The Haines Borough Assembly’s Personnel Committee recommended revisions to the clerk and chief fiscal officer (CFO) contracts that would clarify the assembly’s supervisory role for these positions.
Under borough charter, although municipal officers including the clerk and CFO “work under the direct supervision of the manager,” they are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the assembly.
“We knew that both contracts had expired so they needed to be reviewed,” committee member Paul Rogers said. “There was some previous discussion about why the clerk gets reviewed by the manager when they’re hired by assembly. We wanted to clarify any language in conflict with current practices.”
Rogers said another motivating factor was the desire to have a separation of powers between borough officers. “We wanted to make sure that the administration of the borough is divided among people who have basically equal powers, so we don’t have one person controlling everything,” he said.
Changes recommended by the Personnel Committee at a meeting Tuesday include: clarifying that the assembly is responsible for performance reviews for the two positions, instead of the manager; having the Mayor sign leave slips, instead of the manager; approving a three-year term for the contracts; and requiring the approval of five out of six assembly members for early contract termination.
The Personnel Committee consists of Rogers and assembly members Stephanie Scott and Zephyr Sincerny. Their recommendations will go before the full assembly for approval.
The hiring timeline for a permanent borough manager was not discussed at Tuesday’s Personnel Committee meeting. Rogers said he believes the plan is still to seek public input through a town hall meeting. A town hall on the subject had been scheduled for Aug. 6 until it was postponed. The assembly has yet to reschedule the event.