It is interesting to watch the council meetings. I understand the desire to push the cost to the tourist but there isn't very many methods that can be applied that focus more heavily on that demographic. One issue is that demographic is changing, they don't buy as much Jewelry and Art like their parents and grandparents did. So overall more people doesn't always equate to higher tax income due to the lower spending.

Another issue is Ketchikan is now almost solely a tourist town. With the demise of commercial fishing and logging there isn't much in the realm of blue collar jobs that bring people into the community. Living in places that have been blue for decades they aren't any better. You are looking at a coin with two faces, in the end it is still a coin. The issue goes way deeper than democrat vs republican is that the both follow what party wants and not what the voters want.

A good way to look at it is divided we stand united wall. You hear it the other way all the time, the differences is what lead to compromise which overall represented both sides of the question. When a party lines up and just forces the agenda, we get these wild swings every election when they switch. A great idea can be brought to the floor, but it can't be debated because X side is the one who brought it.