“I feel like it is morphed into a cruise ship passenger support system.” Christianson said. “Some of it is dual use, but mostly it’s for cruise ship passengers and this isn’t cruise ship passenger money. This is ‘independent traveler’ money.”

Much of the funding for those services comes from the city’s bed tax, which is collected from travelers staying at hotels or other short-term lodging in Sitka.

Assembly member Tim Pike agreed with Christianson that the contract between the Chamber of Commerce and the city needed to be revisited. However, Pike said they’d agreed to fund the contract for visitor services through the fiscal year, and that’s what this vote was about. 

“What you’re saying is absolutely correct. Now is the moment where we should start talking about this. But I think it’s all in laying out what we are going to ask for when we are offering RFP,” Pike said. “This is what we’ve already agreed to do with this group,” Pike added. “This gets them through the end of their contract.” 

Ultimately the assembly approved the item 5-1 on second reading with Christianson opposed. 

A famously dark and wet holiday in Sitka, Halloween dressed up as a beautiful, sunny day on October 31, 2022. Hundreds of trick-or-treaters took advantage of the clear skies to roam down Lincoln Street, collecting candy from downtown businesses participating in the Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event.

School board candidates Amy Morrison and Todd Gebler answered questions from the Sitka Chamber of Commerce in a 35-minute lunchtime forum on September 29, 2021. Sitka’s municipal clerk and elections supervisor Sara Peterson outlined the early voting process.

Many small businesses in Alaska rely on summer tourism to get through the winter. But after a season of cancelled cruise ships and low visitation, retailers in Sitka are turning to holiday sales from local customers to help them make it through.

It’s 2:00 in the afternoon on Black Friday, and downtown Sitka is hopping. Masked shoppers dance awkwardly around each other inside small storefronts. They’re taking advantage of the first of two city-sponsored tax-free days, meant to encourage residents to shop locally this holiday season.

“It’s been very busy,” says Mary Majeski, who runs The Totem, a gift and fabric shop. Retailers along Lincoln Street echo Majeski’s sentiment, including Jill Scheidt, who owns the quilting shop Abby’s Reflection.

“We’ve had constant traffic,” she says. “I got here a little early, and we even had people pulling on the door before we were open.”

It’s a welcome rainstorm of shoppers after a months-long drought brought on by the pandemic. Sitka did get some tourism this summer from independent travelers and in-state visitors, but achingly absent were the 200,000 plus people projected to disembark from cruise ships, ready to purchase souvenirs. 

For artist Elizabeth Faulkner and other members of the Island Artists Gallery, the summer is when they make the bulk of their income. 

“Probably four months out of the year we don’t make our rent — each individual artist. Then, four months of the year we make a little extra, and then four months out of the year, in the summer, we do six to eight times over,” she says.

This year, sales were down about 85 percent, Faulkner says, but so far, only one couple has left the cooperative because they couldn’t make their rent. 

The gallery has adapted to survive by turning down the heat and relying on volunteers to run it instead of a paid staff member. The business also received CARES Act funds to set up a website for online sales. And like many local businesses, they’re hoping Sitkans choose to shop local over the holidays instead of turning to big online retailers like Amazon. 

“Events like today are making it so that we can get our rent paid,” she says. “And then we’re looking into what 2021’s gonna bring and feeling confident that we can creatively figure out ways to be here and support ourselves as artists.”

What the 2021 season will look like is still a mystery. Chamber of Commerce executive director Rachel Roy says the Chamber is working with the state and cruise ship industry to create protocols that could make a 2021 season possible. But much of it is out of their hands. They’re also marketing to independent travelers, and asking locals to help keep their main street alive.

“I think it comes down to the heart of supporting each other in our community and getting us all through this,” Roy said in a phone interview. “I don’t want to see my neighbor having to move out of their home because they lost in their business.”

A few businesses will close up shop when their leases are set to renew in January, Roy said, but for the most part, downtown businesses are hanging on by being adaptable and creative. For Sitkans who are concerned they’ll risk virus exposure by shopping downtown, many businesses have provided their virtual options in one place for the Virtual Sitka Art Walk happening this month.

“I know that many folks are really trying to put a strong effort into making those sales and being available to customers in all those different ways,” Roy said. “You know, a phone call, or a delivery or an online sale, all of those different options so that they can sell the items that they have here on hand.”

Business owners like Jill Scheidt, who owns the quilt shop, say they’ve even had business coming in online from people out of state. Right now, her online sales are supporting her brick and mortar location, which is the opposite of normal.

