Ketchikan Metropolis Council nixes proposed pay cuts, green-lights tourism technique, OKs guns-for-armor commerce

Aerial view of Ketchikan (KRBD).

Ketchikan City Council rejected a cost-cutting proposal to reduce city workers’ weekly hours. The council also funded the go-ahead for a local tourism strategy and agreed to a proposal to swap expired weapons for body armor.

https://www.krbd.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/10CityRoundup.mp3

Back in March, when city officials were grappling with the tax implications of a second summer without cruise ships, Four city council members have cut city workers’ hours as a money-saving measure.

City tax officials estimate that reducing the city’s union-free workforce to four days a week would save more than $ 1 million for the remainder of the year.

Councilor Judy Zenge suggested reducing the opening hours of the city’s museums and library. Councilor Janalee Gage said a similar reduction in working hours for the state court system has been effective. Councilor Mark Flora suggested that this could be a financial necessity. Councilor Riley Gass suggested interviewing the city’s workforce to see if anyone would be interested in voluntarily cutting their time in the office.

However, a recent survey found that less than 10% of city workers were interested in cutting down to four days a week – many said they couldn’t afford 20% wage cuts.

At the last meeting of the city council on Thursday, Zenge the idea went back.

“It was never my intention to move this forward – I don’t think it was one of our purposes. We just wanted to see – was there any interest out there? “Said Zenge. “Apparently there aren’t any, so now we have to get back to the drawing board and figure something else out if it comes down to it.”

The Council unanimously voted against the proposal. It was also decided to keep the position of the city’s parking supervisor, which had been pending.

In other matters, the council unanimously authorized the Ketchikan Police Department to trade weapons for body armor.

Ketchikan’s police chief informed the council in a memo that Division 62 had collected handguns, shotguns and rifles confiscated from officers. Deputy Chief Eric Mattson told the council that the Ketchikan arms dealer Coastal Commercial Services had offered to trade them in for 10 sets of standard body armor.

“These are weapons forfeited by the courts. Criminal cases could be drunk people who have it and it could be cases where the gun was involved in a narcotic drug case, ”Mattson said.

Mattson informed the council that the weapons in question had not been used in suicides or murders. He said these weapons had been destroyed. He said 10 of the division’s vests are due to expire by the end of the year and the division’s arms trade would save the division about $ 8,000. Councilor Janalee Gage was skeptical of the deal. Here is her question to Mattson about her concerns about getting the guns back into circulation.

“Was it just out of curiosity that you ensured that these weapons did not return to the original owners who confiscated them?” Asked Gage.

“Well, I can’t guarantee that, but I mean, if a person is eligible to buy a firearm again, they could certainly buy it back. But a lot of these cases will be crime type cases, so I doubt they can pass this background check. But I can’t 100% say they can’t buy it back, ”Mattson replied.

The measure of exchanging seized weapons for body armor was 6: 1, with Gage receiving the only no-vote.

Finally, a split council approved $ 20,000 to fund a long-term plan to grow Ketchikan’s tourism industry without sacrificing quality of life. Richard Harney, Ketchikan County Planning Director, outlined the goal of the Community Tourism Strategy.

“And so this would be a strategy for everyone in the community – both residents and industry – to provide a clue of what we can all work towards in the future,” said Harney.

He said the strategy would be to avoid what happens in Juneau – some of the capital’s residents are Urging voters to change city law to limit cruise traffic.

Harney said a contractor would be hired to collect input from local residents, tourism companies, tribes and other stakeholders to find out how tourism can grow responsibly. Councilor Abby Bradberry questioned the idea that an outside consultant could be hired to develop a strategy for the community.

“I can’t imagine hiring a contractor from outside our community to create a plan or strategy for our community. There are so many people in the community who are capable, ”said Bradberry.

Harney said Ketchikan companies would be eligible to bid on the contract. Funding for the tourism strategy was accepted at 4: 3, with councilors Bradberry, Flora and Gass voting no. The Ketchikan District Government has already allocated $ 80,000 to the project.