Three incumbents will be sworn in for another term when the Sitka Assembly meets tonight (10-8-24).
On October 1, Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz was elected to another two-year term as Sitka’s mayor. This will be his third mayoral term. Assembly members Kevin Mosher and Scott Saline will also take their oaths of office tonight, and begin their three-year terms. This will be Mosher’s third full assembly term, and Saline’s first full term after serving for one year.
The incumbents outpolled their challengers by significant margins on election day. Scott Saline has made no secret of his hope to use his assembly term to improve conditions in his Katlian Street neighborhood, where he’s faced numerous bureaucratic obstacles to his seafood business, and he believes those obstacles exist for others as well.
As the numbers came in last Tuesday, he was confident about moving forward.
“I’m coming in, and we’re going to change the way Sitka runs,” Saline said. “And I’m really excited, because people know they’ve been watching me try to do the same thing for decades, and I’m in it, and going to sharpen up my teeth, and I’m going to have some weasel words for all the weasel words.
When Kevin Mosher first arrived on the assembly six years ago, he didn’t consider himself to be very flexible on some issues, but he says he’s evolved. He’s now focused on housing, childcare, and affordability – and supporting the work to maintain Sitka’s infrastructure, including hiring sufficient city staff.
On election night, Mosher said that he’s been complimented on his willingness to listen to all sides of a problem, and even change his mind.
“My thought process through being on the assembly has changed drastically from when I first got on,” Mosher said. “I had a kind of ideological mindset, and I realized that has to go out the door if you want to get things done. And I also learned a lot from just being with people and working with people. A lot of those ideas I originally had didn’t make any sense.”
Once the new assembly is sworn in tonight, they’ll discuss the future of the Sitka Animal Shelter and whether to move to a different model of management. The animal shelter has had a rocky couple of years, with high turnover in the animal control officer position. In a memo, Municipal Administrator John Leach recommends that the city continue to provide animal control services, but turn over shelter responsibilities to an independent self-funded organization that provides shelter and adoption services.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
