Patrick Jordan, Debra Schnabel, and Brad Ryan are the three candidates remaining on the assembly's shortlist.

Patrick Jordan, Debra Schnabel, and Brad Ryan are the three candidates remaining on the assembly’s shortlist.

The Haines Borough Assembly will hold preliminary interviews with three candidates for the borough manager job.

Two of the finalists are locals and one lives in the Lower 48 but has Alaska experience.

They are interim borough manager Brad Ryan, Haines Chamber of Commerce Director Debra Schnabel, and Michigan county administrator Patrick Jordan.

Jordan was added to the list of finalists in a 4-2 vote of the assembly last week. They voted unanimously to add another out-of-towner, Gene Green, to the list. But Green withdrew his application.

The assembly’s mixed enthusiasm about Jordan led to some discussion over whether to conduct a preliminary interview with him at all. Assemblyman Tresham Gregg said Jordan was at a disadvantage being the only non-local candidate. But he said it wouldn’t hurt to talk with Jordan over Skype or by phone.

“It’s not a huge deal to give him a chance on the telephone,” Gregg said. “And if we say, ‘there’s something to this,’ then if we want to, we can bring him [to town for an in-person interview.]”

The assembly decided to set up a Skype or phone interview with Jordan and in-person interviews with Ryan and Schnabel. The interviews have yet to be arranged and the assembly has not decided whether they will be public.

Once the preliminary interviews are done, the remaining candidates will go through a more intensive screening process that includes community meetings.