SITKA, ALASKA
The Long Range Planning and Economic Development Commission had been seeking guidance from the Assembly on its mission. A clearer picture, if you will, of what it should be doing.

And after two lengthy conversations – including one last month that warranted its own special meeting – some members of the commission, and some members of the Assembly, decided it would be best to disband the group.

During that Jan. 18 special meeting, Assembly member Thor Christianson asked members of the commission if they would say the commission needs to continue.

Commission member Dusty Kidd, saying from what he’s seen, the group doesn’t have a clearly defined need or purpose, and doesn't need to continue. Commission member Bob Gorman agreed, and commission member Jonathan Crouch didn’t argue against dissolving the group, but said it was important that the commission’s function – looking long-term at the future of the city – be carried on somehow.

At Tuesday night’s meeting, Christianson and Assembly member Pete Esquiro co-sponsored an ordinance to disband the Long Range Planning and Economic Development Commission.

“We’re wasting their time,” Christianson said. “I don’t have a real strong dog in this fight but I hate wasting their time, I hate wasting our time, and I hate wasting the money that’s involved in it. It’s not a whole lot in the picture of our budget, but it’s some. At least from the tone I got, I don’t think anybody on the commission will be offended by this.”

Deputy Mayor Larry Crews, chairing the meeting in the mayor’s absence, said the commission was a strong and ambitious group but has since lost its purpose.

Assembly member Mim McConnell said she was not in favor of disbanding the group.

“I feel like this is premature,” McConnell said. “I think that we weren’t done discussing this, and there’s another motion that’s going to be coming up at the next Assembly meeting that does put this commission to use, though with a different name.”

McConnell didn’t elaborate on what the motion will entail, except to say that it revolves around planning.
Crews said McConnell’s idea to consider forming a different commission is a good one.

“Because right now,” Crews said, “the only two things I see these people doing is reviewing loans, which is done, what, maybe every one or two years, and then possibly looking at the comprehensive plan, which is not very frequent. We could even do that, just once a year, create a group and say ‘That’s your job for two to three months. Review it, put it together,’ and then they’d end.”

The Comprehensive Plan is a document used to guide Sitka’s long-range goals. Mayor Cheryl Westover, joining the meeting by phone from Juneau, said she thinks the Planning Department has done good work with the comp plan, as it’s known, and that she probably will NOT support the formation of another commission.

The vote was 5 to 1 in favor of disbanding, with McConnell voting no, and Phyllis Hackett absent. The measure will require another reading at the next Assembly meeting on Feb. 22 before it becomes official.
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