Winter in Unalaska by Sam Zmolek
Your voice in the Aleutians.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
The KUCB Newsroom provides newscasts Monday through Thursday at noon and 5 PM on KUCB Radio. You can find many of our local news stories here.

Council Passes 2017 Fiscal Budget

Chrissy Roes/KUCB

The council approved a more than $29 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year, but not until they removed a $13,000 capital grant designated for the Unalaska Divers Association or UDA.

The organization asked for funds to cover four sets of dive gear with the goal of increasing community access and participation in the pricey activity.

Without the money from city council, anyone interested in trying out scuba diving must front $6,000 dollars for their own gear.

Councilor Yudelka Leclere says a lot of community members have expressed issue with approving a grant for an organization that serves less than 10 percent of the community.

“They don’t see this as a nonprofit that is providing a vital crucial service," Leclere said. They cannot be utilized with public safety and investigation. It’s more of a private association and also the community members brought forth that there are several nonprofit organizations that do contribute heavily to our community without asking for a single dime. FILAM, Lions Club, Teens for Health.”

She suggests UDA should try fundraising before asking the council for money. And UDA says they have been fundraising -- for over a year.

Councilor David Gregory disagreed with Leclere. He thinks the grant would benefit the community. He says just last week, the divers volunteered time to help with school programming for Dockside Discovery Day.

“If you asked all those little kids that got to see all those nifty little sea creatures, I think there were lots of smiles and lots of eyes were opened," Gregory said. "So I think this is a perfect example of how a nonprofit can come to the city and expand their program for asking for a very small amount of money.”

Only Gregory and Councilor Frank Kelty voted to keep the funds in the budget.

Later in the evening, the council rallied around efforts  to improve care for Unalaska’s elders. Mayor Shirley Marquardt has been digging into the issue since Senator Lisa Murkowski’s staffers paid a visit to the city last month. So, she went to the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association for help.

“One of the biggest problems we then found for the seniors here, you can't believe. [They] can't possibly not be eligible for Medicaid. It seems to be they’re exactly who the program was created for, but there’s a little glitch here or there that keeps them from being eligible which in tern keeps them from being able to utilize personal health care services or their families respite care which would be paid for by the state by APIA.”

The mayor then contacted Alaska Legal Services and they believe Unalaska is incredibly underserved and say they can help. So, the mayor has proposed using part of the council’s contingency fund to cover the cost of flying in two lawyers and two nights stay at the Grand Aleutian.

The lawyers would work with the clinic, APIA, and the senior center to better understand what services are available and who the providers are. They’d also hold a community conference to discuss Medicaid and Medicare eligibility. Plus, they would work one-on-one with individual seniors or their families to help them get the care they need. Without question, the entire council agreed to designate the funds for the proposed June visit.

Later on, towards the end of the meeting, councilor Zoya Johnson made an announcement – her resignation.

“Life has changed for me and I will be looking to move from the community," Johnson said. "I have been traveling quite a bit lately and I don’t feel that I’m as productive being a council member when I am traveling that much.”

She says she thinks it is better for the community to have a councilor who can contribute 100 percent of their time and effort to the job. Johnson has lived in Unalaska for 25 years, but she says the time comes for everyone to leave.

“You reach a point in your life when you realize, well as good as Unalaska has been there is bigger world out there and I would like to go and be a part of it now,” Johnson said.

She has some adventures planned -- including rafting the Alsek River with her boyfriend, but Unalaska will continue to be special to her.

To fill Johnson’s vacant seat, the city of Unalaska is accepting applications from those interested in being appointed to the City Council. The chosen appointee will serve until the next regular election this October. Interested applicants must submit a letter of interest and either a resume or a bio by Friday at 3 PM to the City of Unalaska’s Clerks Office.

Typically, there is more time for people to apply. But city code requires an appointment within 30 days. With planned travel, the council is unlikely to have a quorum after Memorial Day.

Council will hold a special meeting this Saturday at noon to choose a replacement. 

Zoë Sobel reported for KUCB from 2016 until 2019. She returned to KUCB after a year living in Nepal and Malaysia as a Luce Scholar. She then returned to KUCB as a ProPublica reporter August of 2020 through August of 2021.