Members of the Haines Borough Assembly squabbled Tuesday about whether to hire an out-of-town consultant to lead a strategic planning session or use local talent for the job.
The assembly voted 4-2 to hire Juneau-based Dynamic Consulting for up to $4,000, excluding travel and lodging costs, for a one-day strategic planning session. Assembly members Tresham Gregg and George Campbell were opposed.
Assembly member Margaret Friedenauer, who made the motion to hire Dynamic Consulting, said she thought the session would help the assembly develop concrete guidelines and goals that could be used by the group in setting its budget, directing its lobbyist and setting priorities for staff.
Interim manager Brad Ryan had solicited strategic planning proposals from Dynamic Consulting, Denali Daniels and Associates, and George B. Cuff and Associates.
The discussion to hire Dynamic Consulting transpired just a couple of agenda items before a scheduled presentation by local resident Brenda Josephson, who was set to speak about the strategic planning process.
Josephson holds a Master of Business Administration from Edinburgh Business School, with a specialty in strategic planning.
Assembly member George Campbell said he wouldn’t support Friedenauer’s motion to hire an out-of-town consultant when a local person was qualified to do that same work and had offered to assist.
“Just because you’re from out of town with a briefcase does not mean that you are any better or more professional or going to be the right thing,” Campbell said.
Assembly member Tresham Gregg agreed, saying that the borough pays lip service to hiring local and should follow through with its actions. “We throw around our peoples’ money like it’s nothing. This is an opportunity to put our money where our mouth is a little bit,” he said.
Assembly member Diana Lapham said she liked the idea of using an out-of-town consultant. “I want the information drawn out of me. I don’t want to be told, ‘This is how you need to do this,’” she said.
Bringing in someone from out of town would allow them to look at Haines without “preconceived notions,” assembly member Mike Case said. “I would rather see somebody come in with kind of a clean slate, so to speak.”
Lapham and Case never directed their comments at Josephson specifically, but their statements prickled some audience members, including Gershon Cohen, who stood up at the end of the meeting and said it was “insulting” the way Josephson was being discussed and that he was “very uncomfortable with the way people were speaking about her.”
Cohen objected to what he perceived to be the assumption that Josephson wouldn’t be able to perform professionally.
The situation continued to escalate, and assembly member Lapham shot back at Cohen that she was offended by his assumption, and that she had not been speaking specifically about Josephson when she made her comments.
Josephson sent an email to interim manager Ryan on Jan. 17 offering to help with the strategic planning process, but didn’t receive a response. Josephson said she intended to provide the service for free.
On Wednesday, Josephson sent an email to several assembly members stating she was “surprised and disappointment by the discussions and actions of the assembly.”
Assembly member Friedenauer apologized to Josephson publicly and via email. She said she didn’t mean to disrespect Josephson in any way, but that her motion to hire Dynamic Consulting was an attempt to “jump start” the strategic planning process.
“I just want us to start somewhere and this seemed very simple,” Friedenauer said. “I don’t think it is throwing money around. I understand that $4,000 is not small change, but I just want us to get to a point of talking and I would love to bring in some local people at some point once we get our wheels turning and make this an ongoing process.”