Former Assembly Member Chris Ystad will serve on the Sitka Assembly until the next municipal election. This comes after former Assembly Member Tim Pike stepped down last month.
Ystad, a local fisherman, served on the assembly from 2022 to 2025. He said while he’s enjoyed his time off the assembly, there are still things he wants to see through, like finding a solution for hauling uninsured boats at the new, city-owned, contractor-operated shipyard.
“I still want to serve the community,” Ystad told the Sitka Assembly on Tuesday. “It’s a community I care for very much, and I do have some unfinished items that I would like to see across the finish line, [and] at least help get there if it doesn’t happen within these three months. [During] my time away, I’ve also thought of a few other things that I’d like to try to address. Three months is a tight timeline, but maybe I can at least get the ball rolling and the discussions started.”
The assembly unanimously voted to appoint Ystad over Jeremy Plank, a local accountant and business owner who currently serves as the chair of the city’s tourism commission.
Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said he voted for Ystad because of his previous experience on the assembly, and said he supports keeping Plank in his seat on the tourism commission.
“I find his operation and running of the tourism commission to be extremely valuable, and I think that we would be benefited the most by keeping him in that role, and then having Chris serve out the remainder of the term,” Eisenbeisz said.
Ystad was sworn in at the assembly meeting on Tuesday, where he was also appointed as vice deputy mayor. He said he does not plan to run for re-election in the upcoming municipal election.
