After seven months as a temporary hire, interim borough manager Alekka Fullerton could soon shed the interim tag. 

Fullerton filled the top job in the borough administration in December, but it was supposed to be on a short-term basis as the assembly searched for a long-term candidate. 

The job has been open since previous manager Annette Kreitzer stepped down a year ago. Elke Doom filled in as interim manager until her contract expired, and she chose not to renew. Fullerton has served as interim manager since then.

But as of this week, there was only one active applicant for the position, Joshua Burkeen of North Dakota, who applied but was not chosen for the police chief position this spring. 

Now, a rough consensus of assembly members feels Fullerton is the top candidate for the full-time position, assembly member Gabe Thomas said. Thomas serves as personnel committee chair and is heading the manager hiring process. 

Thomas said he plans to have Fullerton’s contract offer on the assembly’s agenda for its next meeting. Fullerton said Tuesday she plans to accept if offered the job. 

“The reason I have done [the interim job] is to try to provide some stability for staff,” Fullerton said. “I think I have been able to help build a really strong team here, and that’s really dear to me. I would also like to see some of these projects through — new Lutak Dock, new public safety building — some of these things we’ve been working on for the nearly 10 years I’ve been here.” In addition to serving as clerk in the past, Fullerton had another nearly year-and-a-half stint as interim manager from 2020 to 2021.

The update on Fullerton’s job status follows a meeting last week in which the assembly conducted a formal performance evaluation of her first six months in the job. 

The manager is able to choose whether to hold their performance reviews in front of the public or in a closed-door executive session. Fullerton elected for the discussion to happen in executive session.

However, each assembly member provided public written comments and a scoring rubric on Fullerton’s performance, which point to a mostly positive review. 

Assembly members scored Fullerton on average at least 3.35 out of 5 or higher across a total of eight categories, with a 3 corresponding to “meets job standards,” a 4 corresponding to “exceeds job standards,” and a 5 corresponding to an “outstanding” rating according to the rubric. 

Assembly comments, which were anonymized, named specific points of praise, including Fullerton’s professionalism. They also wrote out specific feedback, including multiple comments criticizing or offering feedback on Fullerton’s communication about the Lutak Dock project. 

“Focus on reporting Lutak Dock progress is paramount,” one assembly member wrote. “Lack of addressing progress leaves us wondering about the state of the project. Please don’t let us wonder.”

“I’m not satisfied with the lack of detail being given to me or the public,” wrote another. “Our valley’s number one priority is the Lutak Dock. We’re in the dark. We’re not being asked what to do, we’re being told.”

Fullerton has in recent months given Lutak Dock updates during assembly meetings. But she said this week she was “dedicated to trying to do [dock updates] better.”

Mayor Tom Morphet does not participate in manager hiring decisions but did preside over the performance evaluation. He said he saw it as a strong review, particularly compared to Kreitzer, who was given an average score of 2.62 out of 5 in her final performance review last year. 

“[Fullerton] excels at government transparency, which has increased trust with the community,” Morphet said. 

Fullerton is currently making $155,000 annually as interim manager. The assembly approved that salary for one potential Kreitzer replacement last year, who later withdrew. It’s also the salary the assembly budgeted for the open manager position for the current fiscal year. 

Thomas said he anticipates Fullerton would stay at the $155,000 mark if offered and approved for the full-time position. 

“That’s what’s in the budget, and I’m not going to propose a budget amendment to add more,” Thomas said Monday. 

It would be an increase on Kreitzer’s salary, which was $130,000 when she stepped down. 

During manager hiring talks last year, then-interim manager Elke Doom told the assembly that the higher figure was necessary for attracting a qualified candidate. “[$155,000], in my opinion, is absolutely reasonable in today’s market,” Doom said.

The next highest paid borough employees are the police chief and public facilities director, at $125,000 and $113,612 annually.