Communication has always been the key to a successful relationship, organization, business and, yes, government.

Poor communication, untimely communication or less transparent communication is a virus that will infect the entity involved. It seems like the City and Borough of Wrangell has been infected by this communication virus.

This current strain involves the outdoor market (inspired by Tony Haubrich) that was set to test the waters on May 22 and which is now a casualty.

On April 25 at the Saturday market, a flyer was passed out to all vendors regarding this trial market. A QR code was included on the flyer to pre-register. The flyer was complete with details.

Originally, I was not going to participate, but a week before the scheduled day of May 22, I decided I wanted to show support for Tony and the hard work he and the Nolan Center had done to make this happen. I completed the application that the QR code took me to, and provided my email address and phone number. Setup time for this trial outdoor market was 8 a.m.

I arrived at about 7:30 a.m. to check out setup options. I spoke with Jeanie (Nolan Center Director Jeanie Arnold) for a bit and we both went about our own tasks.

Several hours later I was chatting with a friend who told me they thought they had heard on the radio that the market had been canceled. I had no idea what they were talking about. I had not received one word via text or email. I checked social media (Wrangell Community Facebook page) but found nothing about this event being canceled.

My friend asked me what I was going to do and I said nothing. I had not seen nor read any notice from any city and borough employee that confirmed the cancellation. I don’t manage my life on unverified rumors.
This is what brings me to the communication virus. The symptoms are poor, untimely, inaccurate or no communication. It seems like with what happened with the outdoor market, we have a problem.

I’m not saying that no one knew the market was cancelled, maybe they heard it on the radio, but I did not. In order to hear, one must have a radio turned on at the right time.

For a city that notifies us six months before our property taxes are due, this just seemed wrong.

The communication virus is not necessarily fatal but can be to the organization, family business or government agency if it isn’t treated.

Kathy Watkins