Presenting a range of alternative plans, being more objective and formulating processes for vetting ordinances and a feeling of mistrust between borough staff and the assembly were among the topics discussed during the assembly’s annual evaluation of borough manager Debra Schnabel.
Four assembly members and Mayor Jan Hill met Wednesday to evaluate Schnabel’s performance. On the whole, assembly members praised her job as manager.
Assembly member Tom Morphet praised Schnabel’s expertise and drive to take on multiple tasks. He also values her institutional knowledge of Haines and its history.
Schnabel’s greatest strength is her passion, said assembly member Brenda Josephson. That passion, she continued, is also her greatest weakness. Both Josephson and Morphet said that her passion and roots in the community caused a lack of objectivity in issues.
“Rather than see you position yourself…rather than go full force with your passion, with your desired outcome, help us work more collaboratively together so we can all come to consensus,” Josephson said.
Josephson cited borough-wide policing, an issue Schnabel has publicly endorsed and argued passionately for, as an example. In order to properly vet them, proposed ordinances should go to a committee before appearing on an assembly agenda, Josephson said.
Schnabel said she supports police expansion because she’s managing a police department that suffers from a lack of direction. “I became an advocate for my staff,” Schnabel said.
Schnabel’s ability to take charge of issues and move to a resolution is a strength, assembly member Heather Lende said. Lende said she feels “the complete opposite” about Josephson’s concerns and said in some ways she wants a manager to tell the assembly what needs to be done.
Morphet asked Schnabel to present a range of alternatives for the assembly to choose from, rather than one option.
Schnabel said she thinks she could be a better manager, but that sometimes she gets stopped in the assembly chambers. “I don’t feel like I’m pushing something on the assembly and I often times feel there is an antagonism,” Schnabel said. She said she feels like she’s “being caught in a game of got ya.”
She also said that borough staff generally feels that the assembly and the staff are disjointed.
“The staff, and I’ll include myself in that, often feels we don’t have the expertise, we don’t have the skills…we don’t feel trusted,” Schnabel said. “That’s very demoralizing for the staff.”Mayor Jan Hill echoed Schnabel’s comments, saying she feels underutilized and mistrusted.
Lende said she felt staff mistrusted her. “I know even when I was first elected, if I went into that office it was like somebody was going to throw something at me,” Lende said.
Building trust borough wide is needed, Schnabel said.
Staff needs to understand there’s going to be a certain amount of friction, Morphet said, because the nature of their jobs and the assembly’s position as elected representatives are inherently different. “The staff works for the public and we’re the intermediary between the public and the staff…Anything we can do to increase that trust is important. Although we’re in the same company, the Haines Borough, we have different roles here.”
Assembly members Stephanie Scott and Tresham Gregg were absent from the meeting.
After the meeting, Hill told the CVN that the discussion about trust was beneficial. “It’s like saying you’re an alcoholic,” Hill said. “You say it publicly and then maybe you can start to heal.”