City and Borough Assembly

ASSEMBLY CHAMBERS CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA 330 Harbor Drive Sitka, AK (907)747-1811 Minutes - Final City and Borough Assembly Mayor Mim McConnell Deputy Mayor Pete Esquiro, Vice Deputy Mayor Thor Christianson, Phyllis Hackett, Matthew Hunter, Mike Reif and Michelle Putz Interim Municipal Administrator: John P. Sweeney III Municipal Attorney: Robin L. Koutchak Municipal Clerk: Colleen Ingman, MMC Wednesday, August 7, 2013 4:30 PM Assembly Chambers SPECIAL MEETING I. CALL TO ORDER II. FLAG SALUTE III. ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Christianson, Esquiro, Reif, Hunter, Putz, and Hackett Telephonic: 1 - McConnell IV. CORRESPONDENCE/AGENDA CHANGES None. V. PERSONS TO BE HEARD None. VI. NEW BUSINESS: 13-149 Applicant interviews via video conferencing (Pascale, Sciorra, Lanning, Gubatayo) Applicant interviews via video conferencing were held for Jim Pascale, Arthur Sciorra, Alan Lanning and Cynna Gubatayao. A recess was taken from 7:20pm to 7:25pm. 13-150 Discussion/Direction/Decision regrading tonight's applicants for Municipal Administrator The Assembly discussed the option of going into Executive Session . CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 1 City and Borough Assembly Minutes - Final August 7, 2013 A motion was made by Hackett to go into Executive Session to discuss subjects that tend to prejudice the reputation and character of a person in consideration of tonight's and last night's video conference interviews of applicants for Municipal Administrator and invite the Human Resources Director and Municipal Attorney in. The motion FAILED by the following vote. Yes: 2- Putz, and Hackett No: 5- Christianson, Esquiro, Reif, Hunter, and McConnell Robert Woolsey of Raven Radio and Shannon Haugland of the Daily Sitka Sentinel urged the Assembly to hold as much of the discussion about the candidates in public as possible. The Assembly further discussed the idea of going into executive session . Municipal Attorney, Robin Koutchak, reviewed her memo regarding executive session. The Assembly put forth the names of the individuals they were most interested in : Allen, Caskie, Gorman, Pascale, Gubatayao, and Lanning A discussion was held regarding the number of applicants to invite for in person interviews. A motion was made by Reif to invite the top four applicants for an in person interview: Pamela Caskie, Mark Gorman, Cynna Gubatayao, and Jim Pascale. The motion PASSED by the following vote. Yes: 6- Christianson, Esquiro, Reif, Hunter, Putz, and Hackett Absent: 1- McConnell An amendment to the motion was made by Hunter to include Rob Allen. Assembly members offered their opinions on including Rob Allen in the in person interview selection. A motion was made by Reif to amend the amendment to ask the Municipal Attorney to research the issue of inviting Allen and come back with a recommendation on inviting Allen and not Lanning. Further discussion occurred between Assembly members. Both Hunter and Reif withdrew their amendments. A motion was made by Hackett to go into executive session to discuss subjects that tend to prejudice the reputation and character of a person in consideration of the personality traits of the candidates we have interviewed by video conference for the Municipal Administrator position and invite the Human Resources Director and Municipal Attorney in. The motion PASSED by the following vote. Yes: 4- Christianson, Putz, McConnell, and Hackett No: 3- Esquiro, Reif, and Hunter The Assembly was in executive session from 8:30pm to 9:08pm. Mayor McConnell signed off during the executive session . A motion was made by Hackett to reconvene as the Assembly in regular CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 2 City and Borough Assembly Minutes - Final August 7, 2013 session. The motion PASSED by a unanimous voice vote. A vote was taken on the previously stated main motion. Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Jennifer Robinson, asked the Assembly to offer their reasons for choosing the four finalists . VII. EXECUTIVE SESSION VIII. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Christianson to ADJOURN. The motion passed by a unanimous voice vote. The meeting ADJOURNED at 9:15pm. ATTEST: __________________________ Sara Peterson, CMC Acting Municipal Clerk CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 3