Project Manger Dean Orbison addressed the crowd at the Blue Lake hydro project dedication. It was his last day on the job, before retiring. (Emily Kwong, KCAW)
Sitka’s City Hall is in the midst of a generational shift, with a spate of retirements among longtime staff. Those who have retired in April and May alone had racked up 93 years of city service between them.
KCAW checked in with several folks in their last days on the job.
Longtime City Clerk Colleen Ingman poses with a service award at her last assembly meeting. (Rachel Waldholz/KCAW)
At the Blue Lake dedication ceremony on Friday, the last word went to Generation Engineer — and Blue Lake project manager — Dean Orbison.
Orbison: This particular project, and this success, and working together with this team, is by far the pinnacle of my career – which ends today! [Laughter]
Orbison is retiring after 19 years with the City of Sitka. He worked on the Blue Lake hydro project for the last seven.
KCAW: How does it feel to see it finally come to completion?
Orbison: Good! I mean, couldn’t be better! It is done! [Laughs]
Also retiring is Utility Director Chris Brewton, who shepherded the Blue Lake project to completion. He was with the city for six and a half years. And he put a little something special in the project’s time capsule.
Brewton: Actually, I put a bottle of scotch and a note to the crew of the future to have a toast on us and hopefully the plant’s running well, and everyone’s happy.
And as for advice for his replacement?
Brewton: The crew we have in the Electric Department is phenomenal. So I think they’ll do just as a good a job training the new guy as they did training me. So I really wish them the best.
Meanwhile, Colleen Ingman is leaving after almost 23 years of city service – 21 of them as City Clerk. That means 21 years of sitting at the assembly table as the parliamentarian, a position that gave her an up-close view of successive generations of Sitka’s elected officials. Speaking at her last assembly meeting, she said that has been a privilege.
“I know how hard it is to be successful, especially in your elected positions,” she told the assembly. “When you get in you’re so excited. And then all of a sudden, you realize rapidly that you can’t please everyone, and you can’t please your friends. And that’s a very difficult chair to sit in. So I have the greatest admiration for you.”
“As I mentioned in my resignation letter, I will miss working with you,” she said. “The politics, not so much.”
Colleen: I think it’s changed tremendously…
KCAW spoke with Ingman and Government Relations Director Marlene Campbell on April 30th, their last day of work, as they reflected on how the city has changed.
Ingman: I mean, the overload of work was just tremendous. I had an in-basket that was three feet tall. And they wouldn’t allow you to work overtime. So I’m like, how do I sleep at night?
Campbell: Plus a very small staff. Very small.
Together: Totally inadequate.
It’s better now, they said, but it can still be overwhelming.
Ingman: Sitka is probably the most complex municipality in the state. And every day you go to work, you have set things you know you need to get done, but every day you don’t know what you’re gonna be faced with. Because it’s whatever comes across that phone line, whatever comes across that door, whatever is coming before the assembly, whatever the administration has to tackle, whatever the state’s dealing with, whatever the feds are bringing in. So it’s constantly challenging and constantly changing.
Meanwhile, Marlene Campbell is leaving after working for the city for 27 years, most recently as government relations director. And that means she takes the long view when it comes to crises like the current state budget crunch.
Campbell: So the sky has been purported to be falling prior to now. It probably really is falling at this point. Things are changing dramatically. But I think more importantly, the city is in a totally different position than it was a decade ago…because we have responded from the mill closure in 1993 and the loss of our 400 top wage jobs. At this point, the city is in a completely different situation and far more capable of moving forward than a decade or two ago.
So how does it feel to be leaving? Surreal, Ingman said. Campbell agreed:
Marlene Campbell:…So many years, so long, and then, all of a sudden, this is it!
Ingman: This is the last day! [Laughs]
Campbell: This is the last day! Surreal is the perfect word!
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Other retirements in the last year include former information systems director Garry McCarty, who retired last summer after 31 years with the city; former Planning Director Wells Williams, who retired in October after 26 years; former Animal Control Officer Nancy Buckmaster, who retired on April 30th after 19 years of city service, and former Buildings and Facilities manager Chris Wilbur, who retired at the end of last year after 14 years of service.
Assessor Randy Hughes will retire later this month, after four years with the city.
