By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka’s municipal government is looking for a human resources director and a planning director, and may be adding the position of municipal administrator to the list, depending on the outcome of an agenda item at the Assembly meeting a week from Tuesday.
The item on the July 23 meeting agenda is “direction/discussion/decision” on the recruitment process for a new administrator. Fire Chief Dave Miller was appointed interim administrator after the Assembly fired Keith Brady on June 11.
Miller, who continues to serve as fire chief, said his city administrator duties have been going well and he will continue if that’s what’s best for the community.
“If they’d like me to do the job, I’d be happy to pursue working that out,” he said today. “If they think they can find someone, I have no problem with that either. I want to do what’s good for the city.”
Assembly member Kevin Knox, who voted against removing Brady, said he’s looking forward to the discussion next week.
“It seemed to me the majority who wanted to move Keith out had some sort of a plan,” Knox said. “I’m curious as to what their plan is. A recruitment process is going to be very time consuming in my mind. We’ll have to work something out with Dave to be there a longer period of time if the direction of the Assembly is to recruit a new candidate.”
Assembly member Kevin Mosher, who voted in favor of firing Brady, said he is open-minded about the future of the job.
“I have no set candidate in mind,” he said. “Let’s start the process and see how it goes. I’m willing to keep my eyes and ears and heart open.”
The city has been without a full-time planning director since the departure of Mike Scarcelli last August, although the city has hired interim planners to cover duties off and on since then. Currently, no one is serving in that role.
In April a hiring committee reviewed applications for a planning director, and recommended the Assembly hire one candidate. The Assembly rejected the recommendation, objecting to the salary and other terms, such as moving expenses offered. The offer was renegotiated with modified terms, but the Assembly majority voted no again.
The position was re-advertised, and two applications have been received so far, city staff said. The position is listed as “Open until filled.”
The recruiting firm Prothman is handling the search for a human resources director to replace Matt Ione, who resigned June 14 after three months on the job. Because Ione stayed less than the one-year guaranteed by Prothman, which had been hired by the city to recruit for the job, the company is conducting the new round for recruiting without charging the city again for the service. The city has to cover expenses, such as advertising.
So far, six have applied, city staff said.
The Assembly imposed a freeze on hiring for city positions in April, and has set up a subcommittee to make recommendations to the Assembly on whether positions should be filled. The committee and the Assembly have approved the searches for the HR and planning director positions, among others.
