Ketchikan’s Acting City Manager Lacey Simpson is stepping down after a year in the role. Her resignation is effective March 2.
That gives the city council around a month and a half to find a replacement, while they also look for someone to fill the permanent city manager position.
In a special meeting Tuesday night, some council members said that assistant city manager should fill the position, while others said the position should be open to other city employees that want to apply.
Councilmember Abby Bradberry said she wants to get someone in the role as soon as possible.
“So that whoever it is can really work next to Lacey because she has so much knowledge to share about the city that we don’t even know,” Bradberry said. “So I would want them to have time with her because she has that amazing knowledge of the inner workings.”
The council agreed to open the position to city employees and department heads that want to apply. That application period closes next Friday, and the council will make their selection in an executive session before their regular meeting Feb. 5.
Simpson submitted her letter of resignation to the council last week, saying she would like to take a step back and focus on supporting her family.
The notice came to the council just a week after the candidate selected for the city manager position withdrew his name from consideration.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the council agreed to revisit the list of semifinalists they had selected previously, using the same recruitment firm and contract. They expect that would be the quickest way to fill the position, rather than starting the process over from the start.
Some council members said they want the recruitment process to open up again.
Council member Jai Mahtani said that while the decision needs to be made quickly, it’s more important to make the right selection.
“We are at a critical juncture,” Mahtani said. “We have issues, we have opportunities, we have a city that needs to be stabilized. So we need to get this right. Otherwise we will be stuck with something the population is not happy with.”
The estimated timeframe for making a selection from the shortlist of applicants is two to three months.
