Leah Mason
Age: 52
How many years have you lived in Sitka and in Alaska? I have lived in Sitka since February 2014.
Occupation: I work for the Baranof Island Housing Authority, as a financial literacy counselor and communications specialist. In that role I work with people developing their ability to earn, save, and work with credit. My most recent project has been a mini-comic book that helps explain how even a small increase in your income can make a difference over time.
Family: I am one of seven children on my father’s side, and two of my siblings also live in Sitka. My mother’s family is based in Australia and England.
Have you previously run for public office? When and what office?
This is the first time I have run for public office.
Previous government or other relevant experience:
I was employed as an advisor to a legislative assembly member in the state of New South Wales (Australia) from 2004 to 2006.
Community involvement, past and present:
I have been involved in community groups for more than half of my life! In Australia I was a board member of two public transport advocacy groups, and an inner city neighborhood center, over a period of 9 years. I have helped organize community festivals, volunteered as a community journalist, and have also been active in reproductive rights advocacy. Since being in Sitka, I have been a member of the CBS Solid Waste Advisory Committee (2014), and served on the Sitka Community Land Trust Board (2020). I have also been involved in climate change action through volunteer work with Sitka Citizens’ Climate Lobby, and then through Transition Sitka, where I am currently serving as President. People may recognize me from the campaign to reduce plastic bag pollution in 2019, and from many of the Climate Connections columns published weekly in the Sitka Sentinel. I was a frequent contributor to this column between 2019 and 2022. I have assisted with organizing the Sitka Decolonization Dialog group, and have helped out at the Alaska Raptor Center, and at Raven Radio. I handle the lifelines at Sitka Public Library’s annual spelling bee fundraiser, and am also involved with the newly formed Sitka Housing Network. On a lighter note, I’ve been doing more community theater over the past year, and have a lot of respect for the arts community in Sitka.
Why are you running for the mayor’s chair this year?
I believe that it is necessary to offer the community a different direction. Running for the position of Mayor is the most powerful way I can think of to allow our community to express their interest in change on many important issues.
What are your top priorities if elected?
My top priorities are working with the City and other organizations to address the issues of affordable housing, food security, and emergency preparedness. We have had several wake up calls over the past four years and it is time to do something practical. I would want to work on securing supplies in an extended emergency, as well as our broadband and communications! I also recognize the tremendous load already being carried by non-profit organizations in Sitka and would like to find ways to distribute this load a little more effectively.
What differentiates the role of the mayor from an assembly member?
The mayor is a public figure and more influential than other assembly members. The mayor interacts with City staff, and other governments such as the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and municipalities in our region. The mayor represents our community when we have visiting dignitaries and at regional and inter-state gatherings. i also think it is important to make people feel welcome and respected at assembly meetings. I admired former mayor Matt Hunter’s dedication to inviting members of the public to speak and thanking them for their contribution to our public life.
Tourism
Do you support a cap on cruise visitation? Why or why not?
I support a cap. History shows that It can be very difficult to benefit from ‘boom and bust’ industries over the long term. We should be very clear about what we are getting from it, limit any damage and carefully manage any gains. I also believe that Sitkans have the right to peaceful enjoyment of their own hometown during the summer, so I will support an annual cap of 300,000 persons ashore in a calendar year, and daily numbers of up 3000 persons ashore. Once good data has been collected and analyzed, it may be obvious that we can do more. It may also be obvious that we are not getting enough of a return on the transaction. The current approach appears to be closing our eyes, crossing our fingers, and hoping for the best. I think we can do better.
One of the assembly’s tasks is to draft a “Memorandum of Understanding,” or an MOU with the cruise industry, which could mean either the local dock operator or the cruise lines. Who should the city make an MOU with and what should be included in that MOU, in your opinion?
The City has a duty to regulate if it wants to be recognized as an authority. This was indirectly spelled out in the former municipal attorney’s response to the first ordinance proposal in 2023. An MOU or an ordinance could include the common themes of the Tourism Task Force recommendations and the second ordinance put forward by members of the community in 2023. This includes accurate and timely warning of port calls, including the numbers of people who are likely to come ashore. A permitting system can provide this. Zoning requirements for any future docks and controls for environmental impacts are also very reasonable expectations.
