The following is a condensed version of CVN interviews with candidates for Haines Borough Assembly: Ben Aultman-Moore, 30, Eric Holle, 72, Margarette Jones, 27, Bill Jurewitz, 76, Jerry Lapp, 73, and Gabe Thomas, 43.

The six candidates are running for three open seats. Election day is Tuesday, Oct. 4. Polls open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. in town at the ANB Hall and up the highway at the Klehini Valley Fire Hall.

Candidates did not have access to the questions before their interviews.

Ben Aultman-Moore, 30, a local carpenter and board member of Lynn Canal Conservation, said he wants to join the assembly to restore public faith in the borough government, add a young perspective to local decision making.

Eric Holle, 72, has lived in Haines for more than three decades and is the vice president of Lynn Canal Conservation. He said he wants to revise the borough's approach to the Lutak Dock renovation project and prevent Haines from enduring a boom-bust economy that he says could result from resource extraction.

Margarette Jones, 27, was born and raised in Haines and currently works as a special projects coordinator for Constantine Metal Resources. She said her local background will make her open to a broad swath of the community. She has also been a special education teacher, worked in tourism and earned a degree in political science.

Bill Jurewitz, 76, delivered babies for 40 years. Now retired, the former physician moved to Mosquito Lake six years ago and said he's been weighing an assembly run for more than a year. He said he wants to protect Haines' natural environment, help grow the fishing and tourism industries and attract location-neutral businesses.

Jerry Lapp, 73, is running to extend a long career of public service in Haines. He has spent a combined 20 years on the borough assembly and as Mayor. He sits on the Haines Borough Planning Commission and is currently filling in on the assembly, replacing Caitie Rothbart, who left the body last month and whose seat is up for election.

Incumbent assembly member Gabe Thomas, 43, and sixth generation resident said he is running for reelection because he wants to see through what he's worked on in his first term, especially Lutak Dock renovation and the Tlingit Park longhouse, a project that he has helped lead.

What distinguishes you from the other candidates?

Aultman-Moore: I think I'd be the only entrepreneur, the only person who owns their own business that's currently running. I think as somebody who works as a carpenter, I have exposure to and have made friends who are from a broad swath of the community because everybody needs carpentry work done. I've met people from a very wide demographic and I feel like that informed the evolution of my politics and it makes me more comfortable that I'm capable of speaking for more people than just my friends or those I happen to agree with. Most people in Haines have time for each other, it's not just that I'm going up on somebody's roof. Quite often people want to have lunch together and talk to me about their lives a little bit.

Holle: I don't know if it distinguishes me from all the other candidates, but I've been here long enough that I think I have a good sense of both the geography and the ecology of the area and have spent a lot of time thinking about how (an) intact ecosystem leads to having a steady, vibrant economy. When I say steady, I'm talking about the idea of a steady-state economy, which is not based on the idea of continuous growth. Continuous growth in a finite space, or a space that has finite resources, always ends in disaster. That's why I'm worried about the borough committing to what looks to me like another boom-and-bust cycle based on extractive industry. That could be either building an ore dock to support mines in the Yukon, which could go belly up or not come online at all, or the Palmer Project, which could also not happen; (it) could begin to happen and could pull out at any time.

Jones: I think I have a unique insight into different needs of the community that haven't been coming before the assembly in recent years. Each of us have different sub-communities and friend groups. Because I grew up in Haines, I experienced the preschool, kindergarten, the school system, placer mining, commercial fishing. I'm involved in the church community. I worked at the school and in Skagway, at the fast ferry. I've worked in tourism. I've touched a lot of different communities and made friends from disparate groups that wouldn't normally be a part of someone's circle. I think it gives me a more big-picture understanding of the community as a whole.

Jurewitz: I thought from the forum, I was very impressed by most of the candidates' capabilities. Of course Jerry and Gabe - they have the experience of being on the assembly so they have some authority they can speak from. But I think Margarette, Ben and of course Eric - everybody has good ideas and speaks well. I think what distinguishes me from the other candidates is I've served on boards with sizable budgets, hospital boards. You're always compromising in those situations. You're always trying to reach the best decisions. You have your own opinions, but you're basically trying to reach the best decision for everybody. I think I have a lot of experience doing that in the past.