“The internet sales have been just crazy. You know because people all over the United States have been stuck home and they start thinking, well we were gonna go to Alaska, let’s see what’s there, oh a quilt shop,” she says. “And so I’ve had lots of really strong internet orders on my website.”

Sheidt’s also had a bump in sales from local crafters who are stuck at home and from people buying fabric for mask masking. But it doesn’t make up for the losses she had this summer. She’s hoping tourism will return next year in full force, but that’s still uncertain.

“I just don’t want to live in a world where everything you buy has to be online,” Scheidt says.

“We don’t want to lose our main street.”

Erin McKinstry is a Report for America corps member.

Mayor candidates (l. to r.) Aaron Bean, Ben Miyasato, and Gary Paxton field questions from a full house at the Sitka Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday (9-26-18). Alana Peterson is moderator. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

Sitka’s three candidates for mayor met in a final campaign event before next Tuesday’s municipal election.

Aaron Bean, Ben Miyasato, and Gary Paxton answered questions in a forum held by the Sitka Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday (9-26-18).

For many voters, choosing Sitka’s mayor may come down to a candidate’s age, philosophy, or opinion about salmon habitat.

Downloadable audio.

Listen to the entire September 26 Mayoral Candidate Forum before the Sitka Chamber of Commerce. For more election coverage, visit the 2018 Sitka Election Hub, where you’ll find all the candidate forums, profiles of each candidate and what they stand for, and voter information for next Tuesday’s municipal election.

On most issues the candidates were in agreement: Sitka needs to incentivize business development, open up land for housing, and rein in spending in order to keep user fees — like moorage and electrical rates — down.

39-year old Aaron Bean currently holds a seat on the assembly. Bean says that if he’s elected to the mayor’s chair, it will be a chance for the assembly to shift polarity, and do things differently than it does now.

“I will run the meetings a little differently,” said Bean. “I will have an agenda, and my agenda is to grow the tax base here in Sitka. We to be inviting new families, and using the resources that we have and the land that we’re not now, and I’m going to charge staff with that. If I’m elected mayor, some of the first things that I’ll be doing is sitting down with department heads and the administrator hopefully and ironing out some of the disconnects within the department.”

If he fails to win the mayor’s seat, Bean will remain on the assembly, with another year left in his term.

Winning the mayor’s chair for Ben Miyasato, however, is a case of all-or-nothing. The 54-year old’s assembly seat expires with this election. Miyasato has served concurrently on both the Sitka Tribal Council and the Sitka Assembly and is no stranger to governance. Given the number of difficult decisions the assembly has made recently, he emphasized that his strength was keeping engaged with the public through hard times.

“How you set the tone really does matter to the public,” Miyasato explained. “And this is one right now where there is a lot of dissatisfaction with the decisions we’ve been making. None of them are easy. That’s something that I’m hoping the public understands, that the decisions we make are not taken lightly. There’s a lot of thought put into them, and I think as mayor I definitely have the ability to listen to everyone. I’m approachable.”

All three candidates are lifelong Sitkans, but at 79, Gary Paxton leads the pack in seniority. Although he’s never been an elected office holder, Paxton served nine years working closely with the Sitka assembly as municipal administrator, and he was the the Southeast regional director for the state Department of Transportation.

His philosophy is simple: Let’s not do more with less, let’s just do less. He believes Sitka’s local government is spending too much. Paxton doesn’t specify how he’ll reverse that, but he believes Sitkans are capable finding solutions together.

“We all love this town,” Paxton said, “and I want to do everything I can with fellow assembly members to bring trust within the assembly, within our city staff, within our community, so that we feel good. We know who we are and where we are, and where we live.”

The only dramatic disagreement between the candidates on issues came on an issue that they’ll have no control over: state ballot proposition 1, or the Yes for Salmon Initiative. Asked by a chamber member how they’ll vote, Bean, a commercial fisherman, said he was undecided. Ben Miyasato was a solid yes. Gary Paxton was a no, saying that Alaska had sufficient regulations on the books already to protect salmon.

Raven Radio’s 2018 Election Hub

Sitka Mayor Matthew Hunter opened the floor for questions and ideas during Wednesday’s Chamber of Commerce luncheon. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Rock quarries. Affordable housing. Sitka’s student population. These were some the fastballs pitched to Mayor Matthew Hunter at the weekly chamber of commerce luncheon on Wednesday (05-10-17), as the group spoke candidly about the city’s problems and possibilities.

Downloadable audio.

