Nome representative ousted from NSEDC board of directors

The Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation’s board voted to oust the Nome representative from its board of directors last week, triggering a special election to fill the seat in October.

Representative Adem Boeckmann, elected to the board in late 2018, was supposed to hold the Nome seat until 2022.

“Following confidential discussions, the NSEDC Board of Directors removed Mr. Boeckmann as the Nome representative,” NSEDC President and CEO Janis Ivanoff wrote in an email to the Nugget on Monday. “Per the NSEDC bylaws, a member of the Board may be removed by a two-thirds majority vote of the directors whenever it is determined to be in the best interest of the Corporation.”

One of NSEDC’s main economic ventures is Norton Sound Seafood Products, which manages NSEDC’s commercial seafood activities in the region, including the purchasing of salmon, halibut and king crab from local fishermen. NSSP is the main buyer in the Norton Sound market, but this summer Icicle Seafoods, a Seattle-based seafood company, brought a processor to the region with plans to purchase Norton Sound’s pink salmon.

Pinks have been historically targeted for canning, an expensive and inaccessible process in the Norton Sound region. Icicle hoped to partner with NSEDC and NSSP during the 2021 pink season, but NSEDC declined, citing concerns with Icicle’s experimental purse-seining fishing proposal, which was approved by the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game.

“NSEDC made clear long ago that we are opposed to the introduction of purse seining in Norton Sound due to its potential negative impacts on our

Chinook and chum salmon resources, as well as the resident commercial and subsistence fishers who depend on them,” NSEDC Communications Director Laureli Ivanoff told the Nugget in early June. “Further, after a dismal commercial fishery for chum and coho in 2020, the introduction of a new and competitive gear-type yields considerable risk for local gillnet fishermen who are historically dependent on these fisheries.”

Boeckmann, while sitting on the NSEDC board of directors, was the only local fisherman to apply for the experimental purse-seine permit and sell to Icicle. Two other fishermen applied for the permits, one from Kodiak and one from Seldovia.

“I’m no lawyer, but I’ve been asked a lot of questions by NSEDC lawyers in the last few months in regard to the Icicle large scale pink salmon fishery,” Boeckman said. “I believe I was removed for a lack of loyalty to the NSEDC, but my loyalty was placed well in the purpose of NSEDC, which is to support economic development in Norton Sound in Alaska. My loyalty is to my fellow fishermen that have suffered greatly in the last few years and to my member community in Alaska.”

Several commercially fished species in Norton Sound have been struggling over the last several years, including salmon and red king crab. Chums, Coho and silvers across the state have been showing low runs for several years, and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo declared Norton Sound’s 2019 red

knowledgement and consideration of Native historic features and culture. The Council did not pass the resolution and instead voted to delay the adoption of the Historic Preservation Plan until concerns of the missing Native historical context are addressed.

The Council in first reading passed an ordinance for a land use permit for the non-exclusive use by the Nome Rotary Club of East End Park.

Two resolutions doling out more CARES Act funds were unanimously approved. Phase seven addresses needs of the hospitality industry, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries, hotels, inns and B&Bs that suffered economically during the pandemic. Eligible businesses must have had less gross sales in 2020 compared to 2019 and are eligible to a maximum of $10,000. The City has allocated $170,000 to that tranche of COVID funds.

The second resolution awards a $500 assistance grant to artisans, carvers and sculptors who have economically suffered from the lack of tourists associated with the Iditarod and summer tourism. The City allocated a total of $16,000 for that program. The application deadline for both phase seven assistance programs is August 27.

The Council also voted on offering a “bounty” on junk cars and vehicles to be hauled by the City to the landfill. To incentivize the removal of junk cars, the City is prepared to pay $50 per car or truck and $25 for ATVs or snowmachines.

The Council also voted on entering into a contract with Knik Construction to replace the concrete in front of the Fire Hall.

Salina Hargis of Hawaii, sister to Joseph Balderas, who has been missing since June 2016, addressed the Council with the request to spread the word in the community to find any leads that may shed light on her brother’s disappearance.

In other business, the city manager received a letter from Norton Sound Health Corporation seeking to exempt NSHC’s patient hostel and the new Liitfik Wellness Center from property taxes. The amount at stake is nearly $93,000 in taxes. Bryant Hammond, City Clerk, said the patient hostel had been historically not exempt from property taxes and the new wellness center is not related to hospital functions per se. The city’s attorney confirmed Hammond was procedurally correct. Mayor Handeland put it to the Council to act on the request, but lacking a motion to reverse the property taxation, NSHC’s appeal failed.

City Manager Glenn Steckman said that in light of the current Delta variant outbreak of COVID-19 in the region, he encourages mask wearing in indoor places. “I’m encouraging, not telling,” he said. Council member Doug Johnson echoed the message, saying that the City should encourage mask wearing in indoor public settings. During the meeting, however, nobody except for one member of the media, sported a mask.

In the second round of public

comments, Stephanie Nielson requested the City hire a grant writer or train employees to become grant writers so that grant applications for needed equipment would be more successful. She said she put in for a much needed side-by-side vehicle for the ambulance department but her grant was denied.

In Mayor’s comments, John Handeland announced the news that Judy Martinson unexpectedly died last weekend. “She did a lot for Nome and will be missed,” he said.