The Sitka Tribe of Alaska certified the results of its election Wednesday night (11-18-15) but still hasn’t decided who will fill its fourth open seat, which no one ran for.
The council will have one new member, Lillian Feldpausch (Feld-pouch), come December. Incumbents Ben Miyasato and Lawrence “Woody” Widmark retained their seats.
The fourth seat was to be decided by write-in votes, but at the polls there was a three-way tie. Austin Inman, Harvey Kitka and Nels Lawson received four votes each, which wasn’t enough to secure a seat on the council. There was also a discrepancy between which Nels Lawson, father or son, was written in.
Tribal council chairman Mike Baines says because there wasn’t a clear winner, the council will appoint someone to fill the fourth seat before the end of December.
The council’s two-year terms are up at the end of this month and policy allows 30 days to fill any vacant seats. Baines says the council will choose someone in the next few weeks.
The council has gone through some transformation recently. Council member Harry Kitka left the board due to medical reasons and member Clara Gray took over his position. She decided not to run again. Another member, Thomas Gamble, was stripped of his responsibilities.
Feldpausch, Miyasato and Widmark will be sworn in Dec. 2.
