The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly is accepting nominations to fill a vacant seat on the six-member body.
That’s after assembly member Ryan Sharratt submitted his resignation earlier this month on Sept. 2, more than a year before his term is set to expire in October of 2026.
Sharratt said in a brief letter to the borough that he was resigning due to “personal/family reasons" and that he needed to focus on his family.
During the borough assembly’s regular meeting last week on Sept. 18, the remaining five assembly members, not including Mayor Scott Arndt, voted to declare Sharratt’s seat vacant.
The group was emotional as assembly members like Bo Whiteside spoke about Sharratt’s impact on them.
“Ryan, he did more research and put more effort into every meeting and agenda item than I think most of us combined," Whiteside said. "He did it pro-bono, he always donated his stipend. Just a true, generous leader in our community; I learned a lot from him.”
Assembly members Jared Griffin, Dave Johnson and Larry LeDoux shared similar sentiments about Sharratt during Thursday’s meeting. Sharratt was not present for that meeting as his final meeting was a work session on Aug. 28.
For transparency, Griffin is the general manager of KMXT Radio. But he does not have any editorial influence over news stories and he did not review this story before it was published.
The Kodiak Island Borough has 30 days from when Sharratt’s seat was officially declared vacant to appoint someone to fill the vacancy. Borough Clerk Nova Javier told assembly members that the application process has already begun.
“On Oct. 9 tentatively, we have scheduled to conduct interviews with applicants. On Oct. 16 the assembly may finalize appointment and administer the oath," she explained.
Interested applicants who are qualified voters of the Kodiak Island Borough and residents of the borough for at least one year at the time of filing, can submit applications online or in-person through Oct. 4.
The assembly must appoint the final candidate to serve for the remainder of Sharratt’s term by Oct. 18.
