SITKA, ALASKA The Sitka assembly is split on whether the referendum process needs to be fixed.
Twice in the last two years citizen initiatives have wound up in court when the municipal attorney found legal deficiencies.
The two court cases have lent to the appearance that local government is unfavorable to citizen initiatives, and to accusations on the editorial pages that the assembly has instructed the attorney – who is their employee – to oppose them.
Concerned over public perception and the amount of money and time spent on legal battles, assembly member Jack Ozment suggested tweaking the process to involve the assembly earlier, and to avoid potential conflict.
Here are some of Ozment’s remarks last night (9-9-08), followed by responses from his fellow assembly members Reber Stein, Nancy Cavanaugh, Marko Dapcevich, Heidi Raffaele, and Cheryl Westover:
© Copyright 1970, Raven Radio Foundation Inc.