LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which  distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming.  (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

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28 Mar 2024 14:50

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27 Mar 2024 12:26

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Other Articles

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

Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.

50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.

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