her to run for planning commission the following year. 

Once elected, there were some other surprises. Saitzyk said her expectation was that the commission would have the time to do two or three proactive projects a year, tackling things like housing and tourism.

“I would say most months, preparing for a meeting, going over the packet, and researching in code and maybe doing site visits and prep takes about eight-ish hours on average,” she said. “The amount of energy that it takes and the amount of research that it takes and amount of data — it’s not just a matter of presenting a good idea.”

Saitzyk said her priority as a planner has been to make plans successful for the highest number of people. 

She points to a background in philosophy as fueling her ability and drive to apply code fairly and interpret it well, regardless of her personal feelings on any given issue. 

“My intention is to judge — basically the semi-judicial issues — objectively, recognizing that code is, to some degree, open to interpretation,” she said. “To use it in a uniform way so that things are fair.” 

Looking ahead, Saitzyk said it would be ideal for the borough to address disjointed communication between the borough and the local tribal governments by hiring a liaison, particularly because some projects that come before the planning commission, like the brownfield remediation at 28-mile, need clear, consistent communication between both to weigh solutions effectively.  

And, while it hasn’t been a priority for the commission, she’d like to see more planning for the waterfront and coming up with an aesthetics plan that considers how it impacts tourists’ experience.   

She has also been taking steps on a passion project, which is working to turn Haines into a Dark Sky City: a designation that uses outdoor lighting codes to avoid light pollution and allow people to see the night sky. 

“To me, it’s important for our tourism economy,” she said. “We have a surprising amount of light pollution in town, and we’re in a very remote location. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to see the incredible night sky on the nights that it happens to be clear. It would be great to go out for a walk and to be able to see the aurora on those nights.