Lapp: Probably the biggest thing is I've been involved in the government off and on for 22 years. And I've lived here longer than most of the candidates - actually all of them.

Thomas: Being born and raised here and having my whole family from here generationally. I have every intention of being buried here. My interest is deeper. It's a little closer to home for me. I'm currently with the assembly. I'm happy for the last three years I served. I learned a lot. I want to run again and continue learning. There's a lot you learn when you get into the bowels of it.

What steps should the assembly take to generate more revenue for the borough?

Aultman-Moore: I think that potentially the borough incentivizing more value-added businesses for timber or fish could potentially result in more businesses being attracted to Haines. It really seems like the glass ceiling for Haines' economy has been pretty effectively capped by a lack of housing. In some sense, addressing the housing problem will dramatically increase the borough's ability to generate revenue through people just being capable of moving to Haines.

Holle: Generating more revenue really depends on maintaining a robust economy and that means capitalizing on what is already here. As I and several other people mentioned last night (at the debate), fishing, tourism and location-neutral businesses - not doing anything to do harm to what's already in existence. And then use what's here and develop it in ways that don't cause harm. For example, with tourism: Tourism can be expanded to a year-round event and it can also be expanded into other arenas, such as more cross-country skiing, infrastructure, small cabins cited appropriately, guided, un-guided. All the tourist-based stuff increases revenue both from direct tax on activity as well as spin-offs: restaurants, bars, hotels, motels, things like that. I guess the Chamber of Commerce, the (borough's) tourism department, could be promoting Haines as one of the last really great intact Alaskan ecosystems that has all five species of salmon, hasn't been overly logged, hasn't been heavily polluted. For example, a lot of money could be made through medicinal products that come from old-growth forest. There are several species of mushrooms, fungi that are proven medicinally to be very effective, and that market is expanding really quickly.

Jones: Our revenue comes from our tax base. We need to increase economic activity, round out our economy, and have a really robust economic engine that provides both in times of plenty and when things are tight and the economy is restricted because we're not dependent on one industry or one particular tax. It requires looking at things that make this a place that people want to live. If people want to live here there will be workers here. We do it by focusing on things that make it easy rather than hard for somebody to live here, first and foremost: housing, having a healthy school system and having a safe place to live.

Jurewitz: I could be very specific; I think I was the other night, saying they could raise the bed tax and raise the marijuana/cigarette tax a little bit. I don't think that would meet with much opposition. You might see some opposition from Airbnb owners. It's hard to understand (why). It wouldn't decrease their business. Nobody is going to say for the cost of the cocktail at the distillery, or the cost of a couple beers at the brewery, that they're not going to take their visit up to Haines. It's ridiculous to think that's in their matrix of decisions when they're coming to visit as a tourist. I'm not saying we should double (the bed tax); I'm just saying it should be more. The way you increase sales tax is to increase sales and the way you increase sales is to increase business. In other words, you need money coming in. Currently over half the income is from transfer payments: social security, retirements, other passive income, dividends, investment income (according to the 2018 McDowell Report). You have to look at that and say, "Who are we talking about?" We're talking about retirees. We're talking about people who work remotely. We're talking about possibly one or two trust children living here; I don't know how many. In order to have more of those people coming to us, we need to say, "What attracts them to us?" The other places that money comes from is of course the fishing industry and tourism industry. We need to make sure we keep both of those healthy.

Lapp: I think what the assembly could do - and they've been doing a pretty good job - is fix infrastructure. You look for new energy resources so you have the energy if some business wants to move into Haines. I think keeping regulations down helps a lot. And not imposing a lot of taxes on new businesses would be another thing to do. Just sitting down with the different groups that are interested in coming in and doing business here. Basically keep the message out there that we are open for business. We would like to see more revenue, especially in the off season. Also we could look at a community college here, with a trade school. I think that's something this town would accept, and I think it would do good here - because we're losing a lot of our skilled laborers, plumbing and mechanics and businesses like that. We need the young folks to learn skills to take over these kinds of jobs.

