FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
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At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]
Vietnam-Era Vets
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
More Fees Approved For Hospital Options
By Sentinel Staff
Taking up the items left on the table when time ran out at the regular meeting the previous night, the Assembly met Wednesday evening to consider two spending ordinances sponsored by City Administrator Keith Brady.
The Assembly approved the items, but not without considerable discussion on both.
Most of the discussion was on the proposal to spend $100,000 “to fund the completion of the Sitka Community Hospital RFP process.”
The money would cover extended services by consultants Sarah Cave and Steve Huebner, who initially were hired by the city “to put a polished RFP” before the Assembly.
Only five members were present at the start of the meeting, Mayor Matt Hunter, Bob Potrzuski, Ben Miyasato, Steven Eisenbeisz and Richard Wein. Miyasato left before the consultant fee item came up.
In his memo to the Assembly, Administrator Keith Brady said Cave and Huebner provided “excellent expertise and vision into SCH, the RFP and the process,” and charged $3,000 less than the $10,000 authorized for the contract.
He said he was requesting the additional $100,000 to engage Cave and Huebner “for the remainder of the SCH RFP process,” in which they would research and advise on the follow-up work that will be required to evaluate the hospital proposals that are received.
City Attorney Brian Hanson supported the expenditure, explaining that the city staff does not have the capacity to provide the specialized expertise that will be needed.
In agreement, Mayor Matt Hunter and others pointed to the city’s failure to hire an administrator without outside professional help. Rob Allen, CEO of the Sitka hospital also came forward to recommend that the consultants be hired for the additional work, saying it was a small price to pay in comparison to the value of the hospital.
Assembly member Richard Wein questioned the need for the additional services by consultants, or the value received from the $68,000 spent on the Stroudwater report, or the cost of the Cave and Huebner report. He said he believes there are people in the community, including himself, with the knowledge and expertise to judge offers.
The only member of the public to testify was hospital board member Carin Adickes, who spoke against the $100,000 extension of the consultants’ contract.
“I feel like the hospital is working on its own, and Rob is doing a good job. I don’t feel we should spend more for consultants,” she said.
Assembly member Steve Eisenbeisz said he had come into the meeting opposed to spending the additional consultant fees.
“It’s really hard to swallow for me. $100,000 is a lot of money,” he said, before saying he had come around to support it. “If we don’t do a professionally supported process we are doomed to fail,” he said.
By the time this ordinance came up for a vote, Miyasato had left the meeting, leaving a bare quorum of four members at the Assembly table.
The vote was 3-1 in favor of advancing the consultant fee ordinance to second reading, with Wein casting the dissenting vote. The clerk announced that the ordinance passed, because the city charter says an ordinance is approved on first reading unless there are four votes against it.
Prior to consideration of the hospital consultant ordinance, the Assembly voted on another budget adjustment ordinance, passing it on a 5-0 vote.
The first item was $12,000 to upgrade the city’s Laserfiche document management system. City Clerk Sara Peterson said the system, which was initially purchased at a basic level, is already making document management much more efficient, and the upgrade will facilitate the transition of paper documents stored at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park to electronic documents. It will reduce the $15,000 cost of renting paper document storage space at the park, she said.
The same ordinance would authorize $57,000 for professional management of the city’s $55 million in reserve operating funds, and $47,000 for management of the $24 million in the city permanent fund.
All of the fees are expected to be covered by the investment earnings of the two funds. The appropriation for the permanent fund management “is in line with prior year expenditures,” said the administrator’s memorandum on that item.
The Assembly voted in November to put the city’s reserve funds under professional management, but didn’t appropriate funds for the service. The money has been managed by Alaska Permanent Capital Management since November. City finance director Jay Sweeney said the fee, one-tenth of a percent, is very favorable to the city.
Asked whether someone in the city could do the job, Sweeney said he didn’t believe so, because the depth and redundancy of the professional managers, and their diversified investment strategy. All other cities in the state the size of Sitka or larger, are using professional money managers, Sweeney said. He said he will keep the Assembly informed about the investment performance as gauged by industry benchmarks.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....