SITKA, ALASKA
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Westover and Stein appeared at ease with each other, and with the roughly seventy-five members of the audience, but they didn’t hesitate to explain how they would govern differently, if elected to lead Sitka’s assembly next week.
Stein, who served two terms as mayor of Wasilla, said he supported a zero-based budget.
“It’s a responsible thing to have each department – who know their business – come forward and present a budget on actual stuff. Not just increasing their bottom line by a certain percentage. Defer expenses: If there’s things we can defer to next year or later on without significant consequences, we should do that. I don’t think we’d defer roofs because we had bad luck when we lost the floor and the gym for the school district on Etolin Street. That was sad. Take care of the things we need to take care of, and the things that might be deferred, that’s a strategy.”
Stein also suggested that the city could look for ways to privatize some services – and some responsibilities, such as local criminal prosecution — to the state.
Cheryl Westover, on the other hand, said she doesn’t want to see assembly input into the budget until it is presented by city staff. The one-and-a-half term assembly member favors ratcheting down the size of city staff, when possible.
“I believe attrition is good for the city, then we don’t have to lay anybody off. I also think we should have a hiring freeze. So if we need positions, we better look to where not to be hiring another position. I mean, let’s quit spending money that we won’t have in about two years.”
Westover and Stein are known to be at opposite ends of the Hames Wellness Center issue. Westover has been an outspoken opponent of the proposal to purchase the former Sheldon Jackson PE facility; Stein is a member of the task force formed to save it. Westover told the chamber that “no price was good” for the purchase of the building. Stein thought it was a good deal, and important infrastructure for the city akin to the library or Moller Field. Both candidates agreed on the importance of a multi-purpose dock at Sawmill Cove.
Westover has also opposed increasing the city’s local contribution to the public schools in the last budget cycle. She sees advantages in relocating Pacific High to the Southeast Alaska Career Center.
“If this building isn’t going to get used much, why don’t we take these kids from Pacific High and give them a lot more self-esteem and move them next door? Whether the historical society wants (the old Pacific High) building, that building is prime property for any business. That’s the way you cut expenses: You maybe cut down on your kingdoms and queendoms, but you don’t cut down on education.”
Stein didn’t comment directly on the Pacific High issue. He told the chamber that he views the district as a financial asset to the community.
“Schools I think are a net income producer for the community because of the formula support for schools. So having a solid school district makes sense for the community because a great portion of their expenses are paid by the state of Alaska through school funding. However, I came from an area where the student-teacher ratio was like twenty-five or thirty to one. And ours is about thirteen. That’s a hard question.”
Stein also thought Sitka’s schools might have “too much real estate.”
The final question posed by chamber president and moderator Cory Baggen was meant to address the perception that the current assembly is anti-business: How would you create a more business-friendly environment in Sitka?
Westover, a retail employee, deflected criticism that the assembly was anti-business. She proposed an expanded role for the vistor’s bureau.
“I think we need to have the funding for them each year so they know the amount their getting. And then we could say ‘Don’t just market Sitka, but help our businesses market themselves as well.”
Westover proposed establishing annual funding for the SCVB by ordinance. Stein’s ideas for helping business involved broader policy.
“I think the public’s business in supporting private enterprise is the infrastructure that it takes to keep everything going. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, your municipal employees are on duty keeping the lights on, the roads open, the water under pressure, keeping the sewage system operating, the police on the street, the fire department ready to respond, search and rescue ready to go out in the woods – that’s what I think makes Sitka a great opportunity for investors. We have the infrastructure to keep things going.”
The chamber forum was the final public arena for the candidates to meet in this year’s election cycle. The polls will open in Sitka next Tuesday, Oct 5th.
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