Thomas: We've got to get our winter economy going. Extend the shoulder season. You've heard it time and time again with winter tourism. One of the things I'm turning more toward that I haven't before is trails and not so much walking trails but multi-use trails for bikes, skis, four wheelers, snow machines. It's one of the top things I've heard from people who come here and visit. They say, "Hey, where can we ride our bikes, our mountain bikes. You guys don't have any trails." I was less open-minded about that than I am now. I could see that as something to generate revenue on the shoulder season. A ski lift for sure. That would extend the whole winter season, even if it's 50 or 100 people a week. We would have to incentivize it. Now that we're funding HEDC again, maybe we can task them with that.

If you could only get one thing done as an assembly member, what would it be?

Aultman-Moore: I think that we live in a time where it's very common for people to be critical or even cynical of their government. A certain amount of doubt about governments in general is always warranted. I think we're no different here in Haines. If I was to prioritize one thing if I was to get elected, it would be to restore some of the public trust in local government.

Holle: It would be to prevent Haines from committing to an economy based on resource extraction. That would include a large mine such as the Palmer Project or 1,000-plus-acre clear-cuts - both of which impact the industries that we already depend on. The easiest way to prevent total commitment to the boom-bust risk of a mining future would be by reassessing the need that we have at the Lutak Dock and scaling that appropriately for what is actually needed here and projecting ahead to the future without assuming that we will have a build-it-and-they-will-come situation that would attract major industrial endeavors that I'm not sure everyone in Haines wants.

Jones: Really refocusing the priorities of the assembly. One of those things that is essential in that process is trying to get back to a place where we're not talking around the issues because we have agendas that we're not really talking about, and really getting to the place where the heart of the assembly is focused on what is the best for Haines, rather than accomplishing any one person's agenda or any group's agenda.

Jurewitz: I'd like to get a good decision on the Lutak Dock. There seems to be reasonable people that argue both sides of the issue. It seems to me there are facts that probably are obtainable - like number one, how much dockage do we actually need for current needs? Current needs are very important. We know we need AML. We know we need some dockage for Delta Western. There are other people who use the dock. And the dock is old; it was built a long time ago. I need to see data on it, or technical analysis, I'm sure which exists, that says it needs to be refurbished or replaced to a certain degree. I'm not going to sit here and say we don't need to do anything. But we shouldn't do more than we need to do. Like I said at the forum, we don't need a Taj Mahal of dockage. We don't need to spend money on dockage that we don't need or never need. It would be better to spend that money on something that has already been planned for, like more slips at the Small Boat Harbor.

Lapp: It would be to get the Lutak Dock fixed up so that it's saved, so we don't have this potential catastrophic failure that could happen out there. That would be the one thing. Get it back to where it's making some revenue for the borough, taking care of itself.

Thomas: Finish the Lutak Dock. Contrary to what people think, I think it's vital to the existence of Haines, vital to the existence of Southeast Alaska and the Yukon. We've got this far, let's keep going.

What role should the borough play in protecting or developing natural resources?

Aultman-Moore: Haines Borough revenue comes from tourism, fishing and people wanting to live in Haines because it's an incredibly abundant land where they can live a lifestyle, especially through subsistence and hunting, that is really not available in many places over the entire continent. Given that the solvency of the Haines Borough is so closely tied to the health of our salmon, and to the biodiversity of this place that draws visitors from an international crowd - without getting into specifics of exactly how or what the borough should do - I think the Haines Borough has a responsibility to protect in some cases very fragile resources that we all collectively enjoy, that really constitute the reason why Haines is a great place to live. I think the borough should be having a very extensive and inclusive conversation about some of the unintended consequences of the industries that are being developed.

