Wasilla council will let Seat F applicants interview by video, with phone as backup

The Wasilla City Council voted 4-1 Monday to have the city clerk offer video interviews, with phone as backup, to any Council Seat F applicant who wants one. The change came on the first day of the application period, after one applicant said he would be out of Alaska on the interview date.

The council set the appointment process Oct. 26, including a special meeting Nov. 30 to interview applicants and consider an appointment.

City clerk Jamie Newman said the applicant, a former council member, filed Monday and asked to call in to the Nov. 30 meeting if his travel allowed. The vacancy notice had been posted since Oct. 27 and the application available since Nov. 4, and neither mentioned calling in, Newman said; the council normally doesn't allow call-ins. Adding the option now could raise fairness questions for people who chose not to apply because interviews were in person, she said. "Maybe there's an issue, maybe not, but it's not for me to decide," Newman said.

Council member Stuart Graham added the item and made the motion, saying a call-in could be an option for a qualified applicant in a more technological world. Council member Ian Crafton seconded, noting the application period was still open and nothing published ruled out a remote interview. He said he didn't love it because "there's something different when somebody's sitting in that chair across from us," but that the change made more sense.

City attorney Holly Wells said she shared the clerk's fairness concerns but believed the council was on solid ground, and that any remote option must be offered to every applicant.

Council member Cathy Cottle cast the lone no vote. She said seeing a person differs from hearing one by phone and objected unless video was assured.

Newman said City Hall's audio and video limitations mean a video link is not guaranteed; staff will try Zoom or Microsoft Teams, then phone. The applicant had warned he might not be able to call in at all, she said.

After the vote, former council member Timothy Johnson told the council it has his application letter and said he could not be there on the 30th. Video interviews are common, he said, and "I'm perfectly comfortable with that."

Seat F opened when Alina Rubeo took office as mayor Oct. 19. Wasilla Municipal Code requires an appointment within 45 days of a declared vacancy, and the appointee will serve until a successor is elected in October 2027.

Applicants must file an application and a letter of interest in person at City Hall by 5 pm Nov. 20, according to the city's vacancy notice. City Hall is closed Nov. 11 for Veterans Day.