As an assembly member, would you support directing the municipal attorney to help draft a citizen initiative limiting cruise tourism? Why or why not?
Yes. The division in the community is profound, and suppressing community input does not make it go away. If you look at the average of published cruise visitor numbers between 1989 and 2019, you don’t see anything close to the 300,000 being put forward by members of the community who are unhappy about the current situation. Even the top ten of the pre-pandemic numbers only gets you to 240,000 visitors annually. The suggested cap of 300,000 per year is an increase in cruise visitation that shows due respect for resident’s right to peaceful enjoyment of their hometown at any time of the year. It makes sense to put this to a vote.
Education
Do you support funding the Sitka School District to the maximum allowed by state law (a.k.a. the “cap”)? Why or why not?
Yes. Our education system is a foundation for a skilled local workforce, and an incentive for our young people to bring their families back to Sitka. We have a demographic shift towards an older population, and we need to attract young people who want to make year-long contributions to our community life.
The assembly has taken extra steps to bolster its support for Sitka’s schools, taking over maintenance of school buildings, taking on management of the Blatchley Pool, and funding a contract for management of the Performing Arts Center. Do you agree with these decisions? What further measures would you take as an assembly member to support the Sitka School District, if any?
I think the current assembly understands the conditions of the original funding agreements for these facilities. This situation is explored in minute detail every year. I think that they also understand that young teachers commonly add to the pool of school-aged children that count towards the school funding formula. Research on teacher retention in Alaska has shown that people want to teach in Sitka, and will accept other positions to stay. What are the opportunities to keep these well-educated professionals and their families in town?
Housing
Do you see a need for further regulatory measures to ease Sitka’s housing crisis, such as limiting short-term rentals? What tangible actions can the assembly take to relieve some of Sitka’s housing stress?
Absolutely. We are not very well-informed about housing stock in Sitka, and what we DO know is worrying. We could add data collection and analysis to our existing annual appraisal activities. I was involved in developing the Sitka Tribal Housing Needs Assessment and it would make sense to do something similar for the rest of the community. If you look at the data from the Census and the American Community Survey, you see that we have a lot of vacancy in March but very little in May. We also know that additional housing gets removed from the pool for the summer, leaving many people without housing. Again, we need better information, and making short-term rentals a ‘conditional use’ in any zoning category would help us keep better track of actual vacancies at different times of the year. I also see great potential in a vacancy tax for both residential and commercial properties. We have been hearing a lot about supporting entrepreneurship but storefronts that are inactive for more than half of the year are lost opportunities for new local businesses. We need a more innovative approach.
Haulout
Sitka will open a city-owned marine haulout in 2025, but developing a full-fledged boatyard will take considerably more time and money. Should the assembly continue to appropriate resources to this as a public project?
This could be a very important asset to our community and our local economy. It will fill the gap left when the minimal haul-out facility at the cruise ship terminal was closed. I think that there needs to be a long-term plan, and a staged decision-making process for any further investment. An option might be to use the same approach being used for a large community garden. The whole community, including the fishing and boating community could be involved in developing requirements and milestones that would need to be met, and help us to assess the benefits that come from the investment. Perhaps a yearly cost/benefit analysis that is presented to the Assembly at one of its regular meetings. Ideally, this project would be so successful that the initial investment of funds could be repaid over time.
Labor
The city is struggling to fill a number of vacant staff positions. What can the assembly do to support filling these positions?
There are a lot of things involved in developing a productive organization that attracts new people. There are undoubtedly things that can be done, but I am not in a position to know what they are at this moment! I look forward to finding out more and making a contribution to improving the situation.
Budget
Revenue growth in the city’s general fund has outpaced Sitka’s other enterprise funds due, in part, to tourism growth. Do you have thoughts on directing the rapid growth of sales tax revenue into projects outside of Sitka’s general fund, like harbors, water or the electric department?
I think that we need better information. Realistically, what is the actual size and longevity of this revenue? We need to know this before we spend any of it, or rely on it for something that we can’t live without. One option may be to devote the majority of this money to addressing the existing backlog of maintenance rather than funding something new or that we need to continue doing over the long term.
