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)
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]
By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in [ ... ]
By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]
Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday [ ... ]
By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]
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Alaska Beacon
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By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]
Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m. [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
Assembly to Review 14 for Administrator
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Former Sitka mayor Marko Dapcevich and former police chief Sheldon Schmitt are among the contenders for the position of city administrator.
Assembly members received copies of applications and resumes from 14 applicants at Tuesday’s regular meeting, and scheduled a meeting for Aug. 22 to review resumes and narrow the field for interviews.
The field of contenders for the position is the result of three weeks of advertising, mostly in-state, conducted directly by the city instead of through a professional recruiter, the process used in the past.
Discussion about recruitment for a new city administrator was among 10 items on the agenda at the less than two-hour meeting.
The Assembly fired the last administrator, Keith Brady, in June, after less than two years on the job. After naming Fire Chief Dave Miller as interim administrator, the Assembly directed Miller to start advertising through the Alaska Municipal League, a state employment website and the Sentinel for a full-time replacement.
Miller has announced that he is no longer interested in the position, and also plans to step down as fire chief within one or two years. He told the Assembly he would like to be assistant administrator after a new administrator is on board.
The Assembly discussion Tuesday night was short, and mostly involved setting up the next meeting for a time when all members could attend, either by teleconference or in person.
A special meeting was set for 6 p.m. August 22 at Harrigan Centennial Hall and will be open to the public.
Mayor Gary Paxton, who was Sitka city administrator for 9 years, commented today that more than half of the current crop of applicants have no Alaskan experience.
“The ones with Alaskan experience – there’s probably a couple worthy of consideration,” he said. “This is important. We need to be methodical about it and do what’s right.”
At present the city has no human resources director, and city staff said no information other information about the candidates is available at this time.
The applicants are:
–Calvin Anderson, Coconut Creek, Florida.
–Jack Ardaugh, Manhattan, Illinois.
–Craig Cugini, Fort Greeley, Alaska.
–Marko Dapcevich, New River, Arizona.
–Franklin Etheridge, Ludowici, Georgia.
–Jade Goroski, Shelby, Montana.
–Liam Hughes, Pendleton, Oregon.
–Alan Lanning, Cordova, Alaska.
–John Leach, Sitka.
–Loren Olsen, Bozeman, Montana.
–Eddy Reyes, Zephyrhills, Florida.
–David Rhoades, Enid, Oklahoma.
–Sheldon Schmitt, Sitka.
–Yulia Tsybulevskaya, Russian Federation.
Third-Party Investigator
The Assembly took no action on hiring a third-party investigator to look into issues at the police department.
Robert Baty, who joined the department as police chief this spring, said he was “pretty neutral” on the need for an investigator, commenting that things had been going well at the department since he started work in April. He said he’s responded to issues as they came up and will continue to look for areas that need improvement.
“It’s got a bright future,” he said of the department, and its progress. “My view now is ... I don’t think we need an independent third-party to investigate the department. It’s running well within standards and we’re constantly improving our procedures.”
No motion was made by the Assembly.
At the end of the meeting, police department multiservice officer Jackie Ojala, speaking for herself, said past complaints had not been addressed.
“I just wanted to remind you all of the reasons we wanted an investigator in the first place,” she said. “Chief Baty is doing an amazing job. Not saying we need to investigate from when he came on till now and the future, but the reasons we’re wanting to investigate (is) what was going on in the previous administration and the things that happened under that administration. There’s still a feeling of disappointment that it’s been put off still for so long and a feeling that things are being swept under the rug. ... (I) just ask that you think hard about the people that still work at the police department that have not left and that are still trying to move on but need closure.”
There are three lawsuits against the city by a police officer, a former officer and a former jailer.
GPIP Land
In other business Tuesday night, the Assembly voted 4-2 to pass on final reading a proposal to set aside two of the remaining lots available at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park for a water filtration facility and UV treatment plant.
Voting in favor were Paxton, Steven Eisenbeisz, Kevin Mosher and Kevin Knox. Valorie Nelson and Richard Wein voted against. Aaron Bean arrived later in the meeting so did not vote.
“This is not a small issue,” Wein said. The use of the lots for municipal purposes was contrary to the goal of the park for economic development, he said.
Wein added today that using one of the lots for the filtration plant will limit “any potential growth for a maritime service industry.”
Others agreed that they didn’t want to lose land “forever” for economic development opportunities, but that the industrial park location for the two facilities was by far the cheapest option available to the city.
“The cost hasn’t penciled out for me,” Eisenbeisz said, of the alternate locations that were considered. “I thank the city staff for coming up with this economical alternative.”
Nelson, who participated by phone, said she thought the city should compensate the GPIP enterprise fund for the value of one of the parcels, as suggested by a member of the public.
The city has been providing UV disinfection of the city’s drinking water, a federal requirement, with a plant built in 2014. The Public Works Department has said the water filtration plant is needed as the city’s backup drinking water supply when the regular water supply is down because the hydroelectric penstock is shut off for maintenance or inspection. The backup supply from Sawmill Creek is also needed for times when the water from Blue Lake is too turbid to be treated “exclusively with ultraviolet radiation,” public works officials have said.
IBEW Contract
The Assembly approved the city contract with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers on a 5-2 vote, with Nelson and Bean voting against.
“It really boiled down to just wages,” said the city’s negotiator, Kimberly Garrity. “We were looking at trying to reach agreement on a package that was reasonable and fair that we thought would fall within the parameters that the Assembly had made. We recommend approval.”
Bryan Bertacchi, electric utility director, said the city needs to have a wage level and contract that will attract new workers to Sitka, as the current linemen retire.
“It’s going to be a big challenge,” said Bertacchi.
Even the Assembly members in favor of the contract expressed reservations.
“We have to choose our battles; I understand this was fought for,” Kevin Mosher said. “I’m just publicly concerned about the increasing cost of mandated raises and the city’s future ability to pay those.”
Nelson said she believes the nearly $500,000 cost of the contract over three years is too high for the public.
“My gut feeling is I don’t think we can afford this,” she said. “It’s important to keep the employees happy but we also need to keep the public happy.”
Some Assembly members said they would like to look into a local apprenticeship program for linemen.
“Maybe it’s a good discussion in this next budget year, funding the apprentice program to do that,” said Bertacchi.
Other Business
In other business, the Assembly:
– honored softball and baseball all-star teams.
– approved renewal of a marijuana cultivation facility license for Fiberflite at 120 Jarvis Street, Unit C.
– appointed Candace Rutledge to the Historic Preservation Commission (at-large).
– approved the hiring recommendations of the Assembly Position Subcommittee for a part-time library assistant, a scanner/records destruction clerk (temporary), a customer service representative (temporary), two police officers, and dispatchers in the police department. The vote was 7-0. The Assembly agreed to the police chief’s request that he be allowed to fill the high-turnover dispatcher position as needed without going through the hiring subcommittee. Most of the positions were filling vacancies, and the new positions were temp positions only.
– approved a number of budget changes on first reading.
– agreed to have Nelson represent Sitka at the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs State Leadership Day events in Washington, D.C. She will cover her own expenses, at $1,500.
Nelson is attending the Alaska Municipal League Summer conference in Soldotna.
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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 .....