Ketchikan voters will consider seven ballot questions in the October 7 municipal election. One would loosen laws around selling some city property.
The proposal would allow the city to sell property for over $30,000 and enter into contracts lasting over five years without a public vote. It would also enable the city to sell its public utility without voter approval.
“What we’re trying to do here is take out a lot of that to make it less cumbersome, because we do a lot of these things all the time,” said Acting City Manager Lacey Simpson.
Simpson said the change would save the city money because public elections, especially special elections, cost a lot. She said the proposal would also simplify language in the city’s charter, making it more relevant.
“When the charter was written back in the ‘60s, $30,000 was obviously a lot of money. A five-year contract period may have been also unusual, although I doubt it,” Simpson said. “So, with all of these charter changes, it’s really just modernizing them, trying to match them to more of what’s going on now with how the city conducts business.”
The city owns Ketchikan Public Utilities, which has three divisions: water, electricity, and telecommunications. The telecommunications arm provides internet and phone services to residents and businesses. Simpson said the utility has been an “incredibly successful enterprise” for the city.
“We have no plans to sell any of our utilities,” she said. “We’re really just trying to streamline this, to put more of the control back in the hands of the council and not go through a lengthy and cumbersome process.”
The city council approved putting the question on the ballot at a July 17 meeting. The city ballot also includes two open council seats. The deadline to apply to run is August 25.
