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AMHS
Division and Board Formed
Maintaining a viable ferry system has long been the number one concern of Southeast Conference. At the suggestion of Southeast Conference, Governor Murkowski created a twelve member Marine Transportation Advisory Board to provide recommendations on how to improve ferry service while reducing the overall cost of the system. Southeast Conference staff, Board, and committee members comprise four of the seats, including chair, vice-chair, and secretary. During the Governor's campaign, he noted that he was looking to Southeast Conference to determine what measures should be taken to improve the System. Southeast Conference realized that this was the time for active solutions. Southeast Conference developed a concept to introduce a Board of Directors into the structure of AMHS. The Board Members represent the various constituents of the system including labor, tourism, and commercial users as well as 5 seats representing the geographic areas served by the system.
David Kensinger of Petersburg will chair the Board in addition to representing the commercial users of the Alaska Marine Highway System. Kensinger is the co-chair of the Southeast Conference Transportation Committee and is the owner and operator of Chelan Produce which provides service to Wrangell, Petersburg, Sitka and Kake. He is also part of the Petersburg Economic Development Committee. John “J.C.” Conley of Ketchikan will represent the southern part of Southeast Alaska. He has served as Vice-Mayor of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and is the current President of the Southeast Conference. He will serve as the Board's vice-chair. Meilani
Schijvens of Juneau will represent the Southeast Conference.
She is Robert
Venables of Haines will represent the northern part of Southeast
Alaska and is currently the Economic Development Director for the
Haines Borough. He has served the last seven years on the Board
of Directors for the Haines Chamber of Commerce, with two of those
years as president. Venables is a Southeast Conference Board member,
and is the chair of the SEC Economic Development Philip
Taylor of Ketchikan will represent the employees’ unions
on the Alaska Marine Highway System. Taylor currently is the captain
of the M/V Columbia, which serves part of the Alaska Marine Highway.
He has worked for the Alaska Marine Highway System from twenty-nine
years. Taylor was born in Ketchikan and Dennis Gray of Hoonah will represent the cities of Angoon, Hoonah, Kake, Pelican and Tenakee on the Marine Transportation Advisory Board. Gray received a degree in rural development from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He currently works for Sealaska Timber Corporation. Kenneth Gates of Cordova will represent Prince William Sound and the Kenai Peninsula on the Board. Gates currently is the CEO and General Manager for the Cordova Electric Cooperative. Dick Jacobsen of Sand Point will represent the southwestern part of Alaska including the Aleutian Chain and the Alaska Peninsula. Jacobsen was most recently the Mayor of Aleutians East Borough and has worked for the Aleut Corporation Fisheries Board. Bob Prunella of Wrangell will serve as one of the two public members on the Board. He is the City Manager of Wrangell, a past member of the Wrangell School Board, and a past president of the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce. Susan Bell of Juneau will serve as the other public member of the Board. Currently she is a partner in the McDowell Group and had previously been the Vice President of Tourism for Goldbelt Incorporated. Bell has over twenty years of experience in the Alaska visitor industry. Len Laurence of Ketchikan will represent the Alaska Travel Industry Association. He has been an independent tourism consultant serving as the marketing manager for the Inter-Island Ferry Authority. Roger Hames was appointed as the Board's 12th member. He resides in Sitka. Go
to Governor's Office Press Release Go
to Administrative Order #204 |
Southeast Conference