The number of finalists for Haines Borough Police Chief has dropped to two after applicant Scott Happ recently withdrew his name from consideration, leaving interim police chief Simon Ford and Christopher Canaski of Des Allemands, La., to vie for the job. Also, interim borough manager Julie Cozzi said she won’t abide by a recommendation by the […]
Search results
Posted inLetters
Earnest’s tenure disastrous
Borough manager Mark Earnest’s employment in Haines is ending. Thank God. Earnest’s departure marks the end of another disastrous manager’s employment. Two people that Earnest was responsible for were both disastrous. Earnest managed Gary Lowe. Lowe was allowed to resign without any record of wrongdoing. According to the record, Lowe is perfectly fit to be a […]
Posted inNews
Paper trail follows chief hopeful
Haines Borough Manager Mark Earnest has shortlisted his favorite candidates for police chief from 16 to four, but at least one of them has encountered trouble in his former jobs. Steven Annetts of Pataskala, Ohio, made the shortlist, but Annetts left his previous job as police chief in Douglas, Wyo., under questionable circumstances. Earnest’s short […]
Posted inNews
Police will search mail for narcotics
Haines Borough police plan to have mail coming to local post office boxes inspected in the coming months as part of an ongoing investigation of the illicit sale of hard drugs, including methamphetamine. Police say there’s “zero doubt” meth is being sold here regularly, but they lack evidence of such sales. They also don’t know […]
Posted inNews
Required form on Lowe lagging
Haines Borough Manager Mark Earnest is nearly two months overdue in filing a required form to a statewide police oversight agency regarding the resignation of former police chief Gary Lowe. The Alaska Police Standards Council form requires the departing officer’s boss (Earnest) to answer four questions, including if the employee resigned in lieu of termination, if the employee […]
Posted inNews
Why so few assembly candidates?
With only two names appearing on the fall municipal ballot for two seats open on the Haines Borough Assembly, interest in serving on the town’s main decision-making body has reached the lowest point since at least 2002, when the former City of Haines and Haines Borough merged into a single government. The paucity of assembly candidates is particularly […]
Posted inNews
Borough releases Lowe evaluation
A March performance evaluation of former Haines Borough police chief Gary Lowe released this week says Lowe maintained good relationships with the public and high-ranking borough employees while behind-the-scenes relations with department personnel were “abysmal.” On a scale of 1 to 4, under “communication with employees,” Lowe received a “0” in “daily interaction,” “constructive feedback,” and “setting an example,” […]
Posted inNews
Number of police will soon drop to 3
The five-member Haines Borough Police Department will soon be reduced to three. Understaffed since the resignation of former chief Gary Lowe in April, the department will lose officer Josh Knore effective July 29. Knore submitted his resignation Monday. He did not return CVN phone calls for comment. “It’s reasonable,” said interim chief Simon Ford. “(Knore) came up here and […]
Posted inLetters
Time to end mobster-style government
I attended what I believed to be a meeting on whether or not Mark Earnest should be kept on as Haines Borough manager June 10. Turned out that his contract – which has not expired – has already been extended and the meeting was to review his contract: A classic example of the wagon moving before the horse. Once […]
Posted inLetters
Attorney advice needed on conflict
Today I spoke with Mayor Stephanie Scott concerning the issue of Darsie Culbeck’s appearance of a conflict of interest. I was stunned to learn the borough’s legal counsel had not been conferred with in this matter. She indicated that she will now seek legal counsel about this. Manager Mark Earnest should have, at the least, gotten a legal opinion before […]