Haines voters may decide on two ballot questions in the October election. The borough assembly moved the two ordinances forward at a meeting Tuesday. But neither decision was unanimous. The first is in response to Haines’ loss of trooper service. Alaska State Troopers moved its Haines post earlier this year. That leaves areas outside of the townsite without consistent law enforcement protection. The ballot question would create a new service area, expanding the jurisdiction of the Haines Police. Assemblyman Tom Morphet raised two concerns. One, he thinks the proposal should come from the public, not the government. Two, the question might signal that Haines is giving up the fight to reinstate the trooper post. But Heather Lende said the borough would be remiss if it didn’t have a back-up plan. 12BallotQs: Sure, ideally, we just want the trooper back. But if that isn’t going to happen, we are at least giving residents an opportunity to vote on a different option. And one that by code, by service area, they will pay for the service. The assembly voted 4-2 to move the police service area question to its first public hearing. Morphet and Sean Maidy were opposed. The other possible ballot question is on a less-prominent topic. Right now, Haines’ charter says certain borough officers serve at the pleasure of the assembly. They include the manager, clerk, chief fiscal officer and attorney. That’s led to questions about how the assembly should supervise and evaluate those staff when it only has direct oversight of the manager. The ballot question would amend borough charter to say only the manager serves at the pleasure of the assembly. Morphet also objected to this idea. 12BallotQs2: I feel the clerk and CFO have considerable discretion and authority and in a real sense, have power in this chamber and over the people of the Haines Borough. And as such, I believe these positions should answer directly to the public. And [the assembly] is the public. We represent the public. But Morphet was in the minority. He and Tresham Gregg were the only ‘no’ votes. Both the police service area and charter amendment ordinances will have public hearings July 25.

Haines residents vote in the 2016 municipal election. (Emily Files)

This October, Haines voters will be asked whether members of certain borough committees, commissions, and boards should be elected, rather than appointed. It’s an initiative being put forward by Assemblyman Tom Morphet. 

The question that will be put to residents is: “Should voters elect the members of the Haines Borough Planning Commission, Public Safety Commission, Port and Harbor Advisory Committee and Tourism Advisory Board?”

That would be done by making changes to certain sections of borough charter.

Assemblyman Morphet brought the idea to the assembly’s Government Affairs and Services committee earlier this year. But, it did not move forward.

“I couldn’t get any of the assembly members to bite at it, which was a surprise to me, because these appointments have been politically charged for a couple years,” Morphet said. “And it slows down borough business. And it’s a hyper-political atmosphere as always in Haines.”

So, he went out into the community and gathered the 271 signatures needed to put the initiative on the general election ballot in October.

The signatures were certified by the borough clerk on Tuesday.

Morphet says he hopes the change would help take some of the politics out of these committees and commissions.

“The atmosphere in Haines is always somewhat politically charged,” Morphet said. “And I just saw this as a way to remove one level of politics and just let people tick off, just like they do on the school board, tick off who they like on the Planning Commission, Ports and Harbors Commission, Public Safety Commission, and the Tourism Advisory Board. Which, I consider the most powerful boards the borough has.”

Morphet said he also hopes the election process would get a broader range of residents involved in these groups.

Right now, the mayor makes appointments, and those appointments are confirmed by the assembly.

In the last couple years, there have been disagreements over a few of those appointments.

For instance, in January 2017, the Port and Harbor Advisory Committee and Mayor Jan Hill recommended Diana Lapham’s appointment to that committee. The assembly voted 4-2 to deny the appointment. Soon after, another resident submitted a citizen complaint to the borough, accusing those assembly members who voted against the appointment of violating Lapham’s constitutional rights. Fourteen other residents signed on. Local police conducted a preliminary investigation, and referred it to the District Attorney. But, the DA’s office told local police the matter didn’t warrant criminal prosecution, and that it would be a potential violation of separation of powers. After that, the borough and  police did not continue to pursue an investigation into the complaint.

Earlier this year, disagreement over appointments to the Public Safety Commission delayed the borough filling vacancies on that body.    

Morphet said he hopes his proposed change would help get rid of some of this back-and-forth.

“I think we’d be more amenable knowing that the people holding those seats and making those recommendations, are in fact the choice of the voters, and not just political favorites of either the assembly or the mayor,” said Morphet.

But other assembly members aren’t so sure.

Heather Lende, who chairs the GAS committee, says after that group looked into the idea, it decided not to move forward with it. She points to the existing challenge of filling seats on boards and commissions, and says it would likely be even harder if residents are asked to go through the process of running for office.

Lende says the current process is not bad, and allows for checks and balances.  

Sean Maidy says he’s “shocked,” that Morphet would go out and collect signatures to get the measure on the ballot, after it didn’t move forward at the assembly level.

Brenda Josephson says she doesn’t have strong emotions about it. She says she’s willing to listen, learn and be convinced. But, like Lende, she wonders whether enough people would actually run in the elections to these committees and commissions.

Mayor Jan Hill says, while she supports the initiative process, and people’s right to vote, she thinks this particular initiative is unnecessary. Hill says she thinks the appointment process as it is right now is working.

If this initiative is approved by voters, it wouldn’t get rid of the appointment process for these bodies entirely. If someone resigns before their term is up, a new resident would be appointed to that seat.

 

Editor’s note: This post was updated to better reflect the investigation into the citizen complaint alleging four Haines Assembly members violated Diana Lapham’s constitutional rights in January, 2017. It was also updated to include comments from Mayor Jan Hill.