The Haines Borough Assembly dismissed borough manager Bill Seward in a 4-2 vote Wednesday night. The decision followed an over three-hour-long evaluation in which each assembly member was critical of the new manager, who had been on the job six months.
At Seward’s request, the majority of the emotional meeting happened in public instead of in executive session. Newly-elected assembly member Tom Morphet started the discussion with a written statement.
“Mr. Seward has made continuous missteps that reflect his judgment and diligence are not at the caliber required to do this job effectively,” Morphet said. “Moreover, I do not believe these skills can be taught.”
Morphet listed sixteen examples to support his point. In July, a couple weeks after he started the job, Seward tried to put the small boat harbor expansion on hold and divert the funding to Lutak Dock. Also that month, Seward banned two residents from the borough offices and tried to bolster security at the building. The assembly later shut that effort down. Morphet said these are actions of a ‘rogue’ manager who doesn’t follow directions from his boss, the assembly.
“The manager takes actions outside his job description, lacks understanding of borough laws, exceeds the parameters of his authority and ignores the chain of command and his subordinates,” Morphet said.
Assembly member Margaret Friedenauer emphasized that they hired Seward knowing he had no municipal experience. Seward spent more than 20 years in the Coast Guard before applying to the Haines manager position.
“It was the entire assembly’s responsibility to try to offer the training and guidance and support he needed,” Friedenauer said. “Whether that can be rectified I don’t know. I just want to share in some of the responsibility. If things aren’t going as swimmingly as we hoped I think we need to own that a little bit.”
But Friedenauer also had concerns. She said several borough employees called her, unsolicited, to share negative experiences they had with Seward.
“It’s hard to un-hear those things,” she said.
Friedenauer said the employee concerns included a lack of objectivity, a challenging atmosphere, disrespect, preconceived bias, and lack of understanding about municipal structure.
The assembly also brought up an email they received recounting a phone call Seward allegedly made to an engineering firm that employs Haines resident Gershon Cohen. Cohen’s boss, David DelPorto said Seward threatened his business.
“I think the biggest thing that’s recently come up is this business about threatening a company owner with blackballing them,” said Assembly member Ron Jackson. “It shocked me when I read that because it’s not the persona that I’ve come to know. It just seemed like a totally different person.”
The meeting went into executive session to discuss the email. That part of the discussion was behind closed doors because it included another person, Cohen.
The contrast Jackson referred to was a theme in the assembly comments. They said Seward seemed like a nice, generous person when he interacted with them. But then they would hear about interactions he had with other people that showed a different side.
When Seward was given the chance to speak, he admitted he made mistakes. He said he tried to base decisions on assembly input, but…
“Trying to work for seven bosses is also sometimes challenging, because you’re all very diverse, you all have different wisdom, different perspectives, and whatnot,” Seward said.
Friedenauer asked Seward, taking everything he’s heard into account, how he would move forward if he stayed on as manager.
“You know folks, I’m here to stay,” Seward said. “I’m gonna learn from it. You gave me tons of good, constructive feedback. And I’ll take this feedback and do everything I can to improve.”
Friedenauer pressed Seward on what specifically he needed from the assembly to improve. Seward told the assembly members to ‘pop in his office’ or email him when they have issues. After a while, Friednauer spoke up again.
“I wanted to be wooed with the question I asked you,” she said. “I felt like it was two different dichotomies again. You were like, ‘I’m here to stay.’ And I was like ‘alright, let’s do this.’ So I was ready to hear a plan. And I didn’t.”
Assemblyman Mike Case proposed giving Seward a second chance. He suggested the assembly put Seward on a three-month probationary period and re-evaluate him then.
“I don’t want to make this a revolving manager door where every six months or year or year and half we try to get a new manager,” Case said. “We’re never going to get the perfect manager.”
But other assembly members expressed hesitation with Case’s suggestion. They said they were unsure three months would make a difference.
