{"id":963,"date":"2010-10-04T10:15:14","date_gmt":"2010-10-04T18:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/?p=963"},"modified":"2011-08-31T21:14:37","modified_gmt":"2011-09-01T05:14:37","slug":"separate-ballot-proposals-could-provide-swimming-pool-for-sitka-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/?p=963","title":{"rendered":"Separate Ballot Proposals Provide for Sitka Swimming Pool"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the next several weeks voters will consider two separate ballot initiatives that could provide a new swimming pool for Sitka.\u00a0 This Tuesday, Sitkans will vote on authorizing the city to issue $6 million in bonds to repair the Hames Center.\u00a0 On November 2nd, Alaskans will vote on an education bond package which includes $20 million for constructing a new multi-purpose aquatic center at Mt. Edgecumbe High School<\/a>.\u00a0 Our community needs a new pool, and I\u2019d like to draw attention to both proposals aimed at achieving this goal.<\/p>\n

Over the past several years the community has discussed the best way to provide recreational facilities for Sitka.\u00a0\u00a0 Local ballot measures<\/a> being considered this Tuesday propose the city issue bonds and raise property taxes to buy, and attempt to repair, the Hames Center.\u00a0 The center has served Sitka well, but has severe maintenance and re-construction needs.\u00a0 Engineers\u2019 reports estimate basic repairs could exceed $13 million, over twice the amount raised by the local bond measure.\u00a0 Necessary repairs would include new mechanical and electrical systems, new gym floor, pool refinishing, and replacing the roofing system.\u00a0\u00a0 Earlier this year, another opportunity to fund an aquatic center became available and the State of Alaska is poised to support such a project.<\/p>\n

During the past legislative session, I worked with colleagues to fund a new aquatic center as part of an education construction bond package being considered by voters.\u00a0 Separate from the local measure, the state ballot in November includes a general obligation bond for education construction.\u00a0\u00a0 Bonding Proposition B<\/a> funds $397 million in major education construction projects<\/a> across Alaska.\u00a0 This includes funding for a Sports Arena at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Life Sciences Building at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and $20 million for a multi-purpose aquatic center in Sitka.<\/p>\n

The aquatic center is a major investment by the State of Alaska in our community and will improve Sitka\u2019s quality of life.\u00a0 The facility will enhance the educational experience of rural Alaska students attending school in Sitka.\u00a0 It will be available for community use, and will aide the State Troopers and the Coast Guard in public safety training.<\/p>\n

At a time when Sitka is facing several economic challenges, bonding and raising taxes to repair an aged structure like the Hames Center should be considered very cautiously.\u00a0 With the state preparing to fund and operate a brand new facility, our community should carefully review how to best advance important local priorities when evaluating local ballot measures.<\/p>\n

As Sitkans go to the polls next week I hope they\u2019ll be aware of the important state investment included in the bond proposition on this November\u2019s ballot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During the next several weeks voters will consider two separate ballot initiatives that could provide a new swimming pool for Sitka.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7,33,13],"class_list":["post-963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-bert-stedman","tag-education","tag-sitka"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=963"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1573,"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963\/revisions\/1573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}