The Sitka Assembly is happy with the work the city administrator and attorney have done over the last year. When it met in a special session last night/on Tuesday (4-15-25), the assembly gave “exemplary” performance reviews to the only two city employees who report directly to the assembly.
It first went behind closed doors for over two hours to give feedback to Municipal Attorney Rachel Jones. Jones has been the city’s attorney since last September after a months-long process to replace former attorney Brian Hanson who retired last summer. When the group returned, Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz gave a short summary of their review of Jones, and announced that they would be offering her a 5% salary increase along with her “exemplary” performance review.
“It’s been a brief time and a busy time,” he said. “We understand, but we as an assembly feel strongly that you are the correct person in that position, so we thank you for your service.”
The assembly then went into executive session for about an hour to review Municipal Administrator John Leach’s performance. When the group returned, Eisenbeisz shared that the assembly considered Leach’s performance exemplary, and would pay him an annual salary of $170,000 for his next contract. Eisenbeisz also said the assembly wanted to hire a new city administration position – a Deputy Administrator.
“The assembly feels it is time within the growth of our organization that that position is key,” Eisenbeisz said. “We thank you for all you’ve done and will continue to do.”
Eisenbeisz asked Leach to begin developing a job description for the Deputy Administrator position. In an interview with KCAW, Leach said that the vision for the position had preceded his time as an administrator, and it’s a common position in other Southeast cities. 14 city employees currently report directly to the administrator, making it hard for him to give department heads enough individualized attention. A deputy would help share that load.
While the deputy’s job description still needs to be fleshed out, Leach anticipates returning to the assembly with a supplemental appropriation for the position later this year.
