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Downtown business owners and tribal leaders clash over warming shelter’s local impact

Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly · December 15, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Local business owners told the borough assembly they feel unsafe when people from an overnight warming shelter gather outside downtown storefronts; Ketchikan Indian Community leaders defended the shelter, outlined security steps and asked the city and borough to provide services such as open bathrooms and lighting.

Several downtown business owners and community volunteers urged the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly on Dec. 15 to help address safety and sanitation issues near an overnight warming shelter, while tribal leaders and shelter operators defended the program and asked for partnership.

"Their businesses are being trashed," resident Darlene Delmont Svensson told the assembly, saying women entrepreneurs in the downtown core feel unsafe with people congregating at storefronts and that some business owners have tried and failed to get assistance from the shelter operator and police. Svensson…

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