Assembly members will interview four candidates for borough manager at special meeting next week

Kodiak Island Borough Assembly members will be interviewing four candidates for the borough manager position at a special meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 6, according to an emailed meeting agenda packet.

Three of the applicants have experience in municipal government in Alaska – Ann Capela served as Bethel’s city manager from 2014 to 2016. She currently works in administration for Wayne State University in Michigan. And another candidate, Elke Doom, worked as the city manager for Valdez from 2017 to 2019 – she is currently the interim manager of Royal Oak Township in Michigan. 

There is one candidate from Kodiak that Assembly members will be interviewing for the position; Jessica Johnson is currently an executive officer at Coast Guard Base Kodiak. She was also formerly the director of facilities and public works director at the base. 

Assembly members will also interview Samuel Sulkosky, who is the current manager of Kittanning Borough in western Pennsylvania. 

According to the meeting agenda, interviews will be made public at a later date. Assembly members will meet in executive session after completing interviews with all of the applicants. 

Kodiak Island Borough Assembly members unanimously voted to fire the previous manager, Roxanne Murphy, at a special meeting on June 23. Assembly member Geoffrey Smith was absent for the vote. Murphy had been hired by the Borough in November of 2021. She replaced former Borough Manager Michael Powers, who was fired in September 2021 after five years on the job.

The borough’s Engineering and Facilities Manager Dave Conrad has been serving as interim manager since Murphy’s termination.