An initiative asking voters whether Juneau should ban large cruise ships on Saturdays starting next year has qualified for the local ballot this fall.
The City and Borough of Juneau clerk’s office announced on Monday that the group leading the “Ship-Free Saturday” ballot initiative had secured enough certified signatures to get a spot on Juneau’s Oct. 1 ballot, unless the Juneau Assembly decides to take action on the issue before then.
Karla Hart is one of the activists who led the effort this spring. She said the support the initiative has seen so far goes to show how much people in Juneau want change.
“I think it says that Juneau really seriously wants some hard stops on cruise industry impacts in their lives, and that they haven’t received that from the city Assembly,” she said. “And that they don’t think that those hard stops are coming unless citizens take action.”
If the initiative is passed by voters, it would ban all cruise ships that carry 250 or more passengers from visiting Juneau on Saturdays and on the Fourth of July. But before it appears on the ballot, the Juneau Assembly has until Aug. 15 to decide whether to take its own action on the issue.
Though the initiative gained more than 2,300 signatures in support, plenty of people and businesses in the community oppose it, including Laura Martinson McDonnell.
She owns a gift shop downtown and is on the steering committee for a local advocacy group called Protect Juneau’s Future. The group is behind the orange signs hanging around town that discouraged people from signing the initiative.
“I’m absolutely voting against this initiative,” she said. “That’s because I would like to maintain the right to control my own business and have a say in how my business is operating.”
Martinson McDonnell said she believes the initiative is being led by a small minority of the community. And, she doesn’t think it actually has the support needed to pass in October.
Juneau Visitor Industry Director Alix Pierce said the city will likely share information on its website that explains what the initiative seeks to do and the facts surrounding it. But, she said the city does not plan to take a formal stance on the issue.
“People are always welcome to provide their own interpretation, but our duty as a local government is to provide accurate and factual information to our citizens,” she said.
Local initiatives similar to this one have popped up in recent years in other parts of Southeast and at other ports across the U.S., but many have failed to make it across the finish line because of legal barriers.
Late last month, a group of residents in Sitka submitted a ballot measure to city officials there. It would limit the number of cruise ship passengers that visit there each season. That initiative is currently undergoing legal review. Last season, Sitka city officials there denied a petition seeking a similar goal, saying the proposed legislation would be unenforceable under the Alaska Constitution.