The lowest paid department head at city hall could be getting a pay bump. When the Sitka Assembly met on Tuesday (1-28-20) it voted to raise the salary of the library director position from $71,000 to $82,000.

But first they’ll have to hire a director — the post has been vacant since September. Library commissioner Steven Morse said they’d seen high turnover in the top job over the last six years.

“We’ve had some excellent people serving as the director of our library, and the last three or four have left kind of prematurely,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s because of the salary or not, but it’s going to make our position a little more desirable.” 

After a recent round of interviews, the top candidate turned the job down, citing the low pay. Interim director Joanna Perensovich implored assembly members to consider a salary increase.  

“This job is an intricate blend of librarianship and public administration,” she said. “And it deserves a head-of-household living wage salary for Sitka in order to attract and maintain the leadership we need.” 

Assembly members Thor Christianson and Richard Wein voiced support for the pay raise. Member Kevin Mosher said he originally wasn’t in favor of a raise, until he saw the pay in comparison to other department head salaries. He said he would vote for the increase, but didn’t know if he could go any higher in the future. 

But member Valorie Nelson said she didn’t think offering more money would necessarily solve the problem. 

“It’s not always about the pay, it’s about the environment. If there are people there that are making it not desirable to be there, your director is not going to stay around,” she said.

The assembly passed the salary increase on a 5-1 vote with Nelson opposed. It will come back to the group for a second reading in February.

The assembly also unanimously approved holding a contest to redesign the city seal. The current seal depicts a cannon atop Castle Hill aimed over Sitka Sound. Those calling for a change say the seal is not inclusive, as it evokes a painful past for the Native community. Member Nelson worried that changing the seal was parallel to “rewriting history.” Assembly member Kevin Knox said that wasn’t the intention. 

“This isn’t rewriting of the history, it’s a recognition of a history that was oppressive to a lot of people in town,” he said. “What we’re recognizing here is that we’re willing to reconcile, we’re willing, we’re looking to move forward and make progress in our relationships and our healing process.

The cost of the change was estimated at just over $7000. The winning designer will receive a $1000 cash prize. Before a winner is picked, the top designs will go on a roadshow to various city committees, before coming to the assembly for final approval. 

In other business, the Sitka Assembly:

  • Unanimously finalized a water delivery agreement with the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association
  • Unanimously voted to rezone several lots from industrial to commercial at Halibut Point Marine- the private cruise ship dock is expanding its tourist services, food and retail. 
  • Approved $100,000 in appropriations to replace the automatic doors at the entrance of the Rocky Gutierrez International Airport and the double door entry at the Nugget Restaurant. That vote was 5-1 with assembly member Richard Wein opposed. 
  • Unanimously reappointed Jere Christner to a three-year term on the investment committee and appointed Sandra Fontaine to a three-year term on the library commission
  • Unanimously authorized a $535,000 grant application to the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management that would go to help build out emergency radio communication infrastructure.
  • Unanimously approved the consent agenda, including the minutes from the Jan 14 assembly meeting, and liquor license renewals for Talon Charters and the Westmark. 
  • From 5-6 p.m. the assembly held a work session on the comprehensive annual financial report and audit.