Both City Administrator John Leach and Municipal Attorney Brian Hanson received satisfactory job performance reviews from the Sitka Assembly when it met on Tuesday (4-20-21).
The assembly meets once a year to review the performance of the two top city staffers. Both reviews were held behind closed doors.
It’s been just over a year since Leach began his job as Sitka’s city administrator. He took the helm weeks before the coronavirus pandemic reached Alaska, and led the city’s emergency response to the virus.
While the public didn’t hear most of the assembly’s feedback on Leach’s performance, when the group returned from executive session, Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz praised Leach’s work during a tumultuous time.
“Coming on at probably one of the most difficult times the city has seen and has really, really been a top notch administrator for us,” he said.
In the last few years, Brian Hanson has led the city’s legal department through multiple lawsuits, as well as the sale of Sitka Community Hospital in 2019. In 2020, the last of three suits involving former Sitka Police Department employees was settled out of court. Mayor Eisenbeisz praised Hanson’s performance as well.
“We find his performance to be exemplary. And we wish that there was a ‘satisfactory with a gold star'” he said.
Each review took around an hour. Eisenbeisz said he would be reviewing a salary and benefits package with Municipal Attorney Hanson, which will be discussed at a future meeting.