Most Chamber of Commerce speakers focus on a single topic. But what if you’re a lifelong Sitkan, taking the pulse from every corner of civic life? If you’re Mayor Matthew Hunter, you open the floor for questions

“I’m just here to answer questions and have a general discussion with anyone who wishes to give ideas for how to make Sitka better in particular,” Hunter said in his opening remarks.

As the crowd of 50 munched on fish tacos, Hunter talked at length about external financial pressures on the city – like the erosion of state dollars and rising cost of health insurance. To maintain the status quo in Sitka, Hunter says, citizens will have dig deeper into their own wallets.

While visiting his girlfriend in Texas, he was amazed that 20% of the hotel bill was from taxes alone. This got him thinking outside the box. “We could use a portion of our bed tax funds to cover Centennial Hall operations or maybe groundskeeping along the Sea Walk or things like that, that could reduce our load on our General Fund that would allow us to swallow more of these health care increases and government cuts,” he said.

Though short in operating dollars, the city has millions in savings. But a lot of that money is earmarked for infrastructure – like re-paving roads and replacing harbors.

Speaking from the audience, Corey Baggen wondered if such a depth of savings was necessary. “When I was a child, we had dirt roads. I didn’t die. I grew up here. Everything was fine. We had people here, a lot of people working. I’m afraid if we don’t bring industry into this community, there’s no point,” Baggen said.

Roger Hames asked if the city was looking into privatizing or contracting out some of its services. Hunter said they had – the scrapyard was recently privatized – and was open to suggestions. He added that he’s as frustrated as anyone with the rise in living expenses and how some young families struggle to make ends meet. “It’s very tough to see other people move elsewhere and to have one of those reasons be financial.”

One benchmark of this is dwindling population in the Sitka School District. Enrollment peaked the same year the pulp mill closed. In 1993, the student population was a little under 1900 students. Now, enrollment hovers just below 1300 students.

It’s a problem the community knows well, but there are solutions being explored – particularly around housing and land development.

Travis Vaughn, owner of RE/MAX Baranof Realty, announced they want to bring a float home to Sitka this summer. The realtor also has the old U.S. Forest Service Building under contract to re-open as an apartment complex. This news seemed to hearten many in the audience, including the mayor.

Crowd: Oh!

Vaughn: We’ve had it under contract for 8 months. We’re going through feasibility studies. We’re getting really close to the project either working or not working.

The cost of re-model is equal to the cost of the building, so Vaughn says he’ll need to convince investors first.

There’s some action in the public sector too. The city’s Planning Department is scoping out No Name Mountain, where citizens have expressed interest in quarrying the high grade rock for sale and local use. So the ball is rolling on various projects, but Hunter encouraged anyone with ideas to come forward.

“If there’s city land that someone wants, make an offer! Anything is potentially for sale. All the city property is potentially for sale,” he said.

That was Hunter’s main message: the Sitka’s future will be shaped by the investment and input of citizens. At one point, he said, “This is my two cents and I’m just one person.”

The Assembly will meet tonight in Harrigan Centennial Hall. Raven Radio will broadcast the meeting at 6 p.m. after Alaska News Nightly. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

The Sitka Assembly will have two areas of focus when it meets tonight (11-22-16): infrastructure and the budget.

See agenda here: sitka-assembly-agenda-11_22_16

They’ll start at 5 p.m., holding a joint work session with the Gary Paxton Industrial Park board to review plans for multi-purpose dock. Turnagain Marine Construction Corporation is being contracted to build the deepwater dock, with space for freight delivery, bulk water delivery, and in-water boat work. The budget is $6.8 million dollars and comes from state transportation grants.

The Assembly must now approve the design build contract, as well as any contingency spending. The board has requested $125,000 from the GPIP working capital fund and $125,000 from the Bulk Water Fund, which will be returned if unspent.

The Assembly’s regular meeting begins at 6 p.m. There’s a variety of special reports on deck.

Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins will talk about the new bipartisan coalition in the state house. Rachel Roy, Executive Director of the Sitka Chamber of Commerce, will review the past year of visitor services (See report here: chamber-annual-report). The Chamber has been overseeing visitor services – from tourists to conventions – since 2015, when the Assembly dissolved the Sitka Convention and Visitors Bureau.  And Jay Sweeney, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, will talk about the Blue Lake Dam bonds and why, per the bond agreement, Sitka cannot pay off the bonds early and be excused from paying further interest.