“Bill is such a sweet guy, and yet there’s this other side that comes out,” said Jackson. “And I don’t know if that’s something that can change because we put some things down on a list.”
Morphet made a motion to terminate Seward’s contract for cause. He said the assembly shouldn’t settle.
“I don’t think we can have standards high enough for this position,” Morphet said.
Mayor Jan Hill defended Seward. She pleaded with the assembly to reject Morphet’s motion.
“An evaluation is a tool, not a weapon,” Hill said. “And tonight it feels like you’re all axe-throwers. And I’m really sad.”
The motion to terminate Seward’s contract passed, 4-2. Morphet, Friedenauer, Jackson and Tresham Gregg voted in favor, Case and Heather Lende were opposed.
That decision was met with furious responses from former assembly member Diana Lapham and resident Don Turner, who were in the audience. Lapham called the decision an ‘atrocity’ and Turner said he would start a petition to recall Morphet.
After the hours of emotional discussion, the assembly adjourned without addressing next steps for the manager position. As of Thursday, borough clerk Julie Cozzi was serving as acting manager.
Tom Morphet was one of 6 assemblymen who collectively gave the new manager very low scores. When I read all this finger pointing and talk about recalling Morphet I had to wonder if you people even read or listen to the news. I’m surprised Mr. Seward lasted as long as he did. From the get-go almost every decision he ever made had me scratching my head wondering “WTF?!” Cancel the dock? Ban citizens from the Borough Offices? Post cops in the schools? The list goes on …
Utterly heartless, and I for one am heartbroken for having voted someone into power that would use his power so flippantly, flushing not just fate of a manager, but in few hours having disintegrated the lives of a family without even considering giving him an opportunity to change. And to suggest that the job can’t be learned must mean that nobody is qualified… because everyone has learned what they know somewhere, even those he would himself hire. But what this heartless person must not have learned is that money talks and bullshit walks… and anyone with a heart now have the power NOT to support his side business… and perhaps when his term of power ends, he too will know what it is like not to have anything else to fall back on. These days we all have other means of getting our news; for example, right here.
It really is to bad, we let ourselves down again. We, as borough residents, should own up to our own missteps and take more of an active roll in our own governance, become a positive voice for change not the vengeful voice of vindictiveness. The blame game benefits no one, least of all us, the borough. The boroughs reputation, our reputation, has taken another needless hit. This, and other missteps, has severely hampered our ability to reach out to qualified applicants for our most important borough positions. Ask yourself, would you apply for a management position in Haines?
The concept of the strong manager form of government as implemented in the Haines Borough has been a complete failure. One per year on average, some do not even last a full year. Massive costs in finding, hiring, moving and living expenses, and terminations. At best case we get an experienced bureaucrat, who has come from a larger branch of government, where they are used to spending millions at the drop of a hat. THE STRONG MANAGER FORM OF GOVERNMENT AS IMPLEMENTED IN THE HAINES BOROUGH HAS BEEN A COMPLETE FAILURE.
Fourteen managers in 13 years is like a husband having 14 divorces in 13 years. You can blame “marriage” or the 14 women… but chances are the guy has a problem. If the Assembly wants to know what the problem is, it needs to buy a mirror.
Hi Fred. I’m Angela Mauro’s son in law. She needs to contact you immediately. Please email me.
I think we are all about to pay more taxes to settle a wrongful termination case. Mr. Seward, please forgive our elected misfits. I hope the Assembly says sorry and you come back. We need to recall everyone who voted to fire you.
OMG! You are right! Can we make the Assembly pay the bill?
We have a systemic problem. Fourteen borough managers in 13 years! If that is accurate, we must step back, dissect the processes we have allowed to run a management train wreck, and develop processes that ensure the candidates that are considered meet well-defined qualifications including impeccable character. There must be benchmarks for performance and regular check-ins from day-one. As an observer of the hiring process beginning with the selection of the search firm there were serious mis-steps from the start, including the assembly’s complete disregard of the senior staff’s unanimous recommendation that the current borough manager not be hired due to his lack of essential qualifications. Let’s stop all the in-fighting and work on righting the systemic challenges that continually undermine effective governance.
