Interim administrator candidate Phillip Messina interviewed via Skype from the offices of Prothman, in Issaquah, Washington. In addition to 28 years working in city government, Messina has also worked for Prothman as a recruiter. Mayor Matt Hunter called it “the perfect recipe” for guiding Sitka toward a permanent hire. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

The Sitka assembly has finally found someone they’d like to hire to run the municipal government. Unfortunately, he’s a temp.

The assembly met in special session Thursday night to interview Philip Messina, a candidate for interim city administrator, and decided to make him an offer on the spot.

Downloadable audio.

Some might be tempted to say that it was the neat blue suit, the well-groomed thinning silver hair, or his uncanny resemblance to current Sitka administrator Mark Gorman.

More likely, though, Philip Messina took control of the interview from an assembly with a bit of hiring fatigue, and made it almost impossible for them not to offer him the job.

See what you think.

This would be an opportunity keep a steady hand more or less on the tiller and get ready for transition to your next manager. I’ve done a little bit of reading about your agenda, a little bit about the hospital and the consolidation, went through your budget and see where you do have some issues over future revenue. You have a really interesting and aggressive capital plan — it could be a challenge to finance all those projects, but those are the kinds of things that I like to see happen. And again I know you’ve had some issues over the last couple of weeks and the last month that have probably rocked the community a little bit, which is tragic. And again the purpose of an interim is to come in and make sure that the projects that you’ve approved and financed are going to get done. So that would be another part of it: making sure that those projects that you want to see done, that you’ve just approved, that we get those rolling. And again, to get ready for the next manager and get through that process.

In case you weren’t keeping track, in 90 seconds Messina explained that he wouldn’t make any big changes during his interim work, he’s up to speed on the major political issues in the community, he’s concerned about Sitka’s possibly over-ambitious capital plan, he’s sensitive that we’ve recently experienced tragedy, but he believes that it’s important to keep moving and deliver government projects and services.

The assembly has rejected over 50 candidates for a variety of reasons. They’ve wanted someone who’s overseen large budgets and complicated governments — Messina said he’s run cities with everything Sitka has, except a harbor department and a local electric utility. The assembly has wanted someone who won’t bolt — Messina managed Central Point Oregon for 10 years, and he believes in grooming future leadership from within an organization.

They’re also looking for someone with small-town sensibilities. Messina lives about 20 miles outside of Seattle in a town of under 8,000 people called Duvall.

And they wanted someone okay with Sitka’s weather.

“I grew up in Seattle, I’m used to rain. So it wouldn’t be a huge problem.”

Messina’s name was forwarded as an interim candidate by The Prothman Company, which the assembly has hired to recruit a permanent administrator. They also had letters of interest from two veterans of city government: Former administrator Gary Paxton, and former police chief Sheldon Schmitt.

Both assembly members Steven Eisenbeisz and Aaron Swanson expressed a preference for Paxton, though Eisenbeisz said he’d support the hire of Messina if that’s the way the others went.

And Messina is where member Kevin Knox wanted to go.

“I was pretty impressed with the amount of information he had about what he would be stepping into. It was more than some of the other candidates we’ve talked with, beyond our locals. He didn’t just look at the headlines, he’s dug in a little bit for something that he’s only going to do for three months.”

Mayor Matt Hunter also liked Paxton, but ranked him second behind Messina. Hunter felt that Sitka could be getting a manager and a management consultant in one hire.

“He seems to have the same philosophy that I want our candidate to have here. Keep a steady hand on the tiller, don’t change things drastically in a short amount of time. And then as others have said this expert appraisal of city operations can be extremely valuable. He immediately pointed to our infrastructure plan which was the biggest thing we have to deal with — our hundreds of millions of dollars of work in the next 50 years and how will we get there — and maybe he has ideas of things we can take out of that plan or fund differently, or completely different approaches. I’m excited about that.”

Member Bob Potrzuski made the motion to nominate Phillip Messina as interim administrator, and to have the Human Resources Department negotiate terms.

If he accepts, Messina told the assembly that he was available to start work right away.

Current city administrator Mark Gorman is expected to leave the post on June 15.

Since January, the Assembly has whittled the applicant list from 50 to two. Utility Director Bryan Bertacchi withdrew his name Monday. Only Sitka Fire Chief Dave Miller and Homer Public Works Director Carey Meyer remain. Read about their last interview here.

Moving forward, Mark Danielson, the city’s human resources director, informed the Assembly of their options. “Our choices are: 1) We go forward with one or both of the current candidates, 2) we revisit the applicant list 3) we could go out again and extend. That’s not unusual. We see it happening in Wrangell today. 4) And then there’s the recruiter option. So that’s sort of my synopsis for where we are on our journey.  I’m sure that we’re going to find somebody good for the City of Sitka.” Danielson estimates a recruiting firm would cost $30,000, but promises broader advertising throughout the Pacific Northwest and a refund, should the hired administrator leave the job in a year. 

