The Monthly Grind is back for its 32nd season. Jeff Budd and Rick Fleischman join KCAW to chat about upcoming themes — from maritime to Motown — and stories from seasons past. Tickets for the volunteer-run community concerts are available at Old Harbor Books. The first grind is Saturday, Oct. 3., at 7 p.m. at Sheet’ká Ḵwáan Naa Kahídi Community House. Listen to the conversation here:

Next week, the Sitka Maritime Heritage Society is hosting the world premiere of “Vanished World: People and Places of Southeast Alaska in the 1980’s,” featuring photography by Matt Donohoe.

Donohoe, along with Keith Nyitray and Rebecca Paulson joined KCAW to discuss the film, which premieres Monday, September 28 at 7 p.m. at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Listen here:

“This one’s a hard one because we also like Harbor Brewing Company a lot, and it was an unfair position to be put in. That being said, I’m here tonight to stand up for my business and for my twenty-some employees that I employ all year round,” she said. “Approximately 70% of our sales are food. We are not proposing to build a food program around a beer and wine license. You know the reason why we want this license is because we need to continually add to our business in order to provide the employment that our staff needs.” 

This would be Highliner’s first and only license to serve alcohol. The brewery already has licenses to serve beer and wine, but a restaurant license would offer the business more flexibility in its serving limits and operating hours. 

Emerald Hagy is the brewery’s assistant general manager. While she said the assembly should approve both applications, she said giving AMCO local perspective is crucial. Otherwise the decision could be left up to chance, like when the brewery was competing for the community’s lone distillery license last year. She said at that time the board “explicitly expressed frustrations with the lack of weigh-in from the local governing body.”

“The decision ultimately came from drawing a name out of a dirty coffee mug,” she said. “This was disheartening, not because our name wasn’t chosen, but because our elected officials had failed to advocate in any fashion what was in the best interest of the community and allowed that decision to fall to the state.”

While state law allows the local assembly to express a preference for one applicant over the other, city staff recommended the assembly approve both businesses for AMCO’s consideration. Municipal attorney Rachel Jones said if the assembly did want to recommend one business over the other, it had to be intentional. The assembly could only weigh things like sales tax records, the number of jobs the business provides, or public safety as factors when making its decision. 

“If you make any recommendations-based public policy, it can’t be arbitrary and capricious, which would be personally liking one business more than the other, or ‘I go to this one more often. My kids like that one the best.’ That’s personal reasons, that’s not public interest reasons,” she said. “You would be wanting to distinguish between applicants on the basis of things you, as the governing body, have authority over.” 

That put the assembly in a tough spot. With friends involved in both businesses, Chris Ystad recused himself. And Scott Saline said they should just ask for more licenses.

“We should make a motion right now and tell AMCO, ‘Hey, you dudes are creating a division in our town. We’re trying to keep it together as it is. We need more,'” Saline said. “Anybody want to back me up that we vote on this right now and just get onto the next thing?” 

Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said they could ask for more licenses, but the question would need to return to the group for consideration at a future meeting. He and other assembly members, including Kevin Mosher, agreed that approving both was the right move. 

“Both businesses are great and worthy businesses,” Mosher said “But I will point out that AMCO…they’re involved with alcohol all the time. We’re not. I know we have the right, but I do feel uncomfortable just trying to pick one over the other. So I would prefer to stick with the staff and forward it on as is.” 

The group briefly considered a proposal to table the item, but ultimately voted 6-0 to approve both applications, sending them to the AMCO board for a final decision at its November meeting. 

Mt. Edgecumbe Preschool is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and raising $50,000 to support the community’s first formal pre-school and early childhood program. Erica Knox and Holly Marban joined students Ryan and Olivia, and alumnus Anya on KCAW’s Morning Interview to discuss the school’s current programs and plans to celebrate its history. Listen to the conversation here:

Donations to Mt. Edgecumbe Preschool are tax-deductible and can be made by check or online. Reach staff at 907-966-2675 with questions.

In the past year, Sitka gained 150 new jobs and $37 million dollars in wages. When Meilani Schijvens of Rain Coast Data presented her annual update on behalf of the Sitka Economic Development Association, “The State of Sitka’s Economy,” she said it’s a new record. 

“I have a question mark on this slide, but I’m going to say this with absolutely zero question mark. You are at your peak jobs ever in the history of Sitka,” she said. “You have more jobs now than you have ever had before.”

Schijvens said jobs are up across many sectors this year, including seafood, healthcare and tourism, the three industries that make up half of Sitka’s economy. 

