The Haines Borough’s new Code Review Commission will look for guidance from the assembly and the public on what area of code it should tackle first, the group decided at its first meeting Tuesday. The assembly voted to form the commission in June to address flaws in the borough code, and in September approved Mayor Jan Hill’s […]
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Appointment of Lapham rejected
The Haines Borough Assembly last week rejected appointment of former assembly member Diana Lapham to the borough’s Ports and Harbor Advisory Committee on a 4-2 vote. The appointment was one of several Mayor Jan Hill recommended to the borough’s various advisory boards and councils. Assembly member Heather Lende asked for Lapham’s name to be removed from a list, along with […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Seward’s dismissal was warranted
I believe that the incident in which manager Bill Seward advised a company to fire an individual (Gershon Cohen) or risk not receiving a borough contract to be unethical to the degree that his release from his position was warranted. When I initially read of this I thought that there must be a law that […]
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Facilities chief Ryan is interim manager
Haines Borough Facilities Director Brad Ryan is once again interim manager. Mayor Jan Hill broke a 3-3 assembly deadlock Tuesday, giving Ryan the position left vacant following the Dec. 14 firing of manager Bill Seward. Assembly members Margaret Friedenauer, Mike Case and Ron Jackson supported Ryan, who served six months as interim manager last year. Members Tresham […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Please consider hiring manager locally
Here we go again, four of our assembly decided to fire the borough manager. Democratic government is supposed to move slow and deliberate. We have so many things that are power plays, or knee jerk reactions. Please slow down and accept that slow and thoughtful is better. If we were slow and thoughtful maybe we […]
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Seward weighs lawsuit; recall effort in works
Bill Seward, who was fired as Haines Borough manager in an emotional assembly 4-2 vote last week, is pursuing legal action against the borough for wrongful termination. A U.S. Coast Guard veteran with no municipal experience when he was hired in May, Seward on Tuesday hired Isaac Zorea, an Anchorage-based employment law attorney with 16 years’ experience. […]
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Year in Review: Art, public projects dominated Haines news
Advances in the arts and public projects marked much of the news in 2016, and combined, for some novel exchanges. At a Sept. 8 Haines Borough Planning Commission meeting dominated by critics of the proposed harbor expansion project, commission chair Rob Goldberg suggested a 630-foot steel wall breakwater planned for Portage Cove might someday be an attraction. […]
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Assembly sets priorities at retreat
The Haines Borough Assembly met on Dec. 11 for a four-hour retreat at the public library to outline what members believed were their biggest priorities. Crafting a workable budget for the upcoming fiscal year and better assembly member communication – with both the public and each other – topped their ranking. Haines Mayor Jan Hill also took part in the […]
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Manager Seward fired with 4-2 vote
After only six months on the job, Manager Bill Seward was terminated Wednesday night by the borough assembly following an emotionally-wracked evening in which a tearful Mayor Jan Hill accused the panel of being “axe hurlers.” The abrupt dismissal came after complaints that Seward suffered ongoing personnel issues with his borough staff and initiated numerous actions without assembly […]
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Trooper director: Haines post next in line to be cut
Alaska Department of Public Safety Col. James Cockrell warned last week that if his agency suffered continued budget cuts, Haines will be the next rural community in the state to lose its state trooper. “If we get any more cuts in our resources, Haines will be the first post we close,” he said. Haines Borough last […]