A view of Ketchikan from the top of the Edmonds Street stairs. (KRBD file photo)
City officials in Ketchikan have named five finalists to replace the late Karl Amylon as city manager and general manager of the local publicly-owned utility. The candidates are scheduled to visit Ketchikan and take questions in a public forum next week.
The finalists are William Appleton, Mark Freitag, Paul Dyal, Scott Thomas and Delilah Walsh.
Appleton is the public works director for SeaTac, Washington. That’s a town of about 30,000 and home to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. He previously worked on public works and water projects for the city of Federal Way, Washington.
Freitag, a former U.S. Army colonel, is the city manager for the Wisconsin city of Janesville, with a population of 64,000. He’s been in that position for the past nine years. Freitag was stationed twice in Fort Wainwright, Alaska during his military career, according to the city.
Dyal currently leads the municipal government and public utility in Lake City, Florida, a town of about 12,000 people. The city’s announcement says he has more than a decade of experience working in local government.
Thomas is the town administrator in La Conner, Washington, a community of about 1,000. He’s worked there since 2018 after 20 years as an attorney for the cities of Burlington, Mount Vernon and Tacoma, Washington.
Walsh has been the utilities director for about two years for the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, with roughly 100,000 residents. Before that, she was the manager of Socorro County, New Mexico for a decade.
All five candidates are expected to visit Ketchikan late next week for an intensive three-day interview process that includes a community tour, meetings with senior city staff, and interviews with the mayor and council.
The five finalists are also slated to appear in a Q&A at the Ted Ferry Civic Center on Friday, July 15 at 6:30 p.m. where they’ll answer pre-selected questions from the public. All questions must be submitted by email to acting City Manager Lacey Simpson at laceys@ktn-ak.us by Sunday, July 10.
