The following words and phrases, whenever used in ordinances of the city and borough of Sitka, Alaska, or in any ordinance of any predecessor municipal government thereof, which ordinances have been or are adopted as ordinances of the city and borough of Sitka, Alaska, shall be construed as defined in this section unless from the context a different meaning is intended, or unless different meaning is specifically defined and more particularly directed to the use of such words and phrases:
“Administrator”
means the municipal administrator.
“Assembly”
means the assembly of the city and borough of Sitka.
“Assembly clerk”
means the municipal clerk.
“Assessor”
means the municipal assessor.
“Attorney”
means the municipal attorney.
“Borough”
means the city and borough of Sitka, or the area within the territorial limits of the city and borough, over which the city and borough has jurisdiction or control through any constitutional, Charter provisions, law, constitutional or statutory provision.
“Building official”
means the municipal building official.
“Charter”
means the Charter of the city and borough.
“City”
means the city and borough of Sitka (see definition of “Borough”).
“City and borough”
means the city and borough of Sitka.
“Clerk”
means the municipal clerk.
“Clerk-treasurer,”
whenever the reference is to duties involving money, means the municipal finance director.
“Clerk-treasurer,”
whenever the reference is to duties not involving money, means the municipal clerk.
“Computation of time”
means the time within which an act is to be done. It shall be computed by excluding the first day and including the last day; and if the last day is Sunday or a legal holiday, that day shall be excluded.
“Council”
means the assembly of the city and borough. “All councilmen” means all assemblymen.
“Court” or “district court”
means the municipal court for the city and borough.
“Day”
means a calendar day composed of 24 hours, beginning at 12:00 a.m. and ending at 11:59 p.m. on the same day, unless otherwise specified.
“Deputy presiding officer”
means the deputy mayor.
“Engineer”
means the municipal engineer.
“Finance director”
means the municipal finance director.
“Health officer”
means the municipal health officer.
“Include” or “including”
shall be construed as though followed by the phrase “but not limited to.”
“Judge” or “magistrate”
means the judge of the municipal court.
“Law”
denotes applicable federal law, the Constitution and statutes of the state of Alaska, the Charter and ordinances of the city and borough, and when appropriate, any and all rules and regulations which may be promulgated thereunder.
“May”
is permissive.
“Mayor”
means the municipal mayor.
“Month”
means a calendar month.
“Municipality”
means the city and borough of Sitka (see definition of “Borough”).
"Must" and "Shall."
Each is mandatory.
“Oath”
shall be construed to include an affirmation or declaration in all cases in which, by law, an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and in such cases the words “swear” and “sworn” shall be equivalent to the words “affirm” and “affirmed.”
"Occupant."
See “Tenant.”
“Or”
may be read “and” and “and” may be read “or” if the sense requires it.
“Ordinance”
means a law of the city and borough; provided, that a temporary or special law, administrative action, order or directive, may, as allowed by the Charter, be in the form of a resolution.
“Owner,”
applied to a building or land, includes any part owner, joint owner, tenant in common, joint tenant or tenant by the entirety, or agent in charge for any of the foregoing, of the whole or a part of such building or land.
“Peace officer”
means any officer of the state police, members of the police force of any incorporated city or borough, United States Marshals and their deputies, and other officers whose duty it is to enforce and preserve the public peace.
“Person”
means natural person, joint venture, joint stock company, partnership, association, club, company, corporation, business, trust, organization, or the manager, lessee, agent, servant, officer or employee of any of them.
“Personal property”
includes money, goods, chattels, things in action and evidences of debt.
“Preceding” and “following”
mean next before and next after, respectively.
“Presiding officer”
means the mayor.
“Property”
includes real and personal property.
“Real property”
includes lands, tenements and hereditaments.
“Registered mail”
includes certified mail. When the use of registered mail is authorized or required by the Sitka General Code, certified mail may be used unless expressly prohibited.
“Sidewalk”
means that portion of a street between the curb line and the adjacent property line intended for the use of pedestrians.
“Signature” or “subscription”
includes mark when the person cannot write, with his name written near the mark by a witness who writes his own name near the person’s name, but a signature or subscription by mark can be acknowledged or can serve as a signature or subscription to a sworn statement only when two witnesses so sign their own names thereto.
“Sitka”
means the city and borough of Sitka (see definition of “Borough”).
“State”
means the state of Alaska.
“Street”
includes all streets, highways, avenues, lanes, alleys, courts, places, squares, curbs, parking areas, or other public ways which have been or may hereafter be dedicated and open to public use, or such other public property so designated in any law of the state of Alaska.
“Superior court”
means the superior court of the state of Alaska at Sitka.
“Tenant” and “occupant,”
applied to a building or land, includes any person who occupies the whole or a part of such building or land, whether alone or with others.
"Title of office."
Use of the title of any officer, employee, board or commission means that officer, employee, department, board or commission of the city and borough.