She said wages are up and rising at a rate faster than inflation, which is good for workers, and the community’s housing supply has increased. And it’s not the only thing that’s up. 

“I often will have good news about Sitka, and then I have to tell you your population is down, but not this year. This year your population is up by 10 new residents,” she said. “It’s the third time that’s happened in a dozen years. So it’s a small number, but I’m very happy to be reporting it to you.”

Still, Sitka is not immune to the region’s larger population trends. Schijvens said in about the last decade, Sitka has lost over 875 residents of “prime workforce” age and nearly 600 kids [590], while gaining almost 400 [380] senior citizens as Sitkans age in place. She said those demographic shifts have put pressure on the workforce. 

“So altogether, we’ve lost 975 residents, nearly 1000 residents, but we’ve gained 270 jobs. So there’s jobs, but it’s really tough to find people to fill those jobs, and so that’s why those wages are going up at a faster rate than inflation,” she said.

So what do you do when you’re losing people and adding jobs? Hire from outside. Not counting self-employed Sitkans or Coast Guard, Schijvens said about 40% of Sitka’s wage-earning workforce are non-residents. They only earn about 16 percent of the total workforce earnings, but also put pressure on the housing market. 

Housing access is a concern across Southeast, but Sitka is adding more supply to the pool than other communities. Schijvens lauded the community for developing over 400 new housing units in the past 15 years.

“I’m assuming a lot of these are snowbirds. I’m assuming some of them are vacation homes,” she said.”

However, she said the number of vacant homes has increased by nearly the same amount. While she said the American Community Survey data should be taken with a grain of salt because they don’t actually survey that many respondents, she pointed to Sitka’s property tax rate as a possible incentive for the trend.  

“You’ve got a just a much lower mill rate when we compare it to other communities. Six points compared, you know, Valdez is 20,” she said. “It almost incentivizes people to have a home here and then have a home someplace else as well.” 

Still, Schijvens said in a recent business survey, Sitka earned the best quality of life rating of any community in Southeast Alaska and a majority of business leaders felt the economy was either “good” or “very good.” 

After her presentation, Schijvens took some time to answer questions from the audience. The city’s Planning and Community Development Director Amy Ainslie asked if Schijvens had a more detailed wage and earnings breakdown to better understand how money is moving through the community.

“In local government we’re hearing from citizens a lot about economic stress in this time, and at the same time, we hear these kinds of presentations that jobs are up and wages are up, and the economy has a really bright outlook,” Ainslie said. “I’m wondering if we have a better sense of how those wages and earnings are getting distributed…throughout our economy, and to see you know what percentage of our households are not experiencing the kinds of gains that the economy is overall.”

Pat Alexander felt the data didn’t reflect many Sitkans’ experiences.

“You know, as I watched your presentation, I wondered, ‘Where is this magical place? I want to live there. I want to move there,'” she said. “But do you ever include any reality from the people who live in the place about what their perspective is?” 

Schijvens agreed that the business indicators don’t necessarily paint the full picture.  It doesn’t really factor in affordability, which she says is key to Sitka’s outmigration. 

“People are struggling in this community, absolutely,” she said. “There’s that divide between economics, between how the overall economy is doing and then the household economy, how how individuals and people are doing.” 

Schijvens acknowledged that while those experiences weren’t a part of her presentation, they are part of the fabric of Sitka. “It’s a good point,” she said. 

Finding housing in Sitka is tough. There aren’t enough affordable units, the seasonal nature of the community limits the availability of year-round housing, and there really isn’t that much buildable land between where the ocean ends and the mountains begin. But a lot of folks have empty backyards. 

That’s where Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs come in. ADUs are essentially smaller, detached units on the same lot as a larger home. At a Sitka Assembly meeting on September 22, Assembly Member Katie Riley said they’re one part of the solution to Sitka’s housing shortage.

“We’ve talked a lot about the housing shortage here in this body, and this is definitely not a silver bullet that’s going to solve it,” she said. “But it is a way to create more affordable and accessible housing on already developed land.”

Riley has been working with the Planning Commission for months on an ordinance that would make them easier to build. Housing advocates in Sitka have long said that local ADU regulations are a barrier to development. 

Under current code, a proposed ADU must meet 14 separate requirements. And if any one requirement can’t be met, the applicant has to get a Conditional Use Permit — a process that requires a public hearing before the Planning Commission.

“That whole process can take up to five or more weeks,” Riley said. “This will create the opportunity for many more property owners to be able to build [ADUs] outright, given that they meet all of the existing conditions.”