Holle: The first thing the borough should do in any sort of commitment to either protecting or developing natural resources is to have a truly open and transparent process that involves either town halls or COWs (committee-of-the-whole meetings) or some kind of forum that allows actual dialogue rather than three-minute comment that gets no response and then gets voted on. That's one way to gauge what the community wants.

Jones: It's important to always lead with protection and to lead with an eye toward provision and sustainability. Meeting our needs without compromising anybody else's ability to meet their needs. In a very real sense developing our natural resources, whatever they may be, although it has the risk of compromising future generations, also has I think, if done right, a larger potential to benefit future generations in ways that lack of development would not. It has a way of providing a future that couldn't exist otherwise.

Jurewitz: I think the borough is limited in its authority and power. If anything it needs to take a long hard look at where they think they're going to get their income from - because some of the things I've heard, regarding the dock, which the borough does have some say over, would be some pie-in-the-sky, future Canadian mine trucks rolling through here on a regular basis - that could have detrimental effects on tourism. And the mine, especially where it's located at the headwaters of the Klehini and Chilkat, and the history of mineral mining in general, the history in the Lower 48 and Canada, BC, it's not good. There's a lot of externalities. Just like if you run the diesel generator here 24/7, you're going to have a lot of air pollution. The mine in a perfect world would not contaminate the water. In a real world, if you look at past history of mining, it will contaminate the water, and it will affect fishing. It will affect tourism. It will affect the eagle population. It will affect sustainability here. It will affect subsistence fishing. Why do you want to roll the dice on that? The borough does have the power to make the dockage in Haines unattractive to mining or ore offloading.

Lapp: In the Haines Borough, the state and the feds own most of the land. The borough owns a very small portion of land within the borough. I believe that the local government should let the state and the feds watch over their lands, be stewards of their land. That was their job to start with. But the borough should have some say in what the state and feds do in the borough itself. For as long as I've been on the assembly, we've had a say in most everything that goes on. The borough had input on the (Mt. Ripinsky Trail) so there were no motorized vehicles up there. The borough has had input on heliskiing. I've got a different opinion on that. I think they have too much input on it. The state was tasked with that, and the feds, because a lot of heliskiing is on their property. Like I said, they own most of the property within this borough. I think the borough does need to keep an eye on what happens within the borough, so they can have a say on it, but to try to regulate the whole thing is out of their jurisdiction on some things. Like with heliskiing, I don't mind the borough assembly having a say on where the helicopters land, but once they go up in the mountains, let the state and feds (deal with) that, we don't need to be trying to regulate that.

Thomas: We keep fighting about yes and no, about natural resources. We were founded on natural resources. We still utilize natural resources. I think the community needs to have a down-to-earth conversation and say, okay, if natural resource development is going to happen, what do we get from it or what do we have set in place for protections. The mine for example. Right now we are not even talking about if they start up, what are we going to do. Are we going to do PILT (payment in lieu of taxes)? Those are conversations the community should have prior to resource development. Even if we don't want it, we need to have something in place that benefits the community and protects it. I don't know if we can say yes or no to a mine. But we can say yes or no to what they'll give to the community for it. Are we going to have an excise tax? Our role is to have the conversation, whether we like it or not.

Do you think the borough could do more to collaborate or partner with Chilkoot Indian Association and Chilkat Indian Village?

Aultman-Moore: Yeah. Absolutely. This is something I would need to know more about in terms of what has or hasn't happened in terms of collaboration in the past. As a local government we would be shooting ourselves in the foot if we weren't asking questions of the ancestral stewards of this land, even if it's simply inviting them to show up to any conversation. I think that's a given. I think there should be an open invitation for local tribal governments to weigh in on any issue they see fit whether or not they're a voting entity of the borough.

Holle: Let's start with Chilkat Indian Village. I think generally more acknowledgement and respect given to the village would be appropriate. We might actually learn a thing or two based on the thousands of years of local knowledge that is up there. Chilkoot Indian Association – I'm not sure what their major projects are. One I read about recently was they're looking at taking over the hospital building at Fort Seward and revitalizing that. Any way the borough could assist with something like that would be well worth it. Basically just making sure the lines of communication are open, and understand that we are on unceded territory here. Perhaps the borough could take a deeper look at the "landless" issue. It's a very complicated issue, and I don't know any way that everybody is going to be happy when that's resolved, if it is ever resolved. But it does seem like there's an obligation that the borough has based on the history here at least to facilitate land transfer where it's feasible.

