The remaining applicant for the Haines Borough’s open manager position decided against the job.
Kim Zimmerman contacted borough staff during the Thanksgiving holiday to withdraw and interim manager Elke Doom then notified the assembly, she said Monday.
“I provided the assembly contacts for a number of consultant firms as an option,” Doom wrote in an email. They may wish to hire a neutral third party to assist them with recruitment of qualified candidates.”
On a split vote, the borough assembly members voted Nov. 12 to offer Zimmerman the job, contingent on a background check. They also invited him to town.
At the time, Zimmerman said he would likely try to coordinate a visit in late December before Christmas, but he was also being considered for similar positions in two other cities.
The other candidate, Hunter Rieseberg, withdrew a few days later, according to Mayor Tom Morphet.
During a Nov. 20 meeting, a majority of assembly members approved a job offer to Zimmerman with a salary of $155,000, up to $20,000 in moving expenses and 25 vacation days. The salary was $5,000 higher than the assembly had originally budgeted for the position, but Doom told assembly members it was reasonable when compared with other communities in the state.
“If you want anyone who’s qualified, you will have to up your game and you’ll have to increase the salary,” she said. “What he’s asking, in my opinion, is absolutely reasonable in today’s market.”
Zimmerman did not respond to a phone message Monday from the Chilkat Valley News seeking more information about his reasons for withdrawing. He told KHNS that he’d accepted a position in Junction City, Kansas.
Interim manager Doom, who started in mid-August, said in an email that her contract was flexible, three to six months as needed.
“I was going to return to transition with the new manager, but then he withdrew from consideration,” she wrote. “My last day will be Dec. 13.”
Doom said the assembly will need to hire another long-term interim manager until they can hire a permanent replacement.