The Haines Borough Public Library. (Emily Files)
Residents from across the state called in to give public testimony to the House Transportation Committee Tuesday. Upper Lynn Canal residents gathered at Skagway City Hall and the Haines Borough Public Library to share their comments on a conference call to the committee.
The future of the ferry system is uncertain. Governor Michael Dunleavy’s proposed budget cuts would slash the ferry budget and effectively end service after September 30th of this year.
Nearly 20 people met in the Haines Borough Library community room today to hear public testimony; ten signed up to speak to the legislative committee. The committee heard two callers from Skagway. One of them was Essie Fielding, the Administrative Manager from Dahl memorial Clinic.
“I support full ferry funding for Southeast Alaska for a high quality of life for small communities like ours,” Fielding said. “And speaking as an employee of DMC, we use the ferries to get our patients to a higher level of care and to get out patients to see specialists.”
She was among callers from all over the state who dialed in to make their statements. Testimonies were uniformly in support of the system, but ranged in tone: plaintive, nostalgic, scholarly, comic, and outraged. Some called the proposed cuts an amputation, others an execution for the economies and livelihoods of coastal communities.
They came in from as far west as Unalaska and as far south as Bellingham, Washington. Sean Beasall from Homer was one voice in a common refrain: that the ferry system is to coastal communities what paved roads are to the rest of the state.
“I want to echo what the rest of everybody has said: the ferry is the highway system. This is crucial,” he said.
He called the Dunleavy budget a betrayal of rural Alaskans.
Many speakers said they were willing to sacrifice their permanent fund dividends or accept an income tax if it meant Alaska would keep the ferry system running.
But when it came time to hear from the folks at the Haines library, the operator didn’t unmute the line and the speakers were skipped. It interrupted Haines Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tracey Harmon.
“We called back in, but by that time I think we were so far down the line, that we didn’t have an opportunity to testify,” Harmon explained.
She says she’ll be back on Thursday, when there will be another chance to give testimony.
The committee was overwhelmed by a record number of calls: 283 people signed up to testify. They shortened testimonies from two minutes to one minute allotments to try and make it through a greater volume of callers. The meeting ran overtime and still did not have a chance to hear all speakers.
There will be another chance to give testimony at the Haines Public Library on Thursday, March 14 from 1:30-3 p.m.