Jones: I just feel like there's lots of room for further integration. I think there is a feeling of a lack of respect for sovereignty. I don't want to speak for anyone, but it seems that there isn't an ease to the relationship yet. I think there should be. We should all be on the same page and what we want and how we take care of each other. I don't think it's where it could be right now.

Jurewitz: I don't know how much they do currently. Certainly we should, as the borough, have dialogue with CIV and CIA to see where we have mutual interest. I don't know what the history of that has been. They're a very important part of our borough. They're an important part that needs to participate in the politics of the borough, even though CIV is a sovereign entity. They live here.

Lapp: We've worked with CIA. That's how 3rd Avenue got paved. That was with CIA's money. We worked with them on projects like that. Now with Klukwan, that's a different entity. We work with them. We let the ambulance go there. We try to get their input on issues that would affect them. I think we're doing a good job in that category.

Thomas: As a CIA member I've been trying to do that more. I think they can partner. I've been reaching out to CIA about Portage Cove Campground. Why not put a trail all the way to that campground and see if they can help us manage that? Both of them are capable of getting money we can't get. They have access to grants and ways of helping the community better than we can. CIA lately seems to have done a shift, trying to direct more people toward the culture. Both could help with housing. CIA and Klukwan need housing just as badly as the town does. Maybe the borough could donate land and they could build a fourplex or eight-plex. They could definitely help with the housing shortage.

What is a controversial issue in Haines that you feel torn about?

Aultman-Moore: The Palmer Project itself. I am not opposed to mining writ large. I'm from a mining state, and I grew up with the sons and daughters of miners. I respect that profession very much. It's really difficult. It's necessary for the modern amenities we all enjoy. I would like to think that we could have all these year-round jobs going toward the mine that everybody is wishing for. I also think we need to look very carefully at the unintended consequences of mining, particularly in anadromous watersheds. I think we need to triage our resources, and I don't think that should necessarily be a political conversation.

Holle: The need for a small-scale timber industry and the difficulties inherent in that. It's really important, particularly with climate change and increasing intensity of storms, particularly rain-on-snow events that we'll probably see a lot more of, to maintain as much as intact old-growth forest as possible. On the other hand, we live in a forest and we need to use some of the products. It's difficult for the local small operators to get access to the amount of timber they need. They don't need that much. In the past they've kind of piggy-backed on the really big sales, and that opens up road access to them, and they kind of get the scraps.

Jones: The solid waste issue. I do think it's important to be really careful about the interconnections between the public and private sectors. There's a lot that can be learned from what other communities have done. Many communities have chosen to have municipal involvement in their otherwise private sector solid waste solution. I did go from thinking maybe it's good to keep private and public separate to maybe there are ways we can work together.

Jurewitz: Timber. The large commercial lumber harvesting I don't think is something that we want here because again it has the potential for affecting the ecology of the valley, the ecology of the river. It has the potential for degrading the scenery that tourists want to come see, and tourism is a big deal. On the other hand, I know Dave (Hertel) and Sage (Thomas), and small operator lumber harvesting for local use, value-added use, is part of what should be here. It's part of our community. Done correctly, it doesn't interfere with other industries which perhaps are economically more important. But I don't know how you draw that line.

Lapp: The Mud Bay issue about commercial happenings out there. I was on the Planning Commission when that came to the commission. I thought there should be a way that if somebody wanted a business out there, just a small business, that they would be able to do it. That's why I made the motion to allow it under conditional use, so there could be public hearings on it and decisions could be made from public hearings. That issue became torn to me because I know (residents there) want the whole thing rural residential. But I think there should still be an avenue if someone wanted a commercial business that could fit into the community. I didn't like the idea of shutting it down completely. That's what I was working for: a compromise on that issue.

