Since I wrote my piece comparing a lease to sharecropping, I have received quite a bit of feedback. I regret getting involved in a dispute between two parties who were not seeking resolution but dissolution of their business relationship. I was unaware of the tenant’s past-due rent, and I should have reached out to the landlord before writing what I did. For this, I am sorry.

I still believe that tenants should advocate for their best-case scenarios in their leases, and if you don’t know what that is, consult a lawyer. I hired Andrew Juneau from Faulkner Banfield in Juneau. 

I was wearing my chef hat when I wrote that piece, and now I am eating it. I wasn’t considering my role at the Chamber of Commerce. What I did was a divisive act. While I thought I was defending a chamber member, I should have looked at the full picture first. When a restaurant struggles, it is usually because of multiple compounding issues, not one.

It is important to help each other in a small community, but boundaries matter. Our most meaningful impact comes from our daily work and how we show up for people. We live in expensive, stressful times — especially in rural Alaska — and it is easy to lay blame. It is harder to work together. I’ve always preferred the hard way, and I am sorry that my anger got the best of me.

Travis Kukull