The Assembly met on Saturday (11-19-16) for a visioning session on how to close next year’s $4 million budget gap, over half of which is within the electric fund. Tonight, they’ll discuss further what combination of reductions, reserves, and revenue is right for patching the hole in Sitka. That may result in Assembly members stepping up to sponsor or co-sponsor tax ordinances.

In old business, the Assembly will decide whether to transfer a General Fund balance of $440,000 into the Public Infrastructure Sinking Fund. They postponed that decision until after the visioning session, and may keep that money in the general fund to help defray the budget gap.

In new business, the Assembly will consider a marijuana store license for Northern Lights Indoor Gardens. The retail marijuana store would be located in the 1300 block of Sawmill Creek Road and is co-owned by Micah Miller and Mike Daly. Lorraine Daly is also listed as an affiliate.

The Assembly will also get an update on the recruitment process for a new city administrator. City Administrator Mark Gorman plans to step down by June 15th of next year.

Included in the Assembly’s packet are the results from the city’s 2016 financial review: cbs-financial-review-9-30-2016

The Assembly meets tonight at 5 p.m. in their chambers at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Raven Radio will join the meeting live in progress at 6 p.m., after Alaska News Nightly.

Warren Russell, the Chair Elect for United Way Southeast Alaska, is leading a campaign tour to raise money for the chapter. He said that, at a time when the state was reducing funding for non-profits, local support was even more important. Looking into the crowed, gathered over lunch at the Westmark Hotel, he said, “Look at the person to your left. Now look to the person to your right. Statistics show that in the course of our lifetime, one out of three people will use United Way Services. Think about that. 1 in 3. That’s huge! That’s why we’re doing the things that we’re doing. The other thing that’s really important is that 80% of our contributions stay local. They don’t go national. They stay right here in your own backyard.”

Partner agencies in Sitka who benefit from United Way includes the Boy and Girl Scout Clubs, Sitkans Against Family Violence (SAFV), Braveheart Volunteers, Southeast Alaska Independent Living, and Sitka Counseling and Prevention Services.

During United Way’s “Day of Caring” in May, Sitkans at four companies – North Rim Bank, GCI, Wells Fargo, and First National Bank Alaska – volunteered at some of those non-profits. North Rim spent that day cleaning up the SAFV shelter.

Director Vikki D’Amico was on sabbatical when that happened and thanked the representative from North Rim personally. “It was amazing. We can’t get to stuff. It’s just things we can’t do. We’re working at crisis [mode] and putting out fires out every day. Just to have a little bit of organization and less clutter liked you said meant so much. So thank you.”

At the end of the lunch, D’Amico accepted a $2000 check on behalf of SAFV through United Way’s Community Impact Grant.

Ken Sprague spoke to the Sitka Chamber of Commerce about an upcoming event, Startup Sitka. Photo KCAW/Katherine Rose

Sitka may be a long way from Silicon Valley, but that doesn’t mean innovation can’t happen here.  Ken Sprague and Nickie Knight are co-founders of Alaska Small Business Innovators, a non-profit that helps to create small business development programs throughout the state. The pair presented some of their ideas to the Sitka Chamber of Commerce this week.  Sprague unveiled their latest venture, Startup Sitka.

“Sitka might be a rural town, but there is an opportunity with innovative ideas,” said Sprague. We’re starting to see a lot of younger people coming back into town, wanting to figure out ways to kind of develop those ideas. We want to create this as a launchpad for the network so if family is coming back into Sitka, they have an opportunity to redevelop themselves and expand quickly.

Alaska Startup Week is July 23-31, with events happening across the state. Emerging small business owners are encouraged to attend startup events to network or access resources like free headshots or help with website design. Most Alaska Startup Week events will take place in Anchorage and Fairbanks. Sprague says Startup Sitka will be the first held in a rural location.

“Sitka’s got 10,000 people, but the opportunity for Sitka to be a regional hub for other rural communities that are more depressed gives it a stronger opportunity to work,” Sprague said. 

Sprague is holding a meeting tonight (June 30) at the Sitka Public Library from 5-6, and again on July 7th. He’s encouraging Sitkans to get involved and give input on the event. Startup Sitka will be held at the Sealing Cove Business Center on July 25, from 4-8 PM.

The Chamber of Commerce will also host Fourth of July booths at Baranof Elementary School on July 2, 3, and 4 (Photo provided by Chamber Website).

Downloadable audio

Sitka Chamber of Commerce Director Rachel Roy joined us in the studio to discuss the organization’s plans for the 4th of July celebration and other chamber events. For more information, visit the Chamber of Commerce website.