Wednesday’s interviews will be the first in the administrator hire process, which began back in February with 50 applicants. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)
There are now just three finalists for the job of municipal administrator in Sitka, after the assembly abruptly dropped a fourth candidate last week.
During the assembly’s regular meeting last Tuesday (3-14-17), Mayor Matt Hunter said that he had reservations about one of the finalists.
“I received an unsolicited phone call from a member of the public, as did our municipal clerk, regarding one of the applicants. And I am no longer interested in interviewing Mr. Patrick Jordan.”
Jordan was an early favorite when the assembly began culling its pool of 50 applicants last month, receiving the go-ahead from 5 of 7 assembly members. Jordan is most recently the administrator of Wexford County in Cadillac, Michigan. He’s been both the assistant city manager of Unalaska, and borough manager of Bristol Bay.
Hunter could say nothing publicly about what caused him to have second thoughts about Jordan. At the conclusion of a special budget meeting last Thursday (3-16-17), the assembly went into executive session for about 5 minutes to discuss the matter, and then returned to open session where they voted to drop Jordan from the interview pool.
No other candidate was brought up to take Jordan’s place. Assembly member Aaron Bean wanted to move ahead with the three candidates remaining.
“I’d like to see how the people who have made it this far interview, and what they have to offer. I think maybe we can make a decision with what we have.”
The remaining candidates are Sitka’s current fire chief Dave Miller, Sitka’s utility director Bryan Bertacchi, and Homer public works director Carey Meyer. All three will be interviewed via Skype beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, in Harrigan Centennial Hall. The interviews are open to the public.
Municipal administrator Mark Gorman will leave his post on June 15 of this year.
