Editor’s note: Ordinarily My Turn submissions are limited to one per person per month, but the rule is being waived to allow someone to address a My Turn that directly named the writer.
It’s disheartening that Win Gruening resorted to personal attacks in his May 14 column. For the record, the Juneau Empire editor issued a necessary correction to my April 25 My Turn, in which I mistakenly referenced a statement, that Disney could accommodate to the changes the initiatives propose, as coming from the Disney Cruise Line’s blog site. The statement was, in fact, made on the Disney Cruise Lines Blog (www.disneycruiselineblog.com). If I had burrowed down far enough through drop-down menus, I would have noticed that the Disney Cruise Lines Blog is “an unofficial Disney Cruise Line news, information, weather, and photoblog.” My bad: I didn’t burrow enough and overlooked the “unofficial.” Juneau Empire’s good: they issued a prompt correction.
I disagree with many of the “facts” I have read and heard in opposition to the initiatives. To depend upon “projected” 2022 cruise passenger volumes is fraught with difficulty: will the industry change their schedules or ships?; will the pandemic be over? Many of us have spent decades at mediation tables, on task forces, and at hearings. Yet, the CBJ Assembly has done nothing to “achieve well-thought-out policy,” to quote Gruening.
As Juneau Cruise Control, of which I am a board member, and Protect Juneau’s Future continue to debate, can we keep the discourse civil and focus on the issues, rather than get personal? I like to think that our country is, perhaps, recovering from more than 4 years of cruel, personal attacks – verbal and physical. I truly hope all of us who love Juneau can rise above the rancor.
• Sue Schrader has actively engaged in a variety of community issues during her 30 years in Juneau. She is a board member of Juneau Cruise Control. Columns, My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire. Have something to say? Here’s how to submit a My Turn or letter.
