The Haines Borough Assembly on Tuesday accepted Caitlin Kirby’s resignation and moved to solicit letters from community members interested in filling her seat until the October election.
Aspiring candidates will have 10 days to notify borough staff of their interest. The appointment will be made at the beginning of the Aug. 23 meeting and the selected candidate will immediately begin serving on the assembly. Anyone is welcome to submit a letter of interest, but the passed motion, initiated by Cheryl Stickler and seconded by Paul Rogers, stated that preference might be given to people who had recently served on the assembly.
Haines Borough Clerk Alekka Fullerton informed the assembly that she had already received one letter on Tuesday, from former assembly member Jerry Lapp. Lapp was also appointed to fill the vacancy the last time an assembly member – Sean Maidy — resigned mid-term, in January 2020. That time, his temporary vacancy turned into an elected term from October 2020 to 2021.
Before that, he had served two consecutive terms from 2008 to 2014. He ran for reelection in 2015 but lost.
When asked last fall if he would seek reelection, Lapp told the CVN that he would not because he was “going to try and enjoy (his) golden years.”
Assembly members Rogers and Gabe Thomas indicated their support for Lapp’s possible appointment. “Because Jerry Lapp has been a recent assembly member I think it would be a good thing to do to bring him back (…) for the short period of time. I think that’s probably noncontroversial and I’m happy that he’d be willing to do that,” Rogers said.
Assembly member Debra Schnabel, however, said that she “would have a problem with” granting preference to a former assembly member over a prospective candidate in the October election. “I would like to see a person who (wants to run in the general election) have the opportunity to test it out,” she said.
Fullerton warned the assembly that Lapp’s position as a planning commissioner poses a conflict; there is a code prohibition against serving on the planning commission and assembly simultaneously. “He can probably request a leave of absence (from the planning commission), or there may be some mechanism (in code),” Fullerton said, but she needed to research the matter further.
Planning Commission chair Diana Lapham said Lapp has her full support in seeking the temporary appointment. “I talked to Mr. Lapp yesterday before he told Alekka that he was interested and I said, ‘Go for it, do it.’”
Asked if Lapp’s absence could affect the planning commission’s work, Lapham said she didn’t think so – although it would reduce the commission’s membership to six and might raise the possibility of a tie on some votes. “We don’t have many ties at the planning commission – ties are not a thing we have to deal with a lot,” Lapham said.
Lapp could not be reached for comment by print time.
Before accepting Kirby’s resignation, assembly members and borough staff expressed gratitude for her service.
Rogers said Kirby was “a real asset to the assembly” and that he was sorry to see her resign. Stickler said she appreciated how Kirby always “researched for good answers before she cast a vote.”
Haines Borough Mayor Douglas Olerud said he was always “very happy” to serve with Kirby. “I think it’s just a reminder of how life circumstances change over the years… and also the amount of time and personal toll that this job can have on people that do it,” he said.