Wish List, New Manager and Transparency on Assembly Agenda

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT
The Kodiak Borough Assembly will meet tonight for a regular meeting and hold a public hearing on an ordinance aimed to make borough operations more transparent. The ordinance will require the borough manager to notify the assembly about any contract that may pose a conflict of interest between an assembly member and the borough. The manager must also notify the assembly member about potential a contracts with assembly member’s immediate family. The motion was introduced during the January 3 regular meeting and sparked a heated dialogue at the meeting’s end when Assemblyman Mel Stephens spoke at length about a prior contract between the borough and Assemblywoman Chris Lynch. The ordinance on the table for tonight’s meeting addresses borough code and not a specific contract.
Also on the agenda tonight is approval of the contract between the borough and Acting Manager Bud Cassidy. Cassidy has been acting as borough manager since June and recently agreed to take the position on permanently.
The assembly will also vote to adopt a revised state legislative capitol improvement projects priority list for the 2013 legislative session. Last month the assembly met with Representative Alan Austerman and Senator Gary Stevens to review its previous project list. The Kodiak legislators didn’t shy away from pointing out flaws in a number of projects on the list and suggested the assembly take a closer look before submitting it to the legislature. The assembly did just that and will vote to accept the shorter, revised list.
Tonight’s meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. in the borough assembly chambers and will be broadcast live on KMXT.