More of Petersburg’s neighbors, including numerous local government and tribal entities, are lining up against Petersburg’s attempt to form a new borough, or at least that borough’s proposed boundaries.
Petersburg got initial opposition from Juneau when it eyed land on which the capital city had hoped to one day expand into, but by the time the public comment period on the Petersburg’s borough petition closed, the opposition was nearly unanimous.
Leading the charge against borough formation is the city of Kupreanof, Petersburg’s closest neighbor, which has filed detailed objections to being included in a new borough which it says will not give equal weight to its concerns.
“The proposed Petersburg borough provides little to no discernable benefit to the residents of Kupreanof,” the Kupreanof City Council stated in a resolution opposing inclusion in the borough.
Kupreanof instead suggested a borough boundary of Wrangell Narrows, excluding Kupreanof and all of Petersburg’s claims to Kupreanof Island from the new borough.
Kupreanof Mayor Dana Thynes said the city’s residents, 27 at last count, would have no influence in a Petersburg borough dominated by the nearly 3,000 people in the current city of Petersburg.
Residents of other unincorporated communities nearby also objected to getting taxed in a new borough for services they wouldn’t be provided and in which their relatively small numbers won’t give them much of a voice.
“Our voice will be but a whisper,” wrote Delores Charlene Anderson, of Keene Channel, south of Petersburg.
Petersburg City Council member Bill Tremblay called the fear of taxation without representation a “red herring,” and said those who wanted more representation could simply run for office.
They’d probably be elected, he said, as some recent elections haven’t had enough candidates for all the seats.
Other residents said communications and transportation links to Petersburg were too tenuous to even regularly attend city meetings.
“Participation in borough government would be difficult and expensive and in times of inclement weather, impossible for remote areas such as ours,” wrote Laura Howard, a Kupreanof Island resident.
Also opposing inclusion of any part of Kupreanof Island in the proposed borough were the city of Kake, the Organized Village of Kake tribal government and the Kake School District. The lands around Kake on Kupreanof Island had been “traditional territory of the Kake Indians since time immemorial,” the city and village said in a joint statement.
Kake may want to form its own borough with that area, the resolution said.
One neighbor not opposed to the borough formation was the Wrangell Borough. It had previously negotiated the boundary between the two boroughs before the city of Wrangell formed its own borough.
Several Petersburg residents supported inclusion of the neighboring areas in the new borough, saying they should be taxed to support the city services many of those outside the current city use.
“Individuals living outside the city of Petersburg, at this time, carry no part of the burden for payment of the city’s required minimum contribution for education,” said Robert Thomason, superintendent of Petersburg City Schools.
• Contact reporter Pat Forgey at 523-2250 or at patrick.forgey@juenauempire.com.
Comments (3)
Add commentPSG-borough no different than JNU, KTN, Sitka, WRG & Haines
Nothing wrong with Petersburg's efforts in regard to its borough efforts on the face of it. Remember Juneau's borough was an incredible overreach at the time it took place. They had no problem with reaching over to Admiralty Island, a traditional territory of Angoon's people.
The overreach to areas held by others is what is wrong with the present paradigm and Juneau set that sad precedent by a legal taking of Angoon's territory. Kake has a legitimate interest in its traditional territories being taken over by it's relatively new upstart neighbor.
The worst of what has transpired and is occurring is that the Native communities have little leverage or ability to form their own unified government to resist this latest movement to separate these original residents (owners) from their lands. With or without malevolent intent, these people are being stripped again of their previously held sovereignty.
Wrangell may be different in that their Native community was already within the community and I don't know about Klukwan. Nonetheless, I doubt that when our communities were first formed was there much consultation with our first people.
It is understood there isn't a unified voice in the region's first communities. However, it would seem fair that the state might represent the first communities to ensure that their concerns are fairly represented.
Kake's interests ought not to be automatically subsumed by its neighboring community as have Angoon's by Juneau. In fact, should the communities of Angoon, Kake and Hoonah decide, along with perhaps others, to form a unified government it would be reasonable to permit boundary changes which would permit a retaking of alienated traditional lands.
Not quite right.
Reservation land is held in trust by the federal government and those on them are wards of the federal government. All federal laws must be followed.