It’s a big weekend for the Haines Borough, with candidates for two of the municipality’s top jobs coming to town for closed-door interviews with assembly members and an hour-long meet-and-greet with residents.
Members of the public can mingle with manager and police chief candidates from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday at the public library. Interim manager Brad Ryan said the event is not a public forum, but more just a chance to rub elbows with the candidates on a one-on-one basis.
Also on Friday, assembly members will pair up to privately interview four manager finalists, a line-up that changed again this week following the withdrawal of candidate Kate Fjell, assistant to the city manager in Boonville, Mo.
Fjell’s removal bumped back-up finalist Paul Dauphinais, executive director of the Alaska Public Offices Commission, into the running. Fjell is the fourth of 11 finalists to withdraw from consideration for the job.
Aside from Dauphinais, manager candidates coming to town are: Kevin Opple, director of operations at a naval station in Everett, Wash .; William Seward, director of auxiliary and recreational boating safety for the Coast Guard in Miami; and Mark Karet, administrative services director for Hillsborough County, Fla.
On Saturday from 8 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., manager candidates will participate in a “speed dating-style” interview process, with three tables set up: a mayor/assembly table, a department heads table, and a citizen group table.
The assembly decided to compose the citizen group using the same residents who chose to have conversations with the headhunting firm representatives in February. They include: Carol Tuynman, Kyle Gray, Jim Shook, Scott Hansen, Debra Schnabel, Sean Gaffney and Tom Morphet.
At 2 p.m. Saturday, the assembly will hold a special meeting at the library to consider selection of a new borough manager and discuss contract parameters, said borough administrative assistant Kathy Friedle.
“The deliberations will likely be in executive session in the library conference room,” Friedle said.
Interim manager Ryan said the assembly doesn’t have to make a decision at that time. “If they don’t feel comfortable, they don’t have to do it. They can always say, ‘We need more time’ or ‘We need more information,’” Ryan said.
For the police chief hire, the Public Safety Commission will meet 2 p.m. Friday at the borough administration building to interview candidates. According to the meeting’s public posting, “The public is welcome to observe; there should be no expectation of public participation in this session.”
The police chief line-up has also been shuffled recently due to Christian Carelli and Gerald “Ed” Casey removing themselves from the running.
Heath Scott, deputy chief of Protective Services Police in Washington, D.C., will join initial finalists William “Dave” McKillikan (Hoonah’s chief of police since 2014) and Timothy O’Neill (police officer/investigator/sergeant in La Crosse, Wis.) in Haines this weekend.
After interviewing candidates on Friday, the Public Safety Commission will meet again 1 p.m. Saturday in the assembly chambers to meet with interim manager Ryan to discuss finalists and possibly recommend a frontrunner.