Ketchikan borough mayor demanding planning commissioner resign after remark about tribe’s excessive code variances

By SUZANNE DOWNING

Sept. 20, 2026 – Ketchikan Gateway Borough Mayor Austin Otos is calling on a borough planning commissioner to resign after she questioned at a public meeting how much more “white people” should have to pay for the Ketchikan Indian Community.

Planning Commissioner Darlene Dollimont-Svenson made the remark during a Planning Commission meeting last Tuesday. Video of her comments circulated afterward. “How much more do white people have to pay for KIC in this community?” she asked, referring to the federally recognized tribe, not to Natives themselves.

She later said she misspoke, was just concerned that the community keeps having to pony up for the KIC, that KIC gets variances others don’t get, and she just wanted to bring up a conversation that Ketchikan residents had asked her to inquire about. She is married to an Aleut and has many Alaska Natives in her family. She adopted and raised a Native daughter. She categorically denies that her remark was intended to be racist; she just is concerned that KIC gets special treatment.

In a letter responding to the statement, Otos said borough officials are expected to act fairly and impartially. He praised the borough’s working relationship with KIC and said he took “great exception” to the commissioner’s words.

The Borough Assembly is scheduled to consider a motion Monday, Sept. 21, condemning Dollimont-Svenson’s statement, according to the mayor’s letter.

Otos said borough code does not provide a way to remove her from the Planning Commission, but he called on her to resign. This may be seen as a First Amendment encroachment, a violation of her right to free speech. Otos also said further remedies could be pursued. Dollimont-Svenson is a commissioner representing a rural seat with a term that ends in March, 2027.

The controversy started after KIC received substantial government Covid funds and started buying up properties around town. KIC opened up a homeless shelter in the middle of the business district, which has cost local business owners greatly.

Subsequently, there has been a months-long dispute over KIC’s plan to turn the former Salmon Falls Resort into an “addiction healing center.” The tribe purchased the property last fall. Some nearby residents have raised concerns about the proposed use, while tribal leaders have described the center as a needed source of treatment and healing. It’s uniquely zoned because it’s in the middle of a residential neighborhood. Parking is one of the big issues.

Dollimont-Svenson previously opposed aspects of KIC’s zoning request. At a January Planning Commission meeting, she asked the tribe to provide a fuller plan to neighboring residents and raised questions about possible effects on local services and fees. Borough meeting records say a KIC representative responded that the tribe would pay service area fees, though the property would be exempt from property taxes. The Borough Assembly later moved the project forward. 

The mayor’s letter says the Assembly will consider a public condemnation Monday.