OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Special Assembly Meeting for Municipal Administrator Interview – April 24, 2026

City and Borough Assembly — Friday, April 24, 2026
BodySitka, Alaska
SessionCity and Borough Assembly
DateFriday, April 24, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:52:42

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Welcome everybody.

0:01

It is five o'clock, so I'll call to order the special meeting of Friday, April 24th, 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.

0:32

With gratitude, we proceed on Klinketani.

0:35

Sarah Roll call, please.

0:49

Present.

0:50

Present.

0:51

Mr.

0:53

Ms.

0:53

Carlson.

0:54

Here.

0:55

Miss Riley.

0:56

Here.

0:56

Mr.

0:57

Christensen.

0:58

Here.

0:58

Mr.

0:58

Mosier.

0:59

Here.

1:00

And Mr.

1:01

Celine.

1:01

He did text me, so he's probably on this way.

1:04

Yeah.

1:08

So tonight we are gathered to do another or do the second round interview for Jenny Albert, uh as candidate who made it to our second round as well.

1:19

Uh just like last time, we do have two hours scheduled on this one so that we can go a little bit more in depth with Jenny and figure out if she's going to be a match, not only uh for our municipality, but uh for the citizens as well.

1:33

Uh Josh, do you have anything you want to go over again this time?

1:37

Uh thank you, Mr.

1:38

Mayor.

1:38

Just very quickly.

1:39

Um we have the same list as last time with the prohibited questions and primitive categories, so please pay attention to that.

1:46

Uh it'll be around Robin style, same as last time.

1:50

And uh Ms.

1:51

Albert is standing by as soon as I text her, she's ready to join.

1:54

And uh and um she's been standing by for about 10 minutes.

1:58

That's all I got.

2:00

Perfect.

2:01

If you're early, you're on time.

2:05

Uh Kevin and Katie, you guys want to rock paper scissors for your ass to go first?

2:12

I'll go for that.

2:13

That was very uh authoritative.

2:14

What about Scotty?

2:17

I know, yeah, we we could we gotta wait for that guy.

2:20

15 minutes there.

2:21

Uh-huh.

2:22

Okay, so yeah, Kevin, if you don't mind starting out, we'll start on your side.

2:25

We'll just keep going around the room, um, just like last time.

2:28

Uh I'll again I'll kind of track it if it seems like we're starting to wrap up.

2:33

Just you know, if if you have more questions, please feel free to ask them.

2:36

And I'm not trying to slow the conversation down, but we'll just try to make sure we're not overextending ourselves and using too much of everybody's time tonight if we don't need it.

2:44

So Josh, if you could uh reach out to Jenny, please.

2:53

Don't worry, we see each other.

2:56

Hi, Jenny.

2:57

Can you hear us?

2:58

Hi, yes, sir.

2:59

I can.

3:00

All right.

3:01

I love the great art in the background, but now that's all I'm gonna be staring at.

3:06

It's on purpose.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Personnel Matters████████████████████████████████32%
Community Engagement████████████████████20%
Procedural█████████9%
Public Engagement█████████9%
Budget Equity Analysis█████5%
Emergency Management█████5%
Affordable Housing████4%
Fiscal Sustainability████4%
Public Safety███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Special Assembly Meeting for Municipal Administrator Interview – April 24, 2026

The Sitka City and Borough Assembly held a special meeting on Friday, April 24, 2026, at 5:00 PM to conduct a second-round interview with municipal administrator candidate Jenny Alber (via Zoom) and to discuss next steps for the two final candidates, Jenny Alber and Steven Dahl. The meeting included an executive session and concluded with a plan for individual deliberation before a final decision.

Discussion Items

  • Municipal Administrator Applicant Interview – Jenny Alber (Agenda Item 26-074): The Assembly conducted a second-round interview with Jenny Alber, who participated via Zoom. The interview lasted approximately two hours and covered topics including: her research into Sitka's community and pressing issues (housing, tourism, food security, city-run utilities); her reflections on her first-round interview; her view of the administrator's role as a behind-the-scenes position rather than the public face; her experience with angry constituents and customer service; ideas for addressing the housing crunch (short-term rentals, collaboration with nonprofits and tribal agencies); budget preparation experience and philosophy; emergency management experience (New Orleans hurricane preparedness, but no direct command center role); management style (chain of command, accountability, staff retention); relationship with the Sitka Tribe of Alaska; strategies for balancing the budget and engaging the community; experience with state and federal agencies and lobbying; the importance of professional memberships and conferences; views on public education funding (support for public schools); recruitment and retention strategies (appreciation, mentorship, work-life balance); and how she would handle admitting an error in judgment (direct and immediate disclosure). Alber also asked about the status of department SOPs and the strategic plan, and the mayor indicated SOPs were updated about six years ago and the strategic plan is nearing expiration.

  • Discussion / Direction / Decision on Municipal Administrator Interviews (Agenda Item 26-076): After the interview, the Assembly considered whether to enter executive session to discuss the candidates' character and reputation. A motion was made by Assembly Member Mosher to enter executive session, excluding the Municipal Administrator and Municipal Attorney, and inviting Assistant Municipal Administrator Josh Branthoover. The motion passed unanimously by a vote of 7-0 (Riley, Eisenbeisz, Carlson, Mosher, Pike, Christianson, Saline). The executive session was held from 7:00 PM to 7:49 PM.

  • Discussion / Direction / Decision on Next Steps for Each Applicant (Agenda Item 26-077): Following the executive session, the Assembly reconvened in regular session. Mayor Eisenbeisz stated that the Assembly had met to discuss the candidates and that members would take additional time to consider the candidates individually before determining next steps. No further formal discussion or decision was made at this meeting.

Key Outcomes

  • The Assembly unanimously voted (7-0) to enter executive session to discuss the candidates' character and reputation.
  • The executive session lasted from 7:00 PM to 7:49 PM.
  • The Assembly will take additional time to deliberate individually before deciding on next steps for the two candidates. No final decision was made at this meeting.
  • The meeting adjourned at 7:49 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome everybody. It is five o'clock, so I'll call to order the special meeting of Friday, April 24th, 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 Klinketani. Sarah Roll call, please. Present. Present. Mr. Ms. Carlson. Here. Miss Riley. Here. Mr. Christensen. Here. Mr. Mosier. Here. And Mr. Celine. He did text me, so he's probably on this way. Yeah. So tonight we are gathered to do another or do the second round interview for Jenny Albert, uh as candidate who made it to our second round as well. Uh just like last time, we do have two hours scheduled on this one so that we can go a little bit more in depth with Jenny and figure out if she's going to be a match, not only uh for our municipality, but uh for the citizens as well. Uh Josh, do you have anything you want to go over again this time? Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just very quickly. Um we have the same list as last time with the prohibited questions and primitive categories, so please pay attention to that. Uh it'll be around Robin style, same as last time. And uh Ms. Albert is standing by as soon as I text her, she's ready to join. And uh and um she's been standing by for about 10 minutes. That's all I got. Perfect. If you're early, you're on time. Uh Kevin and Katie, you guys want to rock paper scissors for your ass to go first? I'll go for that. That was very uh authoritative. What about Scotty? I know, yeah, we we could we gotta wait for that guy. 15 minutes there. Uh-huh. Okay, so yeah, Kevin, if you don't mind starting out, we'll start on your side. We'll just keep going around the room, um, just like last time. Uh I'll again I'll kind of track it if it seems like we're starting to wrap up. Just you know, if if you have more questions, please feel free to ask them.

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