Committee drops visitors bureau chief from Ketchikan's planned tourism board

The committee designing Ketchikan's new Tourism Advisory Board agreed Oct. 5 to take the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau's executive director off the board.

An earlier draft gave the bureau director an ex officio seat, with a voice in discussions but no vote. The bureau works under contract with the city, and some members said the new board might someday be asked to look at that arrangement.

"At some point the city of Ketchikan may want this tourism board to take a look at the services that KVB are providing because we fund them," member Ty Rettke said, according to a recording of the meeting.

Member Bob Evermann said the city and borough both fund the bureau, "and there has been stuff going on with the city where they want to either reduce it or they want more accountability."

Chair Sheldon Johnson said the board can ask the bureau for information and invite it to meetings when needed. "I don't think they need to be ex officio," he said.

Member Laurie Booyse said the bureau knows what visitors ask about, information the board would otherwise have to survey to learn. "I welcome that knowledge," she said.

Member Marcus Wever had asked for a seat for the Ketchikan Historic Commission, saying "the people making money off Creek Street aren't going to be involved primarily with protecting Creek Street." He said Ketchikan is going from 1.6 million passengers this year to 2 million by 2030.

Wever said the bureau has done "a great job with promoting tourism." But "they are to promote tourism," he said, not to protect residents from the effects of overtourism.

Rettke said more ex officio seats would invite "special interest to try and affect the decision of this operation." No Historic Commission seat was added, and members said other groups can speak during public comment.

The committee also broadened the board's research duty to cover tourism's "economic, cultural, and community impacts."

Last month, the committee decided to leave the cruise line agencies off the board, Alaska News reported Sept. 23. Johnson asked members to send final comments on a clean copy of the ordinance. "And then we'll go to the city council," he said.