The next Haines Borough manager will work more closely with and report more frequently to the assembly if members adopt changes approved by the Personnel Committee at a meeting Monday. At the meeting, the three committee members, Stephanie Scott, Zephyr Sincerny and Paul Rogers, went over suggested changes for the borough manager’s job description in preparation for advertising […]
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Interim manager describes AIDEA conversation
News of a meeting between borough staff, Mayor Jan Hill and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) regarding Lutak Dock repair needs is generating interest among local conservation groups. In a Sept. 14 email, Lynn Canal Conservation criticized the borough for lack of transparency about the discussion with AIDEA, and urged the public to contact assembly members and request a […]
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Personnel committee proposes autonomy
The Haines Borough Assembly’s Personnel Committee recommended revisions to the clerk and chief fiscal officer (CFO) contracts that would clarify the assembly’s supervisory role for these positions. Under borough charter, although municipal officers including the clerk and CFO “work under the direct supervision of the manager,” they are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the […]
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Town hall cancellation delays manager hire
Three months after the firing of manager Debra Schnabel, Haines Borough officials have yet to begin the process of hiring a permanent replacement. In July, the assembly decided to solicit community input on the role of the manager before moving forward with the hiring. A town hall meeting on the subject was scheduled for Aug. 6 but was […]
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Doug Olerud running for mayor
Business owner and former borough assembly member Doug Olerud is running for Mayor in this October’s municipal election. Olerud owns and manages the Alaska Sport Shop and served on the former city council and assembly for nine years. He said recent challenges facing the borough due to the pandemic, along with public support, motivated him to seek […]
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EOC recommends holding off on mask mandate, for now
The soonest the Haines Borough Assembly would consider a public mask mandate, if it follows Emergency Operations Center (EOC) recommendations, would be when the community has at least nine active cases or is deemed a “high risk” COVID-19 environment for other reasons. At a July 30 townhall, EOC incident commander Carolann Wooton presented a document titled “Haines […]
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Assembly nixes CARES Act requests from food security groups
On July 23, the Haines Borough Assembly’s ad hoc CARES Act committee rejected proposals from two Chilkat Valley food security groups. Discussion at the meeting revealed the groups and assembly members differed in their definitions of food security. Over the course of the past few months, the assembly has been working to finalize a spending plan for […]
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Candidate filing period opens Aug. 1
The filing period for elected office in the Haines Borough opens Aug. 1, with an Aug. 20 deadline. This year, positions up for election include the Mayor, four school board seats and four on the assembly. Borough clerk and intern manager Alekka Fullerton said she’s noticed increased interest in running. “This year, six or seven people have asked me when […]
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Assembly declines to censure Rogers for manager firing
By Ceri Godinez At a meeting July 14, assembly member Zephyr Sincerny moved to censure Paul Rogers, another member of the assembly, for his involvement in borough manager Debra Schnabel’s firing in May. Sincerny made the motion at the suggestion of resident Ron Jackson, who had filled out a request form to add discussion of […]
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Borough has no plans to consider face mask mandate
A growing number of Alaska communities in recent weeks have considered mandates that people wear face masks to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 infections but, at present, the Haines Borough has no plans to consider such a measure. This month, city councils in Valdez and Seward approved mask mandates, while Juneau and the city of Ketchikan […]