To elect or appoint; Morphet, Robinson weigh in
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TweetCommentary by Lee Robinson
There are several reasons I do not support an elected board for the planning commission for Haines Borough.
City and borough managing, planning, and zoning decisions are a large part of the responsibilities that our elected officials are tasked with. It is inherent in their position, and it is part of the due diligence that we, as the electorate, need to consider when choosing who to vote for when vetting potential assembly members and our Mayor.
It appears that recent decisions made by the commission have upset some of the electorate, or, at the very least, have made decisions that some people don’t like. As such, these people are seeking a change in how the commission is formed in order to get a different outcome in those decisions. When you cast a vote for an assembly member and for the Mayor, one of the things you are voting for are the decisions they will make with regards to planning and zoning.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to fill important volunteer positions within government with qualified, committed individuals. The commission must balance the vision of the borough, input and guidance from elected officials, and interpretations about whether proposals are consistent with general plans and ordinances - including state and federal constraints. This is not typically the job of elected officials who win political contests, but rather the job of committed professionals and knowledgeable citizens who are appointed by the Mayor and have gained approval of our elected officials. While it’s perfectly acceptable to be critical of decisions made by this board, it’s important to remember their responsibility to make decisions is based on a number of factors, and the weight of those factors are at the discretion of the commission based on the details listed above.
It’s tempting to think that putting everything up to vote will fix our divisions and disagreements. In fact, it will only increase them. Rule by fifty percent plus one has never been the means by which we reach consensus. We reach it through representation and responsibility. We learn to live with each other by living with the decisions that those we disagree with have made, particularly those decisions that have been made by our neighbors and friends on the local level. When we disagree with outcomes, it broadens our perspective while at the same time motivates us to get more involved in the process of electing our representatives.
Additionally, moving to make our commission a board of elected officials further politicizes the issues. It will potentially alienate qualified people from this important position because of the notoriety of running a campaign, the cost, or the time it takes to become an elected official. Finally, as stated at the outset, these responsibilities are one of the primary duties of our elected assembly members, so if we move to have an elected commission then we will essentially be electing two sets of representatives with overlapping duties, and this is absurd.
Commentary by Tom Morphet
Got a good summer plan? Vote to elect your planning commissioners on June 6.
When it comes to making thorny decisions about the future of our community, elections are clean and decisive and directly reflect the will of voters.
That’s why our planning commission should be elected and not appointed, as now exists in borough law.
During consolidation of our two governments into one, officials discussed how members of a combined planning commission would be chosen and – in deference to concerns that mayoral power was curtailed by changing to an assembly-manager form of borough government – assigned that authority to the borough Mayor, with approval by the assembly.
It’s become clear that decision was an error. Mayor-appointed planning commissions recently approved a sixth heliport in the Chilkat Valley, swaths of our spectacular waterfront have been paved over, and commercial trailers – technically prohibited by code downtown – still pop up like dandelions.
We have learned since 2002 that planning commission decisions are often momentous, having long-term consequences on us, our town and its neighborhoods. Too often, creative interpretations of planning laws have favored select business interests over the interests of good neighborhoods and the town at large. Appeals of commission decisions have consumed vast amounts of time and money spent by the public and by borough staff.
It’s time to bring some accountability to the commission, an “empowered” board whose decisions are final unless appealed to the borough assembly.
By changing to an elected commission, we get commissioners directly attached to the wishes of borough residents. Commissioners influenced by their own, personal agendas instead of code and public wishes will be required to answer to the rest of us, not just to the few people who now appoint them.
Besides raising obvious questions about having unelected people making decisions on the public’s behalf, political appointment is messy process by nature, fraught with politics. Mayor Doug Olerud himself has said he doesn’t like the process, describing it as “extremely difficult.”
A mayoral appointment to the borough’s Ports and Harbors Committee that was rejected by the borough assembly in 2017 led to four assembly members being named in a criminal complaint that was forwarded by our police chief to the district attorney for possible prosecution. That’s how explosive appointments can be.
Appointments also can lead to instability and costly turnover when experienced, senior commissioners or board members are removed by mayors for political reasons.
For example, the membership of our borough’s mayor-appointed Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee once leaned heavily toward non-motorized users. Then, a new Mayor was elected and the committee started leaning heavily toward motorized users. Then the committee stopped meeting at all.
Candidates to our planning commission who must stand for election will necessarily be committed to the job and responsible to the voters who put them in office. That’s as good as we can ask.
Finally, some doubters say that “no one will run” for the planning commission. In fact, the commission has never lacked for people willing to serve on it. Every time there’s an opening on the commission, there are more than enough applicants to fill seats.