Thomas: I think that would have to be solid waste. You want to do something but you can't do something without getting involved with private business. I don't want to mandate something, but it's one of the things that irritates me. I spend a lot of time out in the woods and I see so much garbage. How do we solve this problem? We've had a solid waste working group for over 20 years and we haven't gotten anywhere. Seems like we get to the same place and it just dies again.

When was the last time you changed your mind on a local issue? What did that process look like?

Aultman-Moore: I was pretty excited about the borough appropriating funds to expand the boat harbor. I was really looking forward to seeing the harbor expand, but in my mind the most important part of that harbor expansion ended up not happening, which was slips being added. I think my confidence in the priorities within that process kind of waned.

Holle: I've been involved in the heliskiing discussions really since the inception. I've come to see both sides of that issue and while at first I was pretty adamant that it really had to be strictly limited, I'm coming to think that if all parties could just sit down at the table in good faith and talk it out, that we could resolve both the need for terrain and the need for wildlife protection. It's done elsewhere. I've come to recognize that industry is a component of the winter economy. I do want to try to make it so they can survive and prosper without causing harm.

Jones: The Palmer Project. I don't feel torn about it anymore. It's not like it came easily. It's not that it's not an educated resolve. At some point we have to choose to trust the experts, and not blindly. Part of how I went about figuring out if I could trust the experts and the project is that I got involved. I started working there. I wanted to see if it was possible for the project to happen in a way that doesn't inevitably lead to the failure of a fishery or risk to the Chilkat River. The feasibility study is conducted by many, many experts, tens of thousands of hours and millions of dollars to determine if the mine is environmental, socially possible. The experts can do that.

Jurewitz: I don't think I've really changed my mind on anything. There are certainly things I see both sides of. But when I've analyzed something and come to what I think is a good solution, I don't see me changing my mind. I certainly have an open mind. Like the Lutak Dock-people say we don't need to have it even refurbished-that's hard to believe after how old it is. I think the question there is how big to make it. But in general, I haven't seen my head spin on any of the topics.

Lapp: Motorized vehicles on the Mud Bay flats. I was going to vote to let them ride out there. After listening to all the comments, I said, well, maybe that needs to be a place that's quiet. People like to be out there with their dogs. I know how some people will abuse the privilege of being out there on motorized vehicles. After listening to what the public had to say, I changed my vote on that issue.

Thomas: Definitely the yurts. I was thinking the Planning Commission was right, that we were supposed to take the lead from them. Upon further review and getting more people contacting me, I thought there has to be a compromise. I worked really hard on trying to find a compromise. Some people feel it's still too restrictive, but that was the best I could do, or they wouldn't have been allowed in town.

Is there anything about the way people view you that you think is inaccurate or that makes you feel misunderstood?

Aultman-Moore: I don't think I have a great pulse on exactly how I'm viewed. I think as an LCC board member, some people probably think they know exactly what that means, but as somebody who is well aware of some of the public relation friction that LCC has had in the past, I'd like to think I'm part of a new generation of finding active solutions for problems rather than just being in an opposition party or just being in opposition.

Holle: I think there has been considerable misinformation over the years that I or LCC, who I've been associated with, just want to shut everything down. I remember one letter in the paper that said I had a stranglehold on the Haines economy. I don't actually have that kind of power. Some of the projects I've been involved in promoting have a lot of disinformation presented regarding them. For example, the Tier 3 river issue. I think when you examine it, it makes total sense: if a project such as Palmer Project can operate cleanly and not pollute, then they can go ahead and do that. If they can't, then they have to cease until either they fix the problem or they realize there is no practical solution. That seemed like a reasonable position to take. And it was portrayed as an attempt to shut everything down, where people would not be able to use their river boats to go moose hunting; you wouldn't be able to clean fish on the side of the river; you wouldn't be able to put in septic systems - all of these things which were simply not true. I think that kind of comes with the territory of being an outspoken conservationist. When you start to be effective, then people push back in whatever ways they can. So you can be mischaracterized.