With Assemblymen Bob Potrzuski and Steven Eisenbeisz absent, the five members showed interest in revisiting their top 16 candidates from February. Aaron Bean reasoned, “Let’s try to vet the candidates that we already have with the money we’ve already spent.”

A recent sinkhole on Lot 4. The shoreline is being eroded from wave action. The Gary Paxton Industrial Park Board wants to draw upon an emergency contingency fund to stabilize the shoreline with armor rock. (GPIP Photo)

The Assembly also authorized funding to protect the shoreline of the Gary Paxton Industrial Park from further erosion. Executive Director Gary White explained that a bank along Lot 4 is being undercut by wave action. “The erosion is getting so bad that it has the potential to affect the foundation of one of our highest valued buildings out there, which would be the former boat company building. We call it Building 4690. We have to fix this or we could lose our highest revenue producing property out there,” White said.

GPIP developed a shoreline stabilization project and requested $250,000  from their contingency fund to pay for that, which the Assembly granted.

On second and final reading, the Assembly also approved an ordinance (Ord 2017-08) to loosen sales tax penalties. If a business is in good standing – with no outstanding debt – and pays their sales taxes late by accident within a seven day window, the city will waive the 5% penalty fee. Juneau has a similar policy in place.

The Assembly also honored the AmeriCorps program – declaring April 4th AmeriCorps Day – and heard a presentation from NOAA on the repercussions of humans feeding Steller’s sea lions. Under the Marine Mammal Protection act, it is is illegal to feed sea lions. Not only does it endanger the marine mammal physically, but Suryan explained that it habituates them to humans as a feeding source. This can result in aggressive behavior and lose of gear, time, and money for fisherman. 

Suryan added that in the past two decades, NOAA and ADF&G have tracked 750 sea lions entangled in marine debris and fishing gear. “Most of the time we can’t even tell what the entanglement material is because it’s too deeply embedded in the neck. But when we can see it, it’s usually packing bands or black rubber bands used in the crab fishery,” Suryan said.

She described a multi-agency campaign called “Lose the Loop,” which encourages fishermen to cut loops before discarding them and reducing the use of synthetic material.

Sea Lion Entanglement PSA from ADF&G on Vimeo.

The Sitka assembly interviews administrator candidate Bryan Bertacchi via Skype last Wednesday (3-22-17.) Bertacchi had offered to serve both as administrator and utility director for 2 years, saving the city over $200,000. In an email withdrawing his application, Bertacchi described his interest in the process as “voluntary community service.” (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

The pool for Sitka’s new city administrator has narrowed from three to two. Utility Director Bryan Bertacchi has withdrawn from the process.

In an e-mail to the Sitka Assembly members around 4 p.m. this afternoon (03-27-17), Bertacchi said that his application was “structured as a voluntary community service, in an offer to support the Sitka that is my home and that I care for.” He added, “I feel I have accomplished my goal of volunteerism in this process and I would like to minimize any further distraction from your successful efforts by withdrawing my name for consideration.”

Two candidates remain: Sitka’s Fire Chief Dave Miller and Carey Meyer, the current public works director in Homer.

Mayor Matthew Hunter says he’d prefer more than two candidates for the next round of interviews, but the Assembly must confer as a whole first. Plus, he added, there’s no need to rush the process.

“We have Mark Gorman through June 15th. He’s expressed willingness to stay on longer if needed. But we also have a real depth in our bench if needed – department heads. We have many people who can step up and be acting administrator. The city will be in good hands through the summer I think, as we go through this process. So there’s no rush. The most critical thing is we get the right person for Sitka.”

KCAW News spoke to three other assembly members prior to deadline for this story. Two were in favor of re-opening the application process, and possibly reviewing the 48 applicants in the previous pool. One was comfortable moving ahead with just the two remaining candidates. There was no excitement about spending money to hire a recruitment firm, but one assembly member thought the idea should be investigated further.

The Assembly will decide the next course of action for hiring the new city administrator during their regular meeting tomorrow/today (03-28-17) at 6 p.m.

The Sitka assembly interviews administrator candidate Bryan Bertacchi via Skype. Although 2 of the 3 candidates at this stage were local, the assembly decided to level the playing field via Skype and some of the new technology at the renovated Harrigan Centennial Hall. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

The Sitka Assembly interviewed its three top candidates for municipal administrator Wednesday night (3-22-17), but didn’t reach consensus on a final pick.

Several members said they’d be interested in narrowing the finalist pool down to two, for face-to-face interviews. But some also were willing to re-open the pool, and possibly, to hire a recruitment firm.

Downloadable audio.

The candidates are Bryan Bertacchi, Dave Miller, and Carey Meyer. Bertacchi and Miller are both current Sitka employees, and Meyer is the public works director in Homer.

The three candidates each used their 45-minutes to display what put them in the finalist pool in the first place.

