Sitka doesn’t have a new municipal attorney yet, but after the second round of interviews the city is inviting one job candidate to visit for a community ‘meet and greet.’
Annmarie Billingsley is a graduate of the Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. She has practiced law in Alaska for 14 years, six of them as an attorney for the Fairbanks Northstar Borough. She’s also worked in private practice, and as a pro bono attorney for the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.
Billingsley was one of two candidates who initially interviewed for the job in late April, following the announcement that municipal attorney Brian Hanson will retire at the end of June. The assembly decided to invite Billingsley back for a second interview on Zoom, which happened in a special meeting on Thursday (5-10-24). Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz started the meeting by saying the questions this time would dive deeper.
“So we have some interview questions that were submitted by department heads. This is not something we’ve done in the past,” Eisenbeisz said. “But after reading them, I found it to be a great exercise, because this is the areas of concern for these department heads…and you know, they may be reaching out to legal with some of these questions.”
Questions for Billingsley covered a wide area- ranging from risk management, to police and public safety, and education funding – issues they’d expect Sitka’s attorney to deal with in the future. They discussed areas of law Billingsley said she had quite a bit of experience with, like union negotiations and contract writing.
Billingsley also touched on the possibility of future ballot initiatives to limit cruise traffic, and whether that could lead to litigation for the city. She said that was an area of law that she’s not familiar with but it’s not unique, and she’s prepared to learn about it.
“The issues that you’re having are not unique to Sitka,” Billingsley said, referring to Juneau’s recent efforts to limit cruise traffic. “I know a number of the municipal attorneys that are practicing up in Juneau, so easy enough for me to pick up the phone and say, ‘What are you guys doing? How are you dealing with this, and is there a way to get me up to speed?'”
After about an hour of questions, the assembly convened in executive session. When they returned the message from assembly was abbreviated but clear- Billingsley wasn’t hired yet, but she would be advancing to the next round.
“I’m very pleased with her candidacy and I look forward to meeting her in person,” Mosher said.
The assembly unanimously voted to invite Billingsley to Sitka for a community ‘meet and greet’ and in-person interview at the end of this month. The time and place has yet to be announced.
