Haines Borough Manager Bill Seward is hoping to promote public facilities director Brad Ryan to deputy borough manager, a new position which would entail Ryan taking over the manager’s duties in Seward’s absence.
Seward said he sees the deputy borough manager position as a “collateral duty,” meaning Ryan would still be doing his regular job but take on the extra responsibilities of manager when Seward is out of the office.
“I think everybody is in agreement that we want and we need a deputy borough manager just to maintain continuity of operations should I become absent for any length of time,” Seward said.
Seward said he wanted Ryan in the position because Ryan demonstrated “exceptional talent and skill” during his tenure as interim manager.
If Ryan resigns or is otherwise removed from the public facilities position, the deputy borough manager duty could be moved to the clerk, chief fiscal officer or some other department head, he said.
Ryan said he supports the idea of creating the position. “I think it would be good for the borough – whether it is me or anybody else – to have somebody designated so when somebody goes on leave or decides to quit again, the transition is smooth for the borough,” he said.
The assembly’s Personnel Committee discussed Seward’s proposal on June 27. Committee members responded favorably, though they requested more information on how the change would affect code and the organizational chart. They also wondered if the deputy borough manager would receive a permanent salary bump, or if the increase would only come into effect with the manager’s absence.
Seward said he would like to see a permanent salary increase for Ryan.
“When they hired me they had budgeted $110,000 a year and I only accepted $95,000. So that $15,000, I would like to try to place that into the deputy borough manager’s position,” Seward said. “This would be a promotion for (Ryan). That’s what I’m envisioning.”
Seward is collecting additional information and will present it at an upcoming Personnel Committee meeting, which has yet to be scheduled.