John Leach
Municipal Administrator · City and Borough of Sitka
17 articles · 1 transcripts
City and Borough of Sitka, Alaska
Affiliations
Sitka hires Gerrie Cotter as municipal administrator at $200,000 a year
Sitka hired Gerrie Cotter, a township administrator, as city administrator at $200,000 a year. Her stated reason for leaving: more natural beauty.
Sitka's savings for future repairs has shrunk three years running
Sitka's yearly set-aside for future infrastructure repairs keeps shrinking: $4 million, then $3.2 million, and $3 million proposed for Tuesday.
Most of Sitka's administrator search has happened in executive session
Sitka's sole finalist for city administrator dropped out in July. The Assembly decides Tuesday on a different candidate, possibly in closed session.
Sitka would make backyard apartments easier to build, in fewer places
Sitka wants more backyard apartments and fewer places to put them. The ordinance cuts requirements from 14 to eight and bars them from R-2 lots.
Sitka has been renting dumpsters without a rate in code
Sitka has been running roll-off dumpster service with no rate in city code. The Assembly is fixing that Tuesday, at $3,300 a month per container.
Sitka's Assembly takes up how to pay for child care
Sitka's Assembly takes up a possible child care funding source Tuesday. A survey found most parents struggle to find care and employers are feeling it too.
Sitka Assembly to interview municipal administrator applicant Gerrie Cotter on Sept. 10
Sitka's Assembly will interview Gerrie Cotter for municipal administrator on Sept. 10, the sole remaining candidate after a months-long search that started over at least once.
Sitka is set to confirm a fire chief who's already been doing the job
Sitka's Assembly is set to confirm Brian McLaughlin as fire chief this week, a role he already appears to have been filling for the volunteer-heavy department.
Sitka's sole finalist for city administrator is gone, and the Assembly is starting over
The sole finalist Sitka introduced for city administrator last month is gone, and the Assembly interviews two new candidates Friday, with no explanation given.
Sitka Assembly reconsiders hatchery lease at Gary Paxton park
Sitka's Assembly takes another swing at leasing a chunk of the Gary Paxton park to a hatchery group, plus two more parcels up for private bids.
Sitka Assembly schedules child care work session for July 21
Sitka Assembly meets July 21 to tackle child care shortages that parents say are expensive and understaffed, and that hurt nearly two-thirds of local employers.
A salmon hatchery wants to grow at Sitka's old pulp mill site
Sitka may lease a second lot at its old pulp mill site to the nonprofit behind much of Southeast's salmon hatchery production — room for the fish supply to grow.
Sitka wades into an unsettled frontier of environmental law
Sitka may sue over PFAS, 1,4-dioxane and microplastics in its water — and the microplastics part is a legal frontier no other Alaska town appears to have tested.
Sitka confronts a child care shortage it can't fully fix alone
Sitka doesn't have enough child care — a problem hitting all of Alaska, driven partly by the real cost of the safety rules that make care expensive to provide.
Sitka Assembly awards Fisheries Enhancement Fund grants June 9
Sitka Assembly awards Fisheries Enhancement Fund grants June 9 to support salmon hatcheries as Southeast Alaska fish prices drop sharply.
Sitka Deputy Mayor Pike to resign; Assembly to fill vacant seat
Sitka Deputy Mayor Timothy Pike resigns effective June 23, 2026. Assembly votes May 26 on how to fill the seat and adopts three budget ordinances for fiscal year 2027. Meeting starts 6 p.m. at Assembly Chambers, 330 Harbor Drive.
Senate Finance advances pension bill with municipal opt-in provision
The Senate Finance Committee advanced a pension bill on April 24 that lets municipalities choose whether to pay higher rates for the new plan.
