Mayor’s Report

A Busy Summer

It’s been an especially active summer in Kotzebue with the wonderful weather, many visitors, and the return of widespread commercial fishing.  During the week of August 2-6, I will be in Washington, D.C. to attend a seminar on government bonding along with Assembly President Suzy Erlich and Borough Attorney David Case.  I will report on that at a later date.

The Borough office has been especially busy this summer as it is a regular stop on NANA’s Arctic Tour schedule.  Nearly every visitor to the region now drops by to shop for arts and crafts and learn about that part of our local culture.  Vika Owens, the Art Program Manager, is on the run every moment of every day as she meets with local artists to review their products, prepares requests for payment, showcases many art products in shadow boxes, educates tourists on the many forms of art, sells the work, and does constant packaging for the post office.

The building has also been receiving a facelift in the form of fresh painting and foundation repair, some new porches, a new fuel tank, and the construction of a parking garage for the borough vehicles.  I hope that all the residents as are as proud of the building as those of us who work here.

I am pleased to see that a variety of statewide organizations are beginning to choose Kotzebue as a site for board meetings.  The State Advisory Board on Traumatic Brain Injuries met in Kotzebue a few weeks ago, bringing much welcomed commerce to our region in the form of hotel nights, meals in local restaurants, cab fares and shopping in our stores.

Just last week the Borough assisted the City of Kotzebue in hosting the board meeting of the Joint Insurance Association of the Alaska Municipal League.  Their meeting was held in our Borough Assembly Chambers and attracted seventeen travelers from throughout the State, some of whom stayed around town for four days.  Most of the group traveled to Kiana on Friday for an afternoon of fishing at the conclusion of their meeting.

Despite the many problems that the Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association has experienced with the fish plant operation thus far this summer, we have learned a few things that are very important:  our salmon resource is plentiful; the fish is well-received in the marketplace; and our fishermen are capable of catching lots of fish.  The list of improvements that will have to be made before next season is long but there is every reason to believe that the prospects for the future are bright.