On a 4-2 vote, the Haines Borough Assembly on Tuesday rejected Bill Seward’s proposal to install a buzz-in security door at the administration building.
Assembly members Diana Lapham and Mike Case voted against the motion, saying they didn’t want to “micromanage” Seward.
In a recorded interview with the CVN last week, Seward detailed plans to redesign the administration’s entrance in an effort to increase security. Seward said he envisioned separate doors for employees and visitors, with visitors being greeted by a person behind a tall counter in a small waiting room before being buzzed in.
“There are people in that building who do not feel safe. They just don’t feel safe. So with that in mind, I have a duty to make sure that they feel safe,” Seward said.
Seward said in addition to a June 29 confrontation between a borough employee and two residents that resulted in the residents being temporarily banned from the administration building, other employees have told him of past incidents where they felt threatened.
Citing labor law and Occupational Safety and Health Administration code, Seward said it is his duty to furnish “a place of employment free from recognized hazards,” with agitated members of the public constituting a hazard.
“We’re currently entertaining ideas,” Seward said of the security measures. “If the assembly as a whole makes a motion and tells me not to do that, that’s my boss giving me my marching orders to act accordingly. But that means that the assembly now accepts the risks associated with those hazards, and that might be what they are willing to do… Now that I have recognized the hazard, and if I fail to take action on that hazard, I put the borough in a position of liability.”
Several members of the public turned out to oppose restricting access to the building. Jerry Ballanco said such a measure would be “an insult,” and Leonard Dubber said it would foster an “us vs. them” attitude.
Assembly member Margaret Friedenauer said she would support a potential redesign to make the office safer, but a locking system wasn’t warranted. She also disagreed with Seward’s interpretation of OSHA code and labor law.
“I don’t think the public can be considered a recognized hazard, and I would be curious what the attorney says about that. If there are safety issues, there are other ways to address it,” she said.
Assembly member Ron Jackson called the buzz-in system “unrealistic for Haines,” and assembly member George Campbell said it was the “wrong way to go.”
When Campbell made the motion directing the manager to cease efforts to install a locking system, Seward warned that the Local 71 workers’ union was “in concurrence with making the workplace safe.”
“If you vote for this motion, it may be a slippery slope,” Seward said.
Mayor Jan Hill advised the assembly not to pass the motion and said she believed it amounted to micromanagement.
“I choose to believe that the manager has gotten the message about how ramped up the security doesn’t need to be in our administrative building, but we need to respect his plan and the staff who want to work on this plan together to make their workplace feel safer,” Hill said.
Seward is brainstorming safety measures with staff and said he will consult with incoming police chief Heath Scott when Scott starts on the job Monday.