The Haines Borough could begin accepting applications for a new, permanent manager as soon as this month if the assembly acts on a Personnel Committee recommendation made in late November. The committee is requesting that the assembly finalize a manager hiring plan at the regular assembly meeting on Dec. 8.
At the November Personnel Committee meeting, members discussed considerations including the timeline for the hire, the method for going through applications and the scope of the search without making any definitive recommendations.
Assembly member Carol Tuynman said her preference would be to focus on advertising the position in Alaska while also advertising nationwide.
“The superintendent from the school ended up coming from Colorado,” Tuynman said, referencing the nationwide search the Haines Borough school board conducted to find a new superintendent. “I’m not saying that it would be a national find, but it’s worth looking as far as possible, and that also gives you more to compare the qualifications of different people.”
Assembly member Paul Rogers raised concerns related to a nationwide search, although he said he was still open to the possibility.
“I think borough code and charter sort of give us the impression that they lean toward wanting someone local if that’s at all possible,” Rogers said, adding that a local candidate preference could be incorporated in different ways. Rogers also raised the concern that it might be more costly to conduct a nationwide search.
Personnel Committee members, as well as other borough officials and borough staff at the meeting, agreed that they should move forward with the hiring process as soon as possible.
“Speaking as staff, I can’t stress enough how much we would appreciate speed on this,” tourism director Steven Auch said “Alekka’s been doing two jobs (borough clerk and interim manager) for the better part of six months now, which is putting a lot of work on a lot of people right now.”
Discussion at the meeting fixed on mid-January as the likely deadline for applications.
“We should have a minimum of thirty days to advertise and the fifteenth in January would definitely get us to that point,” Mayor Douglas Olerud said, predicting it would take a couple of months beyond the deadline to bring on a new manager.
Assembly members at the meeting had a range of views about the efficacy of hiring a consultant to assist with the application review process.
“I am a strong supporter of the system that the school district used and that was basically an in-house process. It did involve hiring a consultant, but the consultant was local,” Tuynman said. “I think that we could do much better with something like that model than hiring an outside consultant.”
Others were less committed to the idea of hiring a consultant.
“I can’t say I’m a big fan of consultants, but it does take a little bit of the work away from the assembly,” assembly member Jerry Lapp said. “I’d go either way with it. If it’s somebody that’s familiar with our community then I would be more apt to go with someone like that… but the assembly can also do it.”
The Personnel Committee requested that the Mayor work with borough staff to gather cost information about variables in the manager hiring plan to help the assembly reach a final decision at the December meeting.
Interim borough manager and clerk Alekka Fullerton declined to participate in the November Personnel Committee meeting because she is considering applying for the position. Haines has been without a permanent manager hire since May when the assembly at the time abruptly fired then manager Debra Schnabel. Schnabel has also said she is considering applying for the position.