OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Sitka Assembly Meeting March 10, 2026: Promotion, Lease Amendment, and Quarterly Reports

City and Borough Assembly — Tuesday, March 10, 2026
BodySitka, Alaska
SessionCity and Borough Assembly
DateTuesday, March 10, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:01:14

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

All right, thank you everybody for joining us this evening.

0:02

I will call to order the regularly scheduled meeting of Tuesday, March 10th, 2026.

0:07

Please join me for a flag salute.

0:11

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

0:26

The Assembly of the City and Borough of Sitka would like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional first people of Sheetka.

0:33

With gratitude, we proceed on Klinkett Ani.

0:36

Sarah Roll Call, please.

0:38

Mayor Isenbise.

0:39

Present.

0:39

Mr.

0:40

Pike.

0:41

Here.

0:41

Ms.

0:41

Carlson.

0:42

Here.

0:43

Ms.

0:43

Riley.

0:44

Here.

0:45

Mr.

0:45

Christensen.

0:46

Here.

0:46

Mr.

0:47

Steline.

0:48

Here.

0:48

Mr.

0:49

Mosier is absent this evening.

0:51

Great.

0:51

Thank you.

0:52

Correspondence or agenda changes.

0:54

John, I understand you have some correspondence.

0:56

I do.

0:57

Thank you, Mayor.

0:59

Looks like a budget meeting in here tonight.

1:01

I was gonna announce this for the public.

1:04

And in your packet, I just wanted to point to this just like we did last year.

1:09

The tourism commission met on January 15th, and they recommended that uh staff reevaluate the potential one-way closure options for Lincoln Street during the uh during the tourism season.

1:20

Uh the CBS departments met to kind of go over the mechanics of that and do a review.

1:26

Um, and they went back to the tourism commission.

1:29

Um, and the group reached a consensus that essentially will follow the same procedures that we did last year.

1:35

We'll leave Lincoln Street fully open uh during the tourism season, and the uh the restroom will be placed at the uh Max Uddoff uh intersection as it was last year.

1:46

But just wanted to point that out for everyone.

1:48

Thank you.

1:49

Any other correspondence or agenda changes this evening.

1:54

Uh moving on to special reports.

1:57

Uh we have uh several scheduled special reports this evening uh for from department head quarterly reports.

2:04

Uh we'll start with HR and Josh, please.

2:18

Good evening, Mayor and Assembly.

2:20

Josh Brantover, Assistant Municipal Administrator.

2:23

Um for staff and hours, we have our HR Generalist two, which is Denise Salter, and Denise recently finished a uh kind of a multi-year uh certification for her Society for Human Resource Management Certified Profession Professional Certification.

2:38

Um we also recently welcomed Amelia Abeda as our HR assistant.

2:43

Um things I want to highlight uh that we've been working on.

2:48

Uh our our rollout of NeilGov has been a long process.

2:51

Um we have just in the last couple of weeks have uh sent everybody um given access to everybody still working on getting everybody fully into the system.

3:00

Uh but we are have got everybody's uh information in there.

3:03

Um we're gonna be doing a presentation at the AHOD on Thursday to start gearing people up for uh for getting in there for more stuff.

3:10

Uh some things that we are pushing out here very soon are evaluations and our training program is gonna be our learning management system going forward.

3:19

Um things that are on the horizon is that we have uh PSEA negotiations that um that contract is expiring on June 30th.

3:28

So we'll be uh we'll be working with them to get a new contract in place by that date, hopefully.

3:34

The other thing we have coming up is uh that we're preparing for right now is our annual open enrollment for health care, which will be in June.

3:42

And then uh for staffing status, we have 18 budgeted positions we are seeking to fill right now with around a 90% fill rate across all CBS departments, and we hired seven full-time employees for various positions this this quarter.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Safety███████████████████████████27%
Procedural██████████████████████████26%
Tourism█████████████████17%
Personnel Matters███████████11%
Public Engagement████████8%
Technology and Innovation███████7%
Parks and Recreation████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Sitka Assembly Meeting March 10, 2026: Promotion, Lease Amendment, and Quarterly Reports

The Sitka City and Borough Assembly held a regular meeting on March 10, 2026, at 6:00 PM in Assembly Chambers. All six present members (Christianson, Eisenbeisz, Pike, Carlson, Saline, Riley) voted unanimously on all items; Assembly Member Mosher was absent. The meeting included special reports from four departments, approval of a police chief promotion, a lease amendment with Shee Atika, Inc., and an executive session to screen municipal administrator applicants.

Consent Calendar

  • Item A: Minutes Approval – The assembly approved minutes from the January 27, February 10, 24, and 26 assembly meetings as part of the consent agenda (6-0 vote).

