“One of the members of our assembly is now a person who communicates with a Juneau radio station and it may not be the right thing to do,” assembly member Stephanie Scott said at the Nov. 6 meeting. “People that speak on behalf of the Haines Borough are usually the Mayor or the manager,” she said.

Assembly member Sean Maidy said he was approached by Juneau KINY radio station to serve as the Haines liaison for a new “Community Connection” segment aired each Monday morning around 7 a.m. that updates listeners on happenings around town. The aim of the segment is to share information among towns in Southeast, according to KINY morning announcer Steve Holloway. Angoon, Hoonah, Kake and Skagway are each represented on different days of the week.

The segment, which lasts two to five minutes, rehashes “whatever’s happening in the community; it could be a birthday to a funeral to the school board meeting,” Holloway said. On Nov. 12, Maidy spoke on air about a regulated meeting scheduled every Tuesday, and an early start to basketball season, with open gym and city league in full swing. “It’s like Christmas, but for sports,” Maidy said on air.

“I don’t believe I have spoken for the borough and if I have I would like to take back anything I might have said on behalf of the borough,” Maidy said in response to Scott’s concern at the assembly meeting.

Maidy said he spoke with Mayor Jan Hill after the meeting, and she told him she would be willing to take over the segment. “She said that she would be willing to, not that she is going to,” Maidy said. The two have not communicated about it since.

According to KINY manager Sherie Curry, the station first contacted the visitor’s center seeking a representative and “started going down the list” when they couldn’t commit. Curry said they asked various other people, and called the police station and eventually the school, where they found Maidy. The only qualification for the liaison was to find someone who wanted to represent the community, and knows what’s going on, Holloway said.

“It was no conspiracy or anything,” Holloway said. “Anyone who agreed to say yes, I said cool!”

Maidy said he’s shocked that only the Mayor is qualified to represent the town. “All I’m doing is relaying things that are public record,” he told the CVN. “Today, (the morning announcer) asked what’s going on in town and I told him there’s a pie sale and there was an extrication from the fire department on that accident from a few weeks ago,” he said.

Holloway, who spearheaded the new segment in the beginning of November, said that KINY recently changed management, who feel the small communities weren’t being as represented as they should be. He got the idea for “Community Connection” segment from his northern Minnesotan radio station.

According to Curry, an assembly member from Juneau is the host of a different segment, “Problem Corner” where any community member from Southeast can submit an issue to be hashed out at 11 a.m. daily.

“If the Haines Mayor has concerns, she can call us,” Curry told the CVN.

Hill was unavailable to comment by deadline.