Assembly enacts hiring freeze
The Haines Sheldon Museum’s two advertised jobs positions will not be filled until the 2020 budget is finalized, an outcome of a hiring freeze enacted by the Haines Borough Assembly on Tuesday.
“I’m here to tell you tonight that the board of directors at the Haines Sheldon Museum has implemented a hiring freeze for all positions no matter what their funding source would be until further notice,” vice president of the museum board, Sue Chasen, told the assembly before the vote.
Assembly member Brenda Josephson proposed the freeze last week in response to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget that would cut $1.7 million in state funding to the borough.
“The hiring freeze will help prevent worker displacement of current staff if departments are reorganized, consolidated or downsized during the FY20 budget process,” Josephson said.
The open museum positions, education coordinator and collections coordinator, are each 20 hours a week and offer benefits. Museum director Helen Alten said that the education position is half-funded in the budget at 585 hours a year and the rest of the salary is paid for through fees generated by summer and after-school museum-run camps. Admission fees and grant funding paid for 100 percent of the collections coordinator position, she said.
Alten said that determining whether or not the freeze will short-staff the museum remains to be seen.
“I guess it depends how long it lasts,” she said. The current education coordinator will work until the end of April; no applicants have yet applied to fill the position, Alten said. The former collections coordinator that served on a three-month contract until February will return to Haines mid-April, when the museum had hoped to hire him back, Alten said.
Assembly approves Portage Trail MOU
A memorandum of understanding between the Haines Borough and Alaska Arts Confluence (AAC) was authorized by the assembly Tuesday, detailing how decision making will flow in the development of the Portage Cove Trail.
“The Haines Borough is the project owner. proHNS LLC is under contract to the Borough for engineered design of the Portage Cove Trail. Alaska Arts Confluence is a collaborator in community engagement, wayfinding and connectivity with the borough. James Corner Field Operations is a consultant to Haines Borough and Alaska Arts Confluence,” the MOU states.
Alaska Arts Confluence director Carol Tuynman has worked to involve internationally recognized New York-based design firm, James Corner Field Operations, since 2016.
Field Operations’ role in the project is four-part: to establish a vision and communicate design ideas, consult with proHNS on layout and topography for the trail and incorporation of art installations, expand on former plans for interconnectivity with downtown Haines and other trails, and to conduct workshops to provide guidance to artists for art installations, according to the draft scope of work.
Alaska Arts Confluence will pay the firm with a $86,106 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, secured in June 2017.
“The borough seeks the consultation of James Corner Field Operations as contracted by Alaska Arts Confluence, however, the borough is not bound by this MOU to integrate, adopt or realize the deliverables described in the project scope,” the MOU reads.
Public facilities director Brad Ryan said he expects the firm to come to Haines in April, when proHNS is surveying for the physical trail.
The MOU will expire July 31, 2019.
Borough objects to Dunleavy budget
The Haines Borough Assembly adopted a resolution on Tuesday urging the Alaska Legislature to pass a more balanced budget that would promote economic stability for the communities and citizens of Alaska. The resolution is in response to the Gov. Dunleavy’s proposed budget, which would cut more than $1.6 billion in state spending in one year. The governor’s budget cuts $335 million of education spending, significantly reduces Medicaid spending, and proposes deep cuts to the state ferry system, including partial privatization.
A motion to table the resolution nearly succeeded, when assembly members split on a decision to delay the resolution for the next meeting. Assembly member Heather Lende, who was absent at Tuesday’s meeting but co-authored the resolution with Mayor Jan Hill, had requested a two-week-delay on the vote.
Hill swayed the assembly by expressing the urgency of the matter. “I have received some comments in the last few days from members from the public who have been following other communities that have sent in letters, and the conversation started, ‘What is the Haines Borough going to do about this?”