The Sitka Assembly hiring subcommittee met at noon, Monday (8/5/19) to discuss several vacant city positions, including four patrol officer posts on the Sitka Police Department.
Members Richard Wein, Valorie Nelson, and Steven Eisenbeisz, formed the subcommittee after the assembly instituted a city-wide hiring freeze in April. The body appointed a subcommittee in May as an attempt to cut the budget through attrition. The subcommittee reviews all city jobs as they become vacant, and makes a recommendation to the assembly on whether to leave the jobs vacant or fill them.
On Monday, the group spent just under an hour considering several positions. They unanimously voted to recommend the assembly approve hiring for all of the vacancies, with one exception. The subcommittee recommended the assembly open up two of four vacant patrol police officer positions for hiring.
The subcommittee unanimously voted to recommend the city fill several other positions, including a part-time library assistant position, a temporary scanner and records destruction clerk, and a temporary customer service representative for the utility department. The body also voted to allow Interim Police Chief Robert Baty to hire two new dispatch and records clerks. And if the assembly approves the recommendation, Baty can surpass the subcommittee process to advertise and fill those positions if they become vacant in the future.