Jones: I've heard two concerns from the community about my ability as an assembly member, one that I'm young and don't have the experience. I think I have the community connections and support system that will allow me to learn from the experience of those who have gone before me. Because I'm young, it will give me an edge moving forward. If I can learn this now, then I can have the potential to make a difference in the long term. The next is the Constantine connection, fearing that I'm a one-issue candidate or that I'd choose the interest of the company over the interest of my community. Or that I'm a Palmer and I have a potential family stake in the mine. The project is in a way a part of my family legacy, but if a project going through had the potential to benefit my family but was certainly going to be detrimental to 50 Haines families or 10 or five, then it's not worth it to me to gain at the expense of my community members. I'm committed to the community first, above my own agenda or any ties to an organization or idea.

Jurewitz: My biggest problem is that when Julie and I came here six years ago, we settled in Mosquito Lake. So I was not socially or in any way continuously involved in the townsite, so you just don't know people; you don't get to meet people. The people up in the Mosquito Lake area know me. I'm on the board of the community center. So they know me up there, but that's very few people. I don't think anybody looks at me and (thinks), "Oh my gosh, he has a closed mind." I mean they might think that, but that hasn't been presented to me.

Lapp: I'm not someone who does a lot of talking. I think my actions speak for themselves. I think a lot of people think I'm hardcore conservative. But I'm not. I'm a little more moderate. I'll listen to what the community says. I will try to work with the rest of the assembly members for a compromise, especially on critical issues or very controversial issues. I know there is compromise we can reach. I think I'm viewed - just because I've worked for a company that some people disagree with - they think I'm just hardcore. But I'm not.

Thomas: I feel people think I am pro "destroy the environment for jobs." I am not that type of person. I will not support something that will destroy my home. I have every notion to be buried here and hope as I serve the community to be community-minded first. I won't benefit from salmon or habitat destruction anymore than anyone else. And I feel that being pro Lutak Dock is putting me in that bubble that was created by opponents of anything to further Haines. Bottom line is: We all live here and we all claim Haines as home. Be mindful that maybe your idea of Haines is not the same as others' idea of Haines. But no one wants a destroyed Haines.

Questions for individual candidates:

For Ben Aultman-Moore: Lynn Canal Conservation is arguing that the borough does not need a bigger dock, that Alaska Marine Lines' roll-on/roll-off is sufficient to meet Haines' basic needs. Proponents argue that a reconstructed Lutak Dock could serve multiple industries. How do you respond to the criticism that it is short-sighted or irresponsible for LCC to attempt to limit the scope of the Lutak Dock reconstruction project over concerns of one industry, mining and ore shipment.

Aultman-Moore: I think that because the risk posed by open container ore shipment, a rotainer system, through the Chilkat Valley and into the Chilkoot watershed so dramatically poses an existential threat to one of the main industries that is already in existence, which is fishing and tourism, I think that the concern that LCC has that this piece of infrastructure is going to serve the mining industry is well-founded. There's no other industries, currently, that are getting $18 million budgets annually. To say that it's a multi-industry dock may be true, but I think it's rhetorically a bit of a red herring.

For Eric Holle: Last year you were heard on a hot mic at a public meeting, over Zoom, saying that you would "like to kill" a resident with whom you disagree on major issues and who had corrected you at the meeting. How can concerned voters be sure that you have the right temperament to serve on the assembly and that you will seek to understand and consider opposing views?

Holle: For 33 years I have had a number of insults and outright threats in my direction. One example: "Open season on greenies" was left for me in a public building here. And other disparaging comments that were not based on anything. And I really never responded in any sort of aggressive manner to that. I think people should recognize that the comment that I made was, one, not serious; and two, was not directed at Ms. Cornejo, directly. (It was) not intended to be heard by the borough assembly. It was directed to only one person - I was in the privacy of my own home at the time. That person clearly understood my tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and the use of hyperbole. I apologized. And it was a genuine apology. But it was really the result of me failing to mute my mic, and the borough failing to mute my mic. I think I have a pretty good track record at maintaining an even keel. I've got pretty thick skin.

