SITKA, ALASKA
There are three issues concerning the Commission and long-range planning coming before the Assembly on March 8th:
1. The Assembly, through the parliamentary “Reconsideration” process, will have the opportunity to reconsider the motion to repeal the ordinance that created the Commission.
2. The Assembly will also have the opportunity to reconsider the motion to create a SE Economic Development Fund. In the new ordinance the Commission will no longer be used to “vet” applications.
3. If the Commission is repealed, the Assembly has one more opportunity, under new business, to, among other things, draft an ordinance that creates a Long Range Planning Commission with its primary duty to review and/or propose amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, including revising its format to make it more usable and understandable.
There have been five ordinances adopted for this commission since 1988. In 1999, “Long-Range Planning” was added to the name of the city commission and its duties were changed. As it says in this 1999 ordinance, “The concept [of long range planning] was discussed in the development of the 1999 Sitka Comprehensive Plan.” The last ordinance was adopted in 2001. One of the duties is to meet annually with the overworked Planning and Zoning Commission to review the Comp Plan.
In recent years, it has been recognized that the current ordinance seems outdated in several ways, that the commission lacks Assembly direction, and would benefit from a review of the ordinance. The commission members wanted to put their long-range planning skills to work by changing the format of the Comp Plan but needed Assembly direction to do so. This new format would turn the Comp Plan into a Strategic Plan with designated action steps. This would be a stakeholder-driven process, overseen by the Commission, and ultimately adopted by the Assembly.
Tough economic times require planning so we can provide for a better future. Sitka already has a Plan but it has no implementation process to turn it into an action plan. Other Alaskan communities have successfully done this, such as Wrangell and Dillingham. Were the crafters of Sitka's Plan just going through the motions when they created it or did they really want our vision of the future to be a reality? Who better to spend the necessary time implementing our Plan than a dedicated, talented, skilled team of citizens, appointed by the Assembly. As Horace said in ancient times, “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” Now, in these adverse economic times, we need our Assembly to task our talented citizens with implementing our Plan.
Be sure to let your Assembly members know your opinion about how your community's Comprehensive Plan should be reviewed, updated and implemented.
Mim McConnell is a member of the City and Borough of Sitka Assembly.
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