Discussion Items

  • Correspondence/Agenda Changes – Municipal Administrator John Leach reported that the Tourism Commission recommended keeping Lincoln Street fully open during the 2026 tourism season (same as last year) and placing a portable restroom at the Maksoutoff/Lincoln Street intersection.
  • Special Reports – Department Quarterly Reports
    • Human Resources (Josh Branthoover): The department has a 90% fill rate (18 vacancies out of 182 budgeted positions). Seven full-time employees were hired this quarter. Seasonal hiring (50–80 positions) is upcoming. The NeoGov rollout continues, and PSEA contract negotiations (expiring June 30) and annual health care open enrollment (June) are approaching.
    • IT (Don MacKinnon): The department is fully staffed with five positions. Key updates: new website go-live scheduled for March 19, network infrastructure expansion, and completion of access point installations. The help desk handled 203 requests, resolving 187 (70.4% first-contact resolution). Budget expenditure is at 59% YTD, on track. Assemblymember Riley raised concerns about additional IT workload from new projects (e.g., body cameras, permitting software).
    • Clerk (Sara Peterson): Processed 59 public records requests in the quarter. Records digitization continues (41 boxes sent for scanning). The municipal code recodification migration to eCode 360 is complete. Board/commission committee training visited four commissions. Budget at 57%.
    • Planning and Community Development (Amy Ainslie): Staff reported a vacancy for a half-time head lifeguard and no AmeriCorps placement this year. Tourism manager Judson Rusk started six to eight weeks ago. Phase two of the housing land suitability study to begin within the month (6–9 months for completion). Sustainability projects face federal funding adjustments. Parks and recreation has high facility rental demand but limited staff. Building department experienced a quiet Q4 but caught up on permits. The assembly-supported mid-year supplemental appropriation will help close staffing gaps.
  • Unfinished Business – Second Readings (all passed 6-0)
    • ORD 26-04: Amending Title 1 of the Sitka General Code to add Chapter 1.41 (Americans with Disabilities Act Title II Enactment).
    • ORD 26-05: Supplemental appropriations for FY2026 for body-worn cameras. Assemblymember Riley expressed strong support but noted that cameras do not capture the entire situation (only where the officer is looking) and are an additional input, not a full picture.
    • ORD 26-06: Supplemental appropriations for FY2026 for public records request software.
  • New Business
    • Item F – Promotion of Michael Hall to Police Chief: The assembly approved the promotion of Lieutenant Michael Hall to Police Chief (6-0 vote). Administrator Leach and Assistant Administrator Branthoover described a multi-step hiring process, including a hiring panel, community meet-and-greets, and Hall's completion of the Alaska Police Standards Council academy. Hall introduced himself, emphasizing community-oriented policing, recruitment, and plans to add a dedicated crimes-against-persons investigator. Assemblymembers praised interim Chief Chad Goeden for stabilizing the department and stressed the importance of trust and balancing enforcement with community relations.
    • Item G – Lease Amendment No. 1 with Shee Atika, Inc. for 4951 Halibut Point Road: Approved 6-0. The amendment reduces the required umbrella liability insurance from $10 million to $1 million, aligning with industry standards for the adventure park operation. Planning Director Ainslie noted the lessee is focusing on cultural experiences (salmon bake, tidal programs) and tightening costs. Assemblymember Riley asked about a noticed restaurant license application for the site; Ainslie said it has not been formally submitted and may require assembly review if it proceeds.
  • Board, Commission, Committee Appointments – Reappointment of Margie Esquiro to the Library Commission for a 3-year term was approved (6-0).
  • Executive Session (Item H) – The assembly entered executive session from 7:05 PM to 7:47 PM to screen applicants for the municipal administrator position. Assistant Municipal Administrator Josh Branthoover was invited; Municipal Administrator and Attorney were excluded. After reconvening, Mayor Eisenbeisz announced that several candidates were identified for interviews; names will be released after candidates are notified.

Key Outcomes

  • All consent and agenda items passed unanimously (6-0) , including minutes, board reappointment, three ordinances on second reading, police chief promotion, and lease amendment.
  • Police Chief Promotion: Lieutenant Michael Hall was officially promoted to Police Chief, effective upon assembly approval.
  • Lease Amendment: Insurance coverage for the Shee Atika adventure park lease was reduced to $1 million umbrella, with a potential future review if new uses (e.g., restaurant) are proposed.
  • Executive Session: The assembly screened municipal administrator applicants and identified candidates for interviews. Public release of names pending candidate notification.
  • Upcoming Meetings: The next regular assembly meeting is March 24, followed by a budget meeting March 25. The Northwest Managers Conference will be held in Sitka March 30–April 2.

Meeting Transcript

All right, thank you everybody for joining us this evening. I will call to order the regularly scheduled meeting of Tuesday, March 10th, 2026. Please join me for a flag salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. The Assembly of the City and Borough of Sitka would like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional first people of Sheetka. With gratitude, we proceed on Klinkett Ani. Sarah Roll Call, please. Mayor Isenbise. Present. Mr. Pike. Here. Ms. Carlson. Here. Ms. Riley. Here. Mr. Christensen. Here. Mr. Steline. Here. Mr. Mosier is absent this evening. Great. Thank you. Correspondence or agenda changes. John, I understand you have some correspondence. I do. Thank you, Mayor. Looks like a budget meeting in here tonight. I was gonna announce this for the public. And in your packet, I just wanted to point to this just like we did last year. The tourism commission met on January 15th, and they recommended that uh staff reevaluate the potential one-way closure options for Lincoln Street during the uh during the tourism season. Uh the CBS departments met to kind of go over the mechanics of that and do a review. Um, and they went back to the tourism commission. Um, and the group reached a consensus that essentially will follow the same procedures that we did last year. We'll leave Lincoln Street fully open uh during the tourism season, and the uh the restroom will be placed at the uh Max Uddoff uh intersection as it was last year. But just wanted to point that out for everyone. Thank you. Any other correspondence or agenda changes this evening. Uh moving on to special reports. Uh we have uh several scheduled special reports this evening uh for from department head quarterly reports. Uh we'll start with HR and Josh, please. Good evening, Mayor and Assembly. Josh Brantover, Assistant Municipal Administrator. Um for staff and hours, we have our HR Generalist two, which is Denise Salter, and Denise recently finished a uh kind of a multi-year uh certification for her Society for Human Resource Management Certified Profession Professional Certification. Um we also recently welcomed Amelia Abeda as our HR assistant.

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