Kodiak votes Thursday on barring officials from stacking offices, and staff say it's broken

The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly takes final action Thursday on an ordinance meant to stop the mayor, Assembly members and school board members from holding more than one of those offices, or drawing a borough paycheck while serving. Borough staff say it doesn't work as written.

The problem is internal contradiction. One section would stop service area board members from serving as mayor or on the Assembly, while a separate section would still let them hold other compensated borough offices. Adopting it as drafted, staff say, would leave the code in conflict with itself.

The two members who asked for it gave a structural reason: a service area board member answers to the borough manager, and the Assembly supervises the manager. One of the two, Dave Johnson, won't be there to vote, his seat vacated in June. The other sponsor, Bo Sedillo-Whiteside, is still seated.

The ordinance reaches further than the three offices it names. It would also bar the mayor and Assembly members from sitting on the Planning and Zoning Commission, since appeals from that commission go to the Assembly sitting as the Board of Adjustment. Under the draft, though, road service area board members could still sit on a fire board and the school board.

The reach makes more sense against how many seats Kodiak has to fill. The borough has ten service area boards, most elected by the voters inside each area, on top of a seven-seat Assembly, a school board, a planning commission and a mayor. The Assembly hasn't acted on the measure since February.