The code change would cut the requirements from 14 down to 8. It would also create a clearer pathway to construct an ADU first, so the owner has a more affordable landing pad while they build a primary residence, and would allow the owner to use an ADU as a short-term rental for a time to recoup some of their initial building costs. 

Assembly Member Thor Christianson said he’s optimistic that the changes will make a real difference for Sitkans and help with some of the community’s housing issues.

“I’ve often said that we’re not going to fix our housing issues in one big fell swoop. We have to nibble at it from the edges,” he sais. “This is more than a nibble, it’s a bite. It’s definitely a move in the right direction.”

Ultimately, assembly members voted unanimously in favor of the changes, on first reading. If they give final approval, Sitka will join other Southeast communities like Ketchikan and Juneau in taking steps to encourage building ADUs. Juneau currently offers nearly $14,000 to homeowners seeking to develop them on their properties.

The assembly will review the ordinance for a final time at its next meeting in early October.

The Sitka Assembly will offer the municipal administrator job to Gerrie Cotter. At its meeting on Tuesday, it directed city staff to negotiate an employment contract and terms with Cotter following an executive session.

Cotter was the lone finalist for the city’s top job. She currently works as the administrator of Perry Township in Ohio, and visited Sitka last week to meet with locals following two public interviews with the assembly. 

For months, the assembly has been seeking a replacement for current Municipal Administrator John Leach, who is stepping down from the position in mid-December. A previous finalist, Jenny Alber, withdrew from consideration in July. 

The position is advertised at $200,000, and is open until filled.

The basketball court at the Hames Center in Sitka is closed for renovations that started earlier this month. 

Paige Craig, the local gym’s manager, said part of the court flooded in 2011, leaving the floor’s surface uneven. Community members were able to smooth out some of the ripples in the court, but it was a temporary fix. 

“That work was done completely by volunteers in 2011, and then since then the full repairs were never made. So we’re finally looking to do that,” Craig said.

Renovations are being done by a Washington-based contractor and his son. First, they got rid of the bleachers. About a quarter of the court near the front entry will be completely removed and replaced. The rest will be sanded and refinished, and new game lines will be painted.

“The renovations itself will definitely take the full month of September, possibly a little longer, and then we need that fresh finish to dry, and that’ll take an additional couple weeks,” Craig said.

Craig doesn’t have an exact date, but said gym members can expect the court to be fully reopened in early November.

“Whether you want to play basketball or volleyball or pickleball, we just want this to be a super nice court for the community like it was originally intended to be in 1987,” she said.

Craig said the renovation will cost around $50,000. She said the restoration is long overdue, and hopes Sitkans will enjoy the improvements. 

This year, voters will decide a three-way race for mayor, and choose two new assembly members and three school board members. This year’s ballot also includes one proposition. Voters will be asked whether to update the city’s charter to adjust the triggers for a special election. 

Currently, if a citizen petition gets enough signatures, it will require a mandatory special election. That’s how Small Town Soul’s citizen initiative to limit cruise visitation went to a special election in May of 2025.

“That was the first time that this provision of the charter had ever been triggered, and I had several questions from the public,” Municipal Clerk Sara Peterson said in an interview on September 18. “I got questions from the assembly. People wanted to know how much a special election is, and so I decided to to to bring the topic forward to the assembly and ultimately the voters.” 

Peterson said the new charter language would align with state law and how most other municipalities handle special elections. If voters approve the amendment, it would change how citizen initiatives are handled in the future.  

“If the amendment passes, then the initiative or referendum would be placed on that upcoming October ballot,” she said. “And at the same time, when I notify the assembly and say, ‘Hey, we got this. It’s going to go on the October ballot unless the assembly wants to hold a special election before then on the motion.'”

Early, in-person voting is available at Harrigan Centennial Hall on weekdays from 8:30-4:30 and Sundays from 9 a.m. to noon through October 5. Sitka’s municipal election is Tuesday, October 6. 

KCAW partnered with the Daily Sitka Sentinel this year to produce our election hub, which is now live. There, you’ll find early and absentee voting information, candidates interviews, questionnaires, and forum audio. 

The community is welcome to tour Pacific High School’s garden, greenhouse, and the recently completed learning shelter made from young-growth timber from the Tongass. PHS Principal Matt Groen, PHS Garden Coordinator Andrea Fraga, and Sitka Conversation Society Community Catalyst Chandler O’Connell join KCAW to talk about what’s in store for the celebration this Friday, Sept. 25, from 4 to 6 p.m. Listen to the conversation here: