Juneau Assembly to interview hospital board candidates

Juneau City Hall sunny winter day
Juneau City Hall. Photo by Casey Kelly/KTOO.
The Juneau Assembly meets tonight to interview applicants for the Bartlett Regional Hospital Board of Directors.

The Assembly usually holds a single meeting in December to consider applicants for city enterprise boards. But as Assemblyman Jesse Kiehl explains, that would have been difficult this year.

“We had so many interested applicants in the Bartlett hospital board and in the Planning Commission that it would have been a marathon interview session and meeting for the Assembly members,” Kiehl says. “It would have been so long that you start to get a little worn down.”

There are 13 applicants for four vacancies on the Planning Commission and eight applicants for three open seats on the hospital board. So Kiehl, who chairs the Human Resources Committee, says the full Assembly will meet tonight to interview Bartlett candidates, and again on Tuesday, December 17th, to interview Planning Commission candidates.

“This is actually keeping with a recent trend,” says Kiehl. “The last time around the Docks and Harbors and Eaglecrest (Ski Area) boards, as well as the Airport Board had a tremendous number of applicants. We actually had to split those this last spring. So I think it’s a great sign that people are really interested in these city enterprise boards and the Planning Commission.”

The city-owned hospital has experienced a great deal of upheaval this year, with three of its top administrators resigning in the wake of a personnel investigation. The Planning Commission has also had its share of challenges, with several decisions appealed to the Assembly in the past two years.

Kiehl says the applicants for both panels seem highly qualified.

“We’ve got a lot of professionals, both currently working and retirees, who are really interested in making Bartlett run better and who are really interested in the work of the Planning Commission for the city,” he says. “So I don’t see a lot of folks with major agendas to push. What I really see is an interest in service.”

Candidate interviews for both the hospital board and Planning Commission will take place in City Hall Conference Room 224. Both meetings start at 5:30 p.m.

[box]Hospital board interview schedule, Dec. 5, 2013
5:35 p.m. Timothy Powers
5:45 p.m. Marshal Kendziorek
5:55 p.m. Brad Torrence
6:05 p.m. Lauree Morton*
6:15 p.m. Mark S. Johnson
6:25 p.m. Ruth Blackwell
6:35 p.m. Bob Piorkowski
6:45 p.m. Mary Borthwick*

Planning Commission interview schedule, Dec. 17, 2013
5:35 p.m. Jerry Medina*
5:45 p.m. Gordon Jackson
6:05 p.m. Travis Eckhoff
6:15 p.m. Nathan Bishop*
6:25 p.m. Chuck Collins
6:35 p.m. Michael LeVine

*15 minute break*

7:00 p.m. Greg Williams
7:10 p.m. Bill Peters
7:20 p.m. Paul Voelckers
7:30 p.m. Cheryl Jebe
7:40 p.m. Adam Zenger
7:50 p.m. Linda Snow
Not available: Ben Haight*

*Incumbent
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