The City and Borough of Sitka Assembly held a regular meeting on June 11, 2024, at 6:00 PM in Assembly Chambers, with five members present (Mosher, Eisenbeisz, Ystad, Carlson, Saline) and two absent (Christianson, Pike). The meeting addressed routine approvals, new business including a fisheries enhancement fund award and a grid resilience grant, and discussions on supplemental funding for Visit Sitka and an amicus brief on halibut bycatch. The meeting adjourned at 8:11 PM.
Again, welcome everybody. It is uh six o'clock, so I will call to order the regularly scheduled meeting of Tuesday, June 11th, 2024. Please join me for a flag salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all the assembly of the city and borough of Sitka would like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional first people of Sheetka. With gratitude, we proceed on Clinkett Awning. Sarah, roll call, please. Mayor Eisenbais. Present. Mr. Mosher. Here. Mr. Yestad. Here. Miss Carlson. Here. Mr. Selene. Here. Mr. Pike and Mr. Christensen are absent this evening. Great, thank you. As well, JJ, uh, I'll do my best to acknowledge you. Um, if you feel like you're getting skipped, please jump in and remind me that uh that you're on Zoom. So, correspondence or agenda changes this evening. Um, I do have two. Um, first of all, um, item J, the executive session this evening has been polled um due to the unavailability of the municipal attorney to participate in that. Um, and then item I authorizing the municipal and attorney to sign an amicus brief that supports resolution um 24-1-3. Um, this is going to be changed to a discussion direction tonight to see if we are interested in going forward. Um, the municipal attorney has not had time to review and actually just recently received a copy, uh a first draft of this. Um, so we can talk about tonight if we want to go further in the process, and happy to do as such, uh, but was unable and unwilling to spend outside council money uh without the assembly's um uh uh as a whole agreeing to that. So we'll start that as a discussion direction, and then if uh anybody wants to make a motion on that, we're we're well able to uh ceremonial tonight. There are none, which would bring us to special reports. Uh anyone here for government to government municipal boards, commissions, committees, municipal departments, school district, students and guests. Uh seeing none, that'll bring us to persons to be heard this evening. This is public participation for any item off of tonight's agenda, not to exceed three minutes for any individual. Good evening. My name is Richard Ween, and it's good to be back. I'd like to welcome everybody to our island paradise in the North Pacific, where all goods and services uh depend and rely upon fossil fuels. And having been walking around um Sitka uh with my camera and just kind of watching how the tourist season unfolds. Um, I notice that there is a heck of a lot of fossil fuels uh being utilized, especially when you stand in the Times Square of Sitka, which is at the crossroads of Harbor Drive and Lincoln Street. Um it's fascinating. Uh, one important thing that I think needs to be mentioned, and as a physician, I still continue to read literature, and one thing I've noticed is the enormous amount of literature which has been coming out as it relates to changes in the vaccine, meaning the COVID-19 vaccine and the issues related to those who have received it. And there are very many peer-reviewed studies which indicate uh you know problems. And the Ninth Circuit court recently stated that the vaccine, well, it's not really a vaccine in the traditional sense. So things are changing. So I'd like to ask the assembly to have a work session with search, which would give the uh citizens of this town kind of an update as where they stand and where the current knowledge that they feel the vaccine uh is related to. Uh, I think this is uh very important since search was uh a major element in uh pushing the vaccine uh within the community and within Southeast.