After nearly a decade with the city, municipal attorney Brian Hanson is retiring this year. When the Sitka assembly met last night (1-9-24) it unanimously accepted Hanson’s retirement notice, but not before assembly members showed their appreciation for the work Hanson has done for the city.
“From the bottom of my heart I really wanted to stay thank you for all that you’ve done for this city,” said Deputy Mayor Kevin Mosher said. “Even through very difficult circumstances, and it’s always been a pleasure for me to speak with you. You’ve always made time if I had questions. I really appreciate you, and I wish you the best in your retirement.”
Hanson was hired as Sitka’s municipal attorney in 2016. Before that he worked in private practice for 25 years. Assembly member Thor Christianson said of all of the lawyers he’s worked with Hanson is one of the best, and compared him to former municipal attorney T. Cole.
“I was lucky enough to know both of them before they were city attorneys when they worked with my father,” Christianson said. “Brian has been a joy to work with, and the city attorney is a weird job. You really don’t want to hear from a city attorney very often, because usually it means something bad is going on. Really good city attorneys make that happen– they take care of things before they are problems. That’s what T. did, and that’s what Brian did.”
Hanson’s comments were brief- he just said he has a lot of work to do for the city in the next six months before he officially retires on June 30.
The assembly is responsible for hiring two city staff positions- the municipal administrator and attorney. The assembly will review the attorney job description at its next meeting on January 23, then they’ll begin advertising for the position.
