The Ketchikan Gateway Borough assembly unanimously voted on Sept. 21 to condemn “discriminatory comments” made against the Ketchikan Indian Community by Darlene Dollimont-Svenson, a member of the borough planning commission.

The assembly also requested her resignation.

Borough Mayor Austin Otos said the assembly will begin the process of changing borough code this week to allow for the removal of appointed officials.

The assembly’s action was prompted by D-Svenson’s comments at the Sept. 15 commission meeting, when members considered a parking variance for KIC’s planned S’eenáa Hít Navigation Center, which “will provide day services, overnight shelter, behavioral health screening, case management, employment assistance, independent living skills training and related support services for unhoused and imminently homeless individuals,” according to the meeting agenda.

The commission voted to grant the variance, allowing KIC to provide less parking than required in borough code on one of the lots that will host the center.

During the comment portion of the Sept. 15 meeting, D-Svenson said: “I think that this had been the hardest 10 days to come into a planning meeting … that I have ever had. I have been reached out to seven times about these cases, and I stood in my own belief, but I — I want us all to know one thing that’s been continually said from seven different sources, and that is, and it’s really not that nice — how much more do white people have to pay for KIC in this community?”

She continued: “I know it’s on record, and I know you can fire me for it.”

In the following days, a number of tribal and public officials, including KIC, issued statements denouncing D-Svenson’s remarks. Some also called for her censure and resignation.

About 20 people took to the podium on Sept. 21 during the almost two-hour-long public comment portion of the assembly meeting to address D-Svenson’s remarks and the pending motion to condemn the race-based comment and urge her censure.

Public comments covered a variety of topics such as the memory of discrimination and segregation in Ketchikan, references to boarding schools and “No Natives, No Dogs” signs, as well as the harm words can cause and the contributions KIC has made to the Ketchikan community for all ethnicities.

Mike Weston, who works with KIC on veteran affairs, said that when he started the job, he wasn’t told that he could only work with tribal veterans.

“I was told to work with everybody, which is exactly what I do,” Weston said. “More than half the people I see are not tribal citizens. KIC — they are actively looking for problems that Ketchikan has, so they can solve them. We had a housing issue, so what happens? They built a house, not just one house, they built a space for 28 people to help alleviate the burden on the community.”

“I stand with KIC and the rest of the community in that discrimination and ethical lapses of this commissioner (has) no place in our government, and I believe that we are owed an apology, and I think we’re owed a resignation,” said Assembly Member Glen Thompson.

Assembly Member Bridget Mattson said she appreciates that “so many of us are allies and stand with abhorrence at the fact that these words were spoken in a public forum,” and that people recognize that “words do carry weight, especially when they’re platformed.”