New Mayor Douglas Olerud finalized appointments to the Haines Borough Assembly’s standing committees. The assembly adopted these appointments at a meeting Tuesday.
The assembly has four standing committees that meet on a monthly basis—the Personnel Committee, the Commerce Committee, the Finance Committee and the Government Affairs and Services (GAS) Committee. Each consists of a chair and two additional members. Each assembly member was assigned to two committees.
From now until the municipal election next October, assembly member Jerry Lapp will serve as finance chair. Cheryl Stickler and Paul Rogers are the two other Finance Committee members. Assembly member Gabe Thomas will chair the Commerce Committee with Lapp and Carol Tuynman occupying the other seats. Rogers will chair the Personnel Committee with Tuynman and Caitie Kirby as the other members. Stickler will chair the GAS Committee with Kirby and Thomas also serving.
Olerud said he based committee assignments on feedback from assembly members and his own judgment.
“I got feedback from all the assembly members on where their interests or skills would best fit in. I used my discretion and judgment about where I thought they should be,” he said, adding, “The requests pretty much matched with where I thought they should be.”
Olerud said none of the assembly members asked to chair specific committees. “I used my personal knowledge of where they would fit the best,” he said.
In 2019, then Mayor Jan Hill opted to let committees select their own chairs. Borough clerk and interim manager Alekka Fullerton said the Mayor has discretion when it comes to both appointments and chairmanships.
In addition to standing committee appointments, Olerud also designated assembly liaisons to various borough advisory committees. He named Stickler to the assembly seat on the heliski map committee and put Lapp, Thomas and Rogers on the CARES Act ad hoc committee responsible for overseeing disbursement of coronavirus relief funds.
In the packet for Tuesday’s assembly meeting, Fullerton noted that borough advisory boards and commissions, including the Chilkat Center Advisory Board, Code Review Commission, Library Advisory Board, Museum Board of Trustees, Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, Planning Commission, Port and Harbor Advisory Committee, Public Safety Commission and Tourism Advisory Board, have annual turnover at the end of this month.
Members of the public interested in serving must submit an application to the clerk’s office by Nov. 19 to be considered.