Haines Borough assembly member Caitie Kirby resigned on July 29, opening a third seat on the assembly for the October municipal election.

In a letter to Mayor Douglas Olerud, Kirby said serving as an assembly member requires “more mental presence and attention than I am able to offer at this time” and cited personal reasons for her resignation.

In an interview with the CVN, she urged other young people to run for local office. “You learn so much, and I’m bummed that it came to a point where it wasn’t something that I could be doing,” she said.

According to borough code, vacant assembly seats must be filled within 30 days. It falls on the assembly to appoint a new member, but the code does not specify an appointment process, borough clerk Alekka Fullerton said.

In three of the four most recent resignations, the assembly has solicited letters of interest from the community to determine candidates. The exception was William Prisciandaro’s resignation in August 2019, after he moved to Vermont. Because Prisciandaro resigned fewer than 30 days before the election, the assembly decided to wait for the election and fill his position with the candidate who received the third highest number of votes.

Appointees must be approved by a simple majority among remaining assembly members – three votes – rather than the four votes required for most motions. At its meeting on Aug. 9, the remaining five members will vote to accept Kirby’s resignation and then will determine how to appoint her successor, Fullerton said.

In the past five years, three other assembly members besides Kirby and Prisciandaro have ended their terms early: Sean Maidy in December 2019, Margaret Friedenauer in June 2017 and Mike Case in May 2017.

In two of those cases, the vacancies were filled by community members who had previously served the borough, either on the assembly or as Mayor. Jerry Lapp stepped in when Maidy left the assembly, and Stephanie Scott finished out Case’s term.

Kirby told the CVN that her decision to resign was recent, and she wanted to announce it well before Aug. 20, when the candidate filing period for the October election ends. The filing period opened this week. As of Wednesday afternoon, no one had filed for candidacy.

Kirby’s resignation will open a third seat on the ballot in October. Assembly members Gabe Thomas and Paul Rogers are up for reelection; Thomas will be seeking reelection, but Rogers is not.