“This town’s in a death spiral right now that’s going to continue.”
– Borough assemblyman Mark Smith, Oct. 13, 2026
“Pretty soon there’s not going to be nobody here and you’re going to have to figure it out.”
-Assembly candidate Kim Rasado, Oct. 13, 2026
It would be clever to say that our town has a Doomsday Cult, a cadre of true believers convinced that the end was near and that repentance is our only salvation in the face of the coming rapture.
But that wouldn’t be accurate. We do, however, have a chorus of would-be Cassandras, ever predicting that our town is on the precipice of shriveling up and blowing away. The chorus has been around for at least the 40 years I’ve lived in Haines but I’m sure it’s older than that.
At every turn, they see the end. Without a road to Juneau, this town is going to die. Without the mine, this town is going to die. Without drastic cuts in public spending, this town is going to die. For these folks, this town has been going to die forever.
The truth, based on actual history and trends, is it hasn’t and it isn’t and it won’t.
I arrived in Haines in 1986, and the chorus was at full throat. The last big sawmill had closed in 1984, and the town was emptying out, they sang. What are we going to do for jobs?
The town approved a tax to build a tourism industry and the world came here to spend money. Our success literally sailed into town last summer with dockings by The World and Luminara, two of the most exclusive cruise ships in the world.
More interestingly, starting in the 1990s the real estate and residential construction industries took off here. Ever since, residents and visitors have been buying land and building homes here, creating jobs for carpenters, contractors, lumberyards, dirt-movers and property salesmen.
By the early 2000s, our town was seeing an in-migration of a new breed of workers: Ones who worked from home and sent their work in via the Internet. Invisible from Main Street, these newcomers helped buoy local stores, made contributions to nonprofits and sent their children to our schools.
Starting around the same time came the retirement economy. Boomers who’d spent careers in Bush Alaska, or had retired from the military or were tired of congestion in the Lower 48, decided Haines would be the place for their Golden Years. The Senior Village, Haines Assisted Living and the McCrae-Soboleff building went up.
The Cassandras sang that without the mills, there would be no manufacturing in Haines. A hot tub factory opened as did small plants making beer, liquor and cider, including for export in Alaska and in the Lower 48. Skilled artists and artisans continue making a living here creating fine goods ranging from guitars to totems.
I could go on identifying pockets of wealth and investment in Haines – including the stories of dozens of young people who have moved here recently and are making it work. The reason Haines isn’t dying is that people want to be here. Starting with the Tlingits who settled here a few thousand years ago, they always have and they always will because Haines is a nice place to live. Full stop.
None of that matters to the Chorus of Cassandras because their warning isn’t actually a warning. The reason that “Haines Is Dying” never goes away isn’t because Haines has actually been dying for 40 years. “Haines Is Dying” never dies because it is a political ploy, used by wealthy or comfortable people in Haines who mostly want lower taxation.
They have their cake and they’re not interested in sharing it with the community but they can’t come right out and say that, so instead they trot out “Haines Is Dying” almost every time an improvement to our community is proposed.
The important difference between the Chorus and the actual Cassandra is that Cassandra was right.