For Margarette Jones: At the candidate debate you said it was too early to discuss ore shipments across the Lutak Dock. Mining interests have discussed using the Lutak Dock to ship ore and the borough is clear, in its RAISE grant application and in the comprehensive plan, that it wants a dock that can facilitate a number of goods including ore. It's clear that the assembly will be discussing this as concepts and plans for the dock proceed. What's your position on this issue?

Jones: My thought that it's too early is not because I don't want to shy away from having important conversations about what might be but I want to shy away from using it as an obstacle to having the dock being rebuilt at all. The fact is we have the funding. The resistance to that has been frustrating. There is private ownership of land along the deep water port. If someone decides to put a dock in there and wants to transport goods, contractually, with an ore company out of the Yukon down a state-owned truck route, then I don't know in that case what say we have as a community over how it's transported or over the revenue that comes in through the use of that dock. It is somewhat of a worry that out of fear of what could go wrong, we would keep something from being an option that could be really good for our community and provide essential tax revenue. Just blindly saying no because we're afraid of the potential consequences is not a way to lead with strength as a community.

For Bill Jurewitz: You've said you would like to attract more location-neutral workers to Haines. While many location-neutral workers contribute to the community, their flexibility and mobility - and in some cases seasonality - can make them less attached to the borough. A local economy can't be built only on location-neutral jobs. What are immediate actions you would take as an assembly member to keep young people and families in Haines year-round? How would you keep people rooted here?

Jurewitz: There's a business person here who has a very successful business and he says, "You know what, I should close down every winter because I lose money in the winter." I'm sure there are a lot of businesses like that. Winter's tough here. That doesn't mean people leave. There are year-round businesses. People need to eat. Olerud's, Howser's, Mountain Market - they stay open year-round. The restaurants: not so much. We can't deny we have a seasonal economy. How do you improve on that? I would need to sit down with people who have more knowledge of winter recreation than I do. Are there things that we could promote to increase our winter recreation attractiveness? I mean heliskiing is a very short season. Could we somehow develop cross-country trails to make this a good place to come if you enjoy cross-country skiing and beautiful landscape? Basically you have to keep bringing more people in. You cannot have a summer economy in the winter. It doesn't work. We don't have cruise ships coming in in the winter. We don't have RVs coming down from Canada in the winter.

For Jerry Lapp: You have more local government experience than the other five candidates combined. But some people say Haines needs fresh perspectives, new ideas, and economic changes in order to thrive in the coming years. What would you do differently on the assembly if elected for another term? What new ideas would you bring?

Lapp: That statement you just read is kind of misleading. You should keep some perspective on the assembly that knows the history of Haines, that knows how the law works. What I have seen is new assembly members come on and they're totally lost. And I have seen assembly members come on for one item only. They have an agenda: "I want to stop one thing; I don't care what else happens; I just want that." But what I've always cared about is our community and making it better. While I've been on the assembly, I helped get the new school. I was instrumental in helping get the library, because I was Mayor. We did several subdivisions here in Haines. I want to follow through with some more subdivisions because we're having a housing crunch right now. We haven't sold any land since I was mayor-that was 25 years ago. I want to see some of that move forward, so people have an opportunity to buy land here in Haines and raise their families here. And another thing I want to do is bring in some jobs, some year-round jobs, whether it be through a trade school, whether it be through a small mining project that would bring revenue opportunities here and not harm this community-those are things we can look at and have discussions about. I want to be a part of that. I've still got a little life left in me.

For Gabe Thomas: You said that during the last several years on the assembly you've learned that you serve the whole community, not one segment. List a few decisions you have made on the assembly that reflect that statement.

Thomas: Yurts was one of them. Helping during the last budget cycle was definitely one. Normally everybody's anti extra spending. I went the other route and thought the community needs some extra spending because we just came out of covid and people needed some normalcy. The budget's definitely the biggest one. That affects the community the most, when you change your mind on the budget and go more toward what the community was asking for than just what you thought you should do.