This week the CVN was flooded with more letters than I can recall ever being submitted. In order to save space, we grouped letters according to their subject matter under one headline.

-Kyle Clayton

Many support an elected planning commission

I support the election of Haines Borough Planning Commission. Election of officeholders gives the voters a direct say in who serves and will dignify the proceeding of the commission. More democracy with voters choosing is a better system. On June 6, please vote in favor of changing how we seat members of this important body.

Burl Sheldon

The Haines Borough Special Election on June 6 provides voters the opportunity to change the Borough Charter to institute election of members of the Haines Borough Planning Commission, rather than the current appointment by the Mayor and approval by the Assembly. I support this change.

The Planning Commission makes some of the most significant decisions about the future of our borough, its neighborhoods, downtown, and waterfront. Those decisions impact all of us in the Chilkat Valley, and I believe each of us should be given an opportunity to say who we choose to be making those decisions. Tuesday’s election provides that opportunity.

Please join me in voting “YES” on Tuesday and give voters a direct say in who serves on the commission, increasing accountability for decisions that affect all of us.

Liz Heywood

I would like to encourage everyone to VOTE to have Planning Commission members elected, rather than the current system of appointment. I can attest to the fact that people willing and able to serve on commissions and service area boards are ignored!

Electing residents to the Planning Commission will prevent perceived, or intentional, mishandling of appointments by the Haines Borough government officials.

Erika Merklin

Would you like a say on who represents you on the Haines Borough Planning Commission? If so, vote “Yes” on June 6. Or vote early now at the Haines Borough Office.

Thanks, Sue Libenson

Remember to vote yes to an elected planning commission in the special election by June 6. A commission elected by the people is accountable to the people and keeps the focus on issues important to everyone in Haines like access to affordable quality housing and careful use of our property and sales taxes.

Eben Sargent

Haines Borough planning commissioners should be elected. I served on the commission from 2002 to 2022. At the start, the Planning Commission was made up of people from different parts of the Borough, and people with different viewpoints. It was representative of the people of the Borough. This is no longer the case.

Recently, the Planning Commission has repeatedly violated the principles of good planning and ignored Borough Code. Worse, it has treated people who do not live in the Townsite, and especially Highway residents, as second-class citizens. Unless you are willing to live next door to a heliport, you should not vote to allow one next to someone else’s residence. This is just common human decency. Living in the General Use zone should not be a punishment.

Please vote YES on June 6 so that we can once again have a Planning Commission that represents the people of this borough.

Sincerely, Rob Goldberg

Please vote YES to make our Planning Commission a democratically elected body. This will be one of the most significant actions you can take to give yourself more of a voice in future local government decisions — especially ones that impact the quality of your life, the places you love, and the activities that are allowed to occur near your home (think heliports).

Currently, members of the Planning Commission, who are empowered to make key decisions about proposed projects in the Chilkat Valley, are political appointees and have no accountability to the voters. The existing Borough Charter provides for commissioners to be appointed by the Mayor. But, typically, even this is a formality. Essentially, the commission choses who it would like to fill a vacancy and forwards that to the Mayor, who, typically — along with the assembly — honors their choice. (There are exceptions, where the Mayor overrides the commission, but this is rare.)

So, what we currently have is a governing body with decision-making powers (vs. advisory) whose membership is self-sustaining — i.e., they essentially get to name their own successors and maintain their point of view into the future. We critically need more diversity on the Planning Commission — citizens who are interested in real planning, vs. just routinely issuing permits and can stand before voters and offer their vision for future land use in our valley.

George Figdor