For Bertacchi, Sitka’s utility director, it was a detailed understanding of the mechanisms of municipal finance, the issues involved in structuring rates, and the pushback city officials are subject to in taking on difficult decisions.

Last year, for instance, Bertacchi was asked to represent the city’s interest on the Sitka Community Hospital Board.

“When I volunteered to be chairman of the hospital board, and I learned the same thing in the electric utility director role, that when you make hard decisions people tend to attack you personally. And that defines a really important attribute of whoever sits in the job. The question is: Do you have a thick skin, does it roll off your back? And the answer is yes, it even makes me work harder in the current role I have.”

Bertacchi submitted a unique application. He’s proposed serving as both Sitka’s administrator and utility director for two years, then reverting to being utility director again after the city’s current financial problems have stabilized.

Among those problems is paying down debt for the Blue Lake Hydro expansion. Bertacchi was asked how Sitka could avoid incurring more debt for needed projects in the future, like harbors.

“A lot of it surrounds that landslide risk issue, and I think we have to be very thoughtful how we go forward with that because I think we need to provide new businesses in this town, and new jobs in construction. And I think that’s a key issue in itself. And I think it requires a lot of deep thinking and diving deep into that bucket because it’s really going to have a big impact on a lot of what we do.”

Dave Miller’s answer to staying out of debt was that “Sitka needs to get out and sell ourselves.”

Miller is a 29-year Sitka resident, and the town’s current fire chief, though he began his career in Sitka as food service manager at Sheldon Jackson College.

Miller focused on his personable style, his ability to iron out conflict through communication.

But he was also realistic that not every problem in Sitka had an easy answer, and that user fees were on the rise.

“People are going to have to understand that they’re going to have to pay to use these facilities. We don’t want to chase them out of the harbors. That’s not the goal in life. But there’s no easy money out there right now. We’re just going to have to work hard with the state and the feds — and ourselves — to get more business in town to make it work.”

The fire department operates on a budget of about $2 million. Miller admitted that he would rely on the expertise of the city’s finance department to manage Sitka’s $90 million operation. But Miller suggested that, despite his easy-going style — he could handle a mountain of challenges. He pointed to August, 2015:

“Landslides. We had a record number of EMS calls. We had a dive death, when a guy jumped off the bridge. We had about two weeks super-busy. Two weeks of maybe three or four hours of sleep a night. And the whole community came together to make it happen.”

The third candidate to interview was Carey Meyer, the public works director for Homer the last 18 years.

Meyer brought a direct, engineer’s style to the interview. He drew many comparisons between the problems Sitka and Homer faced in trying to close their budget gaps. He admitted that he was not one for the limelight.

“The main focus of the public manager isn’t to provide a vision for the community. I hope you’re not expecting that would be one of the prerequisites of the new city administrator that I would bring with me. The main focus of a public manager is to educate and inform, and to look at the problems on the table, do what engineers do a lot, define what the alternatives are, the different ways of solving that particular problem, getting the facts on the table for everyone to discuss in a rational way, and expect that decisions will be made if people are made aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each one of them.”

Meyer said his weakness was difficulty saying no which, he was discovering in Homer, he was having to say more often. Although he’d been following the last few assembly meetings, he didn’t pretend to have a deep enough understanding of Sitka’s fiscal situation to offer a remedy, except to say that it was similar to Homer’s.

A veteran of long public service, Meyer suggested that there was a reason for his success so far.

“I will tell you that throughout my career, people who have worked for me tell me that I’m the best boss they ever had. I don’t take the approach that people work for me. I think for the most part people in city government or in the private sector do want to do a good job. Work should be hard. Work should be challenging. But we should also be getting satisfaction from our jobs. In my experience I’ve gotten more satisfaction out of my job when myself and the people who work for me are successful at what they do.”

After three hours questioning the candidates, the assembly did not take any immediate action to narrow down the pool further. Both assembly members Aaron Swanson and Aaron Bean were interested in moving ahead with two candidates. Bob Potrzuski, Tristan Guevin, Kevin Knox, and Mayor Hunter were willing to meet with two of the candidates in face-to-face interviews, but they were more ambivalent about whether the search was really over. Guevin said that he was reluctant to arrive at this stage with only three candidates.

Kevin Knox elaborated on that idea.

“The upcoming administrator is going to have some significant challenges obviously in the next year, two, and three years out. It’s not an easy position to fill. I agree with Tristan that all three of those candidates have qualities that I’m very interested in. Nobody filled every category that I’ve been thinking about.”

Mayor Hunter said simply, “I’d like to sleep on it.” Assembly member Steven Eisenbeisz was absent due to a medical emergency.

The assembly next meets on Tuesday, March 28, and will discuss the administrator hire again then. Human resources director Mark Danielson reminded the assembly that often there is “never a perfect candidate.” He reminded them that — if necessary — they could hire a recruitment firm to find more candidates.

Current administrator Mark Gorman is set to resign on June 15.