It’s actually a good thing for the borough manager to take ownership and have some flexibility administering the policies and procedures of the borough, as long as the manager has a clear understanding of that. If anything in the executive operation of the borough needs to be improved, it would be that the mayor exercises the executive power of the assembly, as prescribed by the borough charter. There is no reason for a new borough manager to feel he has “seven bosses”. I can see that a new manager, who is trying to get a grip on policies and procedures as prescribed by the ever-changing assembly, would be in a very uncomfortable position without the proper guidance through established channels. We have had mayors who have understood their role as the Executive, and we have had less dysfunctional assemblies, and better prepared managers. Maybe next time we will get it right.
This is what happens when the elected and appointed leaders in our town simply do not have the education, experience and skills needed for their job. Sad and pathetic really. I hate to agree with Tom but I have to this time. We need better qualified people in our city government big time!
Not a good person. He was extremely bad when he was in USCG Florida, in Clear Water, Jacksonville and Miami areas.
Tynah,
You are not a good person to opine, casting aspersions on a man who yo do not know, who gave over 20 years of service to his country. I have known Commander Seward and his family for the last 5 years of his Coast Guard Career. His Commanding Officers as well as his subordinates have spoken nothing but praise, and he is one of the most highly decorated Officers I have known. Clearly, the only mistake this man has ever committed, was to entrust his career, reputation and well being of he and his family, to the people of Haines Alaska. Shame on you for destroying this man’s future. Good luck to the people of Haines Alaska. No decent, ethical, hard working, qualified professional would ever consider moving and working in this town again. Hope your clerk works out well for you.
Tom Morphet is a loose cannon. He isn’t taking his seat seriously. I am ashamed to be represented by this man. He openly addmitted to drinking and driving, and waking up in strangers homes, DURING A MEETING! Not to mention picking out citizens and demoralizing them at assembly meetings! I’ll sign that petition……..
Morphet is going to school to learn it’s easier to criticize government than to run it and the taxpayers of Haines are paying his tuition.
It’s not a problem of the assembly, but a problem of the community and general ignorance of manager candidates. Too many people think it would be a fun thing to do to work in small-town, local government. Mr. Seward didn’t understand small-town politics. He didn’t understand that being a manager in a small town leads to a certain amount of isolation. He aligned himself too closely with certain factions of the community. If he understood this, he wouldn’t have lived with the police chief nor had certain people over for Thanksgiving dinner. His objectivity and due diligence were deeply in question, as was his overall competence. Even his wife didn’t seem to understand that people would be paying attention to whom she sat next to at meetings. It’s a tough job. We make it tough.
You made my point councilman; …sat next to the wrong people, dinner with the wrong people, …factions. That kind of thinking is not small town politics, it is crazy talk in any size town. “We make it tough” – This is why Haines will never have a manager that lasts long enough to make a difference or get things done.
Just looking at the comments in this story, Mr. Seward aligned himself with the more conservative wing of the assembly. He has support from the mayor, from Ms. Lapham, from Mr. Turner. He didn’t understand the need to play things down the middle, to be objective (or at least try to appear to be). He didn’t understand that his relationship with the police chief would lead to rampant questioning of his ability to be objective with that department. Yes, maybe someone should have pulled him aside and told him that, but it should have been intuitive.
Maybe so…. I also think it’s tough to be the new guy in a small town. More time could have helped
Unbelievable. And so very sad. On behalf of those of us in the sane population of Haines, I am sorry, Mr. Seward. I will definitely be signing the recall!
Sounds like Mr Morphet had an agenda from day one. The assembly made a hasty decision. 14 managers in 13 years sounds like a problem with the assembly, not the managers they hire.