James Stough has resigned as president of the Thomas Bay Power Commission and given up his seat on the Wrangell Borough Assembly.
The resignation came after Stough missed two TBPC meetings earlier this month. Commissioners contacted Stough last week to ask about his absences.
Stough made news in April when he wrote a cease-and-desist letter to the Southeast Alaska Power Agency. It called for SEAPA to stop negotiating a takeover of the operations and maintenance of the Tyee Hydroelectric Facility. SEAPA owns the facility, but Wrangell and Petersburg jointly maintain it through the TBPC. SEAPA also owns Ketchikan’s Swan Lake hydro plant and the three cities share power via an electrical intertie.
Stough said he opposes a SEAPA takeover of Tyee Lake because he said Wrangell stands to lose money from the deal.
Stough said he resigned last week because he is moving back up the Stikine River to Farm Island.
“I’ve been taking care of my mother,” Stough said. “She’s been good enough to live up here so we’ve been living up here. And it would just be hard to run back and forth and be involved in politics.”
Stough’s resignation from the borough assembly must be approved at the June 24 meeting for it to take effect. If that happens, the borough clerk will start taking letters of interest for the empty seat June 25. The assembly will appoint a new member at its regular meeting on July 22.
