Haines hires new borough manager, Annette Kreitzer, and more highlights from Tuesday’s meeting

Haines has finally hired a new borough manager, Annette Kreitzer. As KHNS’ Corinne Smith reports the borough assembly voted unanimously to ratify her new contract on Tuesday. They also voted to reject a new seasonal sales tax for the October ballot, to create a new fishing advisory committee, and more. 

 

Haines new borough manager Annette Kreitzer was officially hired Tuesday when the Assembly voted unanimously to ratify her new contract (See contract here, starting on page 122). She is scheduled to start October 1, almost 18 months to the day that  the Assembly fired the last manager Debra Schnabel by a contentious 4-3 margin. The search for a manager resumed last April when the top candidate declined the job.

In July, the Assembly narrowed the search from 10 candidates to two, then one dropped out, leaving Kreitzer. As an applicant, she had three public interviews then visited Haines in late July before the Assembly offered her the job. 

After the unanimous vote for hire, Assemblymember Caitlin Kirby thanked the group. 

“I just wanted to say thank you to (Assemblymember) Paul (Rogers) and the mayor for getting this contract kind of nailed down and all of us for going through this whole process for what, like almost a year now. And I’m really happy with the way the contract is laid out,” Kirby said. 

Kreitzer’s professional experience is heavy in Alaska state government. She worked as a legislative aide for several Republican lawmakers, and as the commissioner of the Department of Administration under Governors Sarah Palin and Sean Parnell. She retired in 2012. 

Annette Kreitzer will spearhead the borough managers’ office and oversee all borough staff at a salary of $130,000 dollars plus healthcare and retirement benefits. That’s a 38 percent pay raise from the last borough manager Debra Schnabel, who made $96,300, according to the borough clerk’s office. 

The contract stipulates an initial term of one year, and evaluations after three months of employment, and again at nine months. After that, it can be extended another two years to September 2024. The role is at-will, so the Assembly can fire her without cause, but in the first year severance pay would be one month’s salary.

Kreitzer did not return request for comment by airtime.

Borough Clerk Alekka Fullerton has been serving as manager in the interim.

In other borough business, the Assembly voted down putting a seasonal sales tax proposal on the October ballot. Assemblymember Carol Tuynman had introduced the tax measure, which would have had three separate tax rates for the Haines townsite, Excursion Inlet, and borough-wide to raise revenues for public services and capital projects. Tuynman said ultimately they want to do more research on the entire tax code.

“In the process of researching various tax options for sales tax, we realized that we did not have sufficient data to justify a decision at this point. The sales tax issue has come up several times…And I think there’s interest in the whole assembly and finding ways that would be equitable and not reduce the amount of total revenue that comes in,” Tuynman said.

Tuynman said the Assembly will continue discussions and research on the current tax code, and perhaps a sales tax will appear on the next ballot.

The Assembly also voted unanimously to create a new commercial fishing advisory board. Similar to the tourism advisory board, it would share industry insight and needs to the Assembly, and together lobby the state, says Mayor Doug Olerud.

“This is brought up through conversations I’ve had this summer with Mr. Thomas’s father, Bill Thomas, about creating an avenue for commercial fishermen to work with the assembly in an advisory role to help them I guess, lobby or talk to ADF&G about issues surrounding commercial fishing,” Mayor Olerud said. “That that might have a little bit more impact on some of the decisions that are made instead of them going as an individual’s fishermen that if they were advising the assembly, and the assembly was writing letters, or the mayor or manager writing letters that might carry a little bit more weight.” 

After more than a year of negotiations, the Assembly passed an ordinance to restructure the relationship between the borough and the Sheldon Museum. The museum board of trustees will now manage its own staff and administration, and the borough will continue managing the building.

The mayor also made brief comments on the current COVID outbreak, with 45 reported active cases on Tuesday. He asked the public to be patient with the lag in data on the case count from Juneau Public Health, and with clinic staff.

“We’ve gotten several reports of some people being a little aggressive, in their way of talking to people and treated people down there (at the clinic). And they’re the ones that are keeping all of us healthy and saving lives. So please have a little bit of patience,” he said.

Interim Borough Manager Alekka Fullerton said Haines is on high alert for community spread and emphasized the need to keep up COVID precautions like washing hands, social distancing and keeping social bubbles small.

Haines reported zero new positive cases Wednesday, and with 38 cases cleared since last reported August 20, that brings the total reported active cases to 20.