Juneau Assembly candidates differ on cruise ship and passenger limits
Candidates outlined competing approaches to managing cruise tourism, including codifying the existing five-ship limit, maintaining voluntary caps and pursuing passenger-based restrictions.
Juneau Assembly candidate Paul Kelly said he supports codifying the existing five-ship limit as a starting point. He also proposed a standing visitor industry task force, selected by the Assembly, to collect data and evaluate the city’s capacity for ships and passengers.
James McCants opposed a five-ship cap, noting that Juneau could have seven docks while permitting only five cruise ships. Brad Sapp also rejected limits, saying he favors encouraging and expanding cruise tourism.
David Morris said Juneau is already at its maximum cruise level because of road constraints. He also called for renegotiating the head tax so more revenue could support dock power, pollution reduction, wastewater treatment and road maintenance.
Malachi Thorington opposed formally locking in the five-ship limit, warning that doing so could prompt legal strategies from cruise companies. He instead favored examining legal grounds for passenger limits in different parts of Juneau. Karla Hart advocated determining an appropriate scale for the local cruise industry rather than imposing what she described as an arbitrary limit.
Joyce Niven opposed a five-ship restriction but supported holding passenger numbers at their current level while assessing the effect of the Huna Totem dock. Mila Cosgrove favored retaining the voluntary arrangement of five ships, with a general passenger cap of 16,000 and a Saturday cap of 12,000, rather than codifying the ship limit.