This year, Kodiak voters will decide if future city managers will still be required to live within city limits. That’s the focus of a ballot proposition in the upcoming municipal election which is about one week away.
Currently, city managers are required by the local charter to live within city limits. If the ballot proposition passes at the upcoming election on Oct. 1, then city managers would be required to live within 12 road miles of city limits.
Since the resolution was adopted by the city council on March 28, 2024, several issues have been brought up by members of the public that both favor and oppose the residency measure.
One issue is how living outside city limits would impact a city manager’s ability to respond to a natural disaster, like a tsunami.
Incumbent Councilmember Rich Walker noted during a public candidate forum hosted by KMXT and the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce earlier this month on Sept. 9, that some of the requirements set out in the city charter are archaic. For example, the ordinance citing the qualifications for a council member was first ratified in 1968.
“Some of these regulations and everything were, what, 60 years old? And they're not dealing with a lot of things that we deal with now. A lot of people weren't wondering about emergency response, if somebody was 12 miles outside of town," Walker explained. "But they have deputies, they have other people that can take care of things until [the city manager] gets there."
As Walker pointed out, if the city manager is outside of city limits during an emergency and can’t respond quickly then a Deputy City Manager could respond instead. However, that city position is currently vacant.
Local officials also claim that changing the residency requirement will help with hiring future city managers and provide prospective employees more housing options given the current affordable housing shortage in Kodiak. [WEB: hyperlink to previous reporting]
The city council during its Aug. 22 meeting paid a lobbyist $25,000 for a public information campaign and started placing ads in local media about the need to change the manager’s residency requirements, which has been set within the city charter since it was first passed in 1965.
A portion of that ad supporting the ballot proposition, as it currently airs on commercial radio station KVOK, states: “Let’s widen the net to attract and retain the best talent to serve our city. Learn more about the election at city.kodiak.ak.us. Paid for by the City of Kodiak.”
Some residents have also expressed support for the manager residency requirement to be extended to those wishing to serve on the city council as well. But this is just a suggestion and has not materialized into any official ordinances or ballot proposals at this point in time.
Currently, only registered city voters living within city limits are eligible to run for the council. City code states, "Only persons who, at the time of their election or choice to fill a vacancy, are at least twenty-one (21) years old and have resided within the City at least one year, or in the case of a newly annexed area, within either the City or the newly annexed area, for a total of at least one year, shall be qualified for the office of councilmember….If any councilmember ceases to be a resident of the City, that councilmember shall thereupon cease to hold office.”
The ballot proposition could have immediate consequences for Kodiak’s Acting City Manager Josie Bahnke. She has not become the new full time manager at this time, as the proposition has not been decided yet.
If it doesn’t pass then Bahnke, who lives outside the city, would have to move within city limits if she wants to become the next full time manager. It’s possible that the city council could continue to contract with Bahnke on an interim basis, which does not have the same residency requirements. Bahnke declined KMXT’s request to comment about her plans if the proposition should fail.
Mayor Pat Branson told KMXT that the council has not fully discussed a contingency plan on how to move forward with Bahnke as the manager if the proposition should fail. But the council will cross that bridge if it comes to that.
Registered city voters will decide the outcome on Oct. 1 and the results are expected to be certified the following week.
