Daily Sitka Sentinel

City to Interview Four Hopefuls for City Job

By SHANNON HAUGLAND

Sentinel Staff Writer

The Assembly met for an hour in executive session Wednesday, selecting four city administrator applicants to be invited to come up for interviews Aug. 18 and 19.

All four have accepted the city’s invitation for an expense-paid weekend trip to Sitka, city human resources director Mark Danielson said today. They will tour the city, meet city department heads, be guests at a public reception and sit for interviews by the Assembly and a panel of city department heads and a tribal representative.

The applicants were selected by the executive recruitment firm Prothman, which the Assembly hired to run the search after the city’s in-house process failed to produce a suitable candidate.

The four applicants who will come for the interviews are:

– P. Keith Brady, a county commissioner for Emery County, Utah, since 2015, responsible for the oversight of various operating departments in the county. He was a city council member in Green River, Utah (2008-2011), and is the owner of a motel in that city. He lived in Alaska in his youth, and has a degree in visual communications from Collins College in Arizona.

– David Fuqua, who has been city manager for eight cities in Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico since 1994. He currently lives in Cushing, Okla. His last city manager position was 2015 to 2016 in Altus, Okla., and he’s also served as a housing director and police officer. He has a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Oklahoma State University and a master’s in public administration from University of Oklahoma.

– Delray “Lucky” Shultz, former chief of staff for Alaska Sen. Fred Dyson (2007-2009), currently a part-time driver for EAN Holdings and certified business and leadership coach for his own company in Anchorage. He served in the Air Force for 11 years, ending his career as a captain. He has also held internal consulting jobs for oil and exploration companies in Alaska (1981 to 2001). He has a bachelor’s in engineering management from the Air Force Academy, and master’s in logistics and facilities management from Air Force Institute of Technology/Air University, Ohio.

– Kim Zimmerman, former city manager of Ridgway, Pa. A retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, he is currently a gunsmithing student pursuing a degree in the art of gunmaking in Colorado. He spent 23 years in the Army as a logistics officer serving in various levels of leadership. His bachelor’s degree is in biology from Clarion University of Pennsylvania, and master’s is in geography and regional planning from California University of Pennsylvania.

City Administrator Mark Gorman resigned in June to take a position with an international relief agency, and since then Phil Messina has been filling the position on an interim basis.

Prothman recruiter John Hodgson, a former city administrator, came to Sitka this spring to collect information about the town and the qualities Assembly is looking for in a new administrator.

Hodgson said he advertised the position and screened the some 20 applications, reviewed resumes, conducted initial interviews and provided the Assembly with eight semifinalists to consider for final interviews.

Applicants who were not selected by the Assembly for interviews were Camielle Call, Thomas Heck and Bill Matthews. An eighth applicant dropped out before Wednesday’s special meeting.

Messina, Hodgson, Danielson, City Attorney Brian Hanson, and City Clerk Sara Peterson attended the executive session. The motion to go into executive session said the Assembly planned to discuss subjects that may tend to prejudice someone’s character or reputation.

After returning to open session Wednesday the Assembly members didn’t discuss the applicants before announcing the four finalists.

Tristan Guevin summarized the qualities the Assembly is looking for: experience in management, finance and budgets in cities of similar size; skills in critical thinking, problem solving and team-building; character and integrity; and knowledge of Sitka. Formal education or life experience and “completeness of the application” were also listed as considerations.

The Assembly has identified Alaskan experience as important, as well as an ability to interact with the public and engage in the community.

Assembly members said they were pleased with Prothman’s work so far. The city hired Messina as interim administrator at Prothman’s recommendation.

Next weekend’s plans call for a community reception with the candidates Friday evening Aug. 18, after which residents can fill out comment cards, or give feedback to Assembly members in person or in writing.

Interviews with the candidates will be held on Saturday. Candidates will rotate through three stations: a panel interview with Assembly members, open to the public; a panel interview with department heads and a Sitka Tribe of Alaska representative, which will be closed to the public; and a tour of the city and facilities led by a male and female member of city staff.

A lunch for the candidates will be Saturday. Hodgson said he hopes by the end of the all-day process, the Assembly will have a good idea of the applicants’ qualifications.

Citing the city’s government-to-government relationship with the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Guevin proposed inviting STA general manager Lisa Gassman to participate on the panel interviews, and the rest of the Assembly members agreed.

The position was advertised at $120,000 to $140,000.