Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

The Haines Borough should scrap hiring an economic development director and hire a grant writer instead.

There’s been no public outcry for another director position at city hall. The borough’s description for this job is heavy with gobbledygook vague enough to cover just about anything or nothing under the framework of the expansive Comprehensive Plan.

Further, for reasons never made entirely clear, duties of this job include managing the pool, tourism department and community youth development program – borough functions already managed by the borough manager.

What would an expert in building a small-town economy know about running a public swimming pool, or a municipal tourism department, or parks and recreation issues? This job appears tailored for dabbling about in government, with no evident way of measuring a person’s success at it.

A grant writer, on the other hand, either secures money for the town or doesn’t.

Grants are important. In recent years, ones from federal, state or private sources have driven projects at the public library, Picture Point, Small Boat Harbor, American Bald Eagle Foundation and Chilkat Center auditorium.

If the borough needs a certain official to hobnob with companies or individuals interested in bringing business to Haines, that role can be filled by the Mayor, borough manager, assembly members or members of the Haines Chamber of Commerce.

One of the biggest, single strokes of economic development here in the past 30 years came in the mid-1980s when Mayor Bob Henderson swung the deal to bring the Chilkoot Lumber sawmill to town, including by helping secure a property tax break for the company.

Was economic development so much simpler then, or have we made it more complicated than it needs to be?

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A friend sent a message asking if I wasn’t going to decry the scuttling of the Haines School spelling bee, maybe expecting an essay on the importance of spelling to civilization.

I’m not in a position to do that, partly because I misspelled the word “parameter” in these columns last week.

Also, I’m not fretting the future of spelling at Haines School. Knowing how to spell is like flossing: A person can get by without it. Over the long run, it’s going to help, and it can help a lot. But Haines Elementary School just won a national award for academic performance, so maybe the bee isn’t critical to long-term school success.

What was a concern about the district’s decision were some of the reasons cited for jettisoning the bee – including that the competition made some students uncomfortable and wasn’t inclusive.

Much of an adult’s work day can be uncomfortable, and a lot of life isn’t inclusive. Growing up involves learning to endure experiences that are uncomfortable, painful or make us feel excluded. The lesson we learn is that not only can we survive trials, but that bearing them makes us stronger, healthier people.

If we want to make learning “relevant” to students, that’s worth teaching, through a spelling bee or other means.

- Tom Morphet