The Municipality of Skagway is discussing how to share the correspondence it receives. Until recently all letters sent to the assembly and mayor were automatically included in the packet. During the pandemic a number of inappropriate letters were received, and the borough decided to stop sharing its correspondence. Community members pushed back. They asked for free flow of information. A new resolution is in the works that might bring about the right compromise.
A discussion about how to handle borough correspondence was first on the agenda at Wednesday’s civic affairs meeting in Skagway. For decades the correspondence had been included in meeting packets. This never seemed to be an issue – the correspondence met a minimum standard for public discourse. But in the last year, some of the letters received did not meet that standard.
Mayor Andrew Cremata opened the discussion.
Cremata: “As the pandemic unfolded, we started to see a lot more participation in municipal government”
He says up to 250 people would follow assembly meetings online.
Cremata: “We also started to receive a lot of problematic correspondence. Some of that correspondence had HIPAA violations perhaps, some of the correspondence had gossip. I received death threats. I know that at least one other assembly person received death threats.”
The borough clerk researched how other communities handle their correspondence and found that Skagway was quite unique in its openness. After consulting the borough attorney, a new policy was put in place in October. Citizen correspondence would no longer be placed on the borough website.
Some Skagway residents did not take kindly to this restricted flow of information, and expressed their views at the meeting.
Resident Jennifer Thuss said the public correspondence is valuable.
Thuss: “I Think this is an important venue, specifically because it’s not Facebook, and it’s not gossip at the store. For someone, at least for me to sit down and write a letter to the municipality, the assembly and thinking it will go public, I spend a ridiculous amount of time on it because I do want it to be appropriate and I do want it to reflect what I really feel and think.
Thuss added that she relies on the public opinion to open her mind to some aspects of borough operations.
Thuss: “I can see other people’s perspectives. I don’t know about speed bumps. I don’t know about leases on the waterfront. But reading someone else’s perspective in the comments raises my awareness of the different situation. There is so many things I don’t know how much I don’t know, and being exposed to people’s not just opinions but knowledge and expertise I think is really helpful.”
Resident Jan Wrentmore spoke of the value of civic engagement.
Wrentmore: “Compare our voting record to Juneau for example. It’s amazing the percentage of people who vote here compared to our capital city. And I think it’s because there has been an open dialogue between the local government and the citizens. And the information is allowed to flow both ways.”
Assembly member Deb Potter has been working on a resolution. She aims to satisfy both the legal responsibilities of the borough and the residents’ need for information.
The proposed policy will avoid the legal liability to the borough of publishing inappropriate material. It outlines the process a letter will go through before being posted on the website.
Potter read a draft of her resolution at the meeting.
Potter: “There is four things. Number one the public may upload written correspondence on the website, and this need to be done by noon two days before the assembly meeting. Also on there will be a box that you check saying that you have read and you agree to the municipal guidelines, you know basic disclaimer that you agree to not use obscene indecent profane language, threats, defamatory statements, gossip, death threats would be a nice one to throw in there.”
Some people in the past have been surprised to find their letters posted to the website. Potter ‘s resolution will address that issue.
Potter: “There will be a checkbox that is clearly labeled ‘Make correspondence available on the website’ and so the user has to check that. So that should remove any kind of confusion on the part of the citizen when they see their correspondence has been posted to the website, because they made that happen.”
One final step after that.
Potter: “So once it’s uploaded it goes to staff to make sure that the correspondence is meeting the guidelines, if they have any questions about that then the staff will send it to the attorney for the review. The borough attorney’s determination is final.”
Residents made a few suggestions, and praised Potter for her work. The civic affairs committee voted to send the resolution to the assembly for approval.