“Written”
includes printed, typewritten, mimeographed or multigraphed.
“Year”
means a calendar year.
(B.C.S. 1.16.090; S.G.C. 1.04.010; Ord. 73-68 § 3, 1973; Ord. 06-07 § 4, 2006; Ord. 07-03 § 4, 2007)
The following grammatical rules shall apply in the ordinances of the city and borough:
A. 
Gender. Any gender includes the other genders;
B. 
Singular and plural. The singular number includes the plural and the plural includes the singular;
C. 
Tenses. Words used in the present tense include the past and the future tenses and vice versa, unless manifestly inapplicable;
D. 
Use of words and phrases. Words and phrases not specifically defined shall be construed according to the context and approved usage of the language.
E. 
All words and phrases shall be construed and understood according to the common and approved usage of the language; but technical words and phrases and such others as may have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in the law shall be construed and understood according to such peculiar and appropriate meaning.
(S.G.C. 1.04.020; Ord. 73-68 § 4, 1973)
When an act is required by ordinance and the act may be done as well by an agent as by the principal, such requirement shall be construed as to require and include all such acts performed by an authorized agent.
(S.G.C. 1.04.030; Ord. 73-68 § 5, 1973)
Whenever in the ordinances of the city and borough, any act or omission is made unlawful, it shall include causing, allowing, permitting, aiding, abetting, suffering, or concealing the fact of such act or omission.
(S.G.C. 1.04.040; Ord. 73-68 § 6, 1973)
Additional, but nonconflicting herewith, definitions may be as set forth in other ordinances of the city and borough.
(S.G.C. 1.04.050; Ord. 73-68 § 7, 1973)
A. 
No member of the assembly, elected or appointed official, municipal employee or official may participate in official action in which the assembly person, elected official, employee or official has a substantial financial interest.
B. 
If a member of the assembly or other municipal board or commission has a substantial interest in an official action, that member shall declare the substantial financial interest and ask to be excused from the vote on the matter.
C. 
Upon a request made under subsection B of this section, the following procedure shall be followed:
1. 
The presiding officer shall rule on the request by a member to be excused from the vote.
2. 
The assembly, board or commission may override the decision of the presiding officer on the request to be excused by a majority vote.
D. 
As used in this section, “substantial financial interest” means an expectation of receiving a nontrivial pecuniary or material benefit. A substantial financial interest of a person includes any substantial financial interest of that person’s immediate family. A person has a substantial financial interest in an organization in which that person has an ownership interest, or is a director, officer, or employee. A person has a substantial financial interest in a decision if a substantial financial interest of that person will vary with the outcome of the decision. A substantial financial interest does not include the following: a personal or financial interest which is not of the magnitude that would exert an influence on an average, reasonable person; a personal or financial interest of a type which is generally possessed by the public or a large class of persons to which that official or employee belongs; or an action or influence which would have an insignificant or conjectural effect on the matter in question.
E. 
As used in this section, “immediate family” of a person means anyone related to that person by blood, marriage, or adoption or who lives in that person’s household.
(S.G.C. 1.04.080; Ord. 86-684 § 4, 1986; Ord. 04-27 § 4, 2004)
A. 
The official seal of the city and borough of Sitka is a symbol of authority and jurisdiction of the city. As a valuable asset of the city and its citizens, the assembly seeks to insure that it is used only for appropriate purposes.
B. 
The municipal clerk shall have charge of the seal of the city and borough of Sitka and shall affix the city seal to all certificates required by law, by this code, or by ordinance of the city. The municipal clerk may issue written permission for ceremonial or other permitted purposes as deemed appropriate by the clerk or assembly.
C. 
Municipal officers, employees, members of the assembly, and members of municipal boards and commissions may use stationery and printed materials with the city seal, or facsimile thereof, while acting within the scope of their office or employment.
D. 
Except as provided for in this section, no person, other than the city and borough of Sitka, shall reproduce, use, give away, sell, or distribute any seal or facsimile thereof purporting to be or represented to be the city seal.
E. 
A person may not use or make a die or impression of the city seal for any advertising or commercial purpose.
F. 
Violation of this section is a misdemeanor, and upon conviction is punishable by a fine of not more than $500.00, or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both.
(S.G.C. 1.04.090; Ord. 14-32 § 4, 2014)
A. 
The policy of the city and borough is, in general, to not oppose the use of timber harvest and silvicultural systems on all public lands identified as appropriate by the U.S. Forest Service and to encourage the U.S. Forest Service to provide a reliable, continuous supply of timber sales in the Sitka area that will support timber industry jobs in Sitka.
B. 
It is further the policy of the city and borough to oppose all clearcut harvest which is not located so as to minimize negative impacts to critical fish and wildlife habitat, subsistence resources and scenic quality.
C. 
The municipal administrator and assembly shall advocate the policy’s objective to all appropriate agencies and state and federal officials.
(S.G.C. 1.04.100; Ord. 96-1398 § 3, 1996)