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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05292018 City Council Laydown- Kris Erchinger Letter to Council 7XiO 5-2,_ it/k7t: May 27, 2018 4A1Ja6611(jVITh Dear Members of Seward City Council, Seward has been and continues to be, one of the gems among small Alaskan communities. Compared to other communities our size, Seward is remarkable in the breadth and scope of the projects we undertake to improve the economy, local infrastructure and quality of life for our neighbors. I am really proud of the strides we have made over the past seven years with city manager Jim Hunt at the helm, and you should be too. At Council's direction and with a strong council-manager partnership, Jim Hunt and Ron Long have had remarkable success in bringing funding to Seward and in deploying those funds to expand our local economy, strengthen the environment for businesses to thrive, upgrade and enhance City infrastructure, and improve the quality of life. I would like to remind us all of the accomplishments Jim Hunt has led over the past seven years. In that time, more than$87 million in grant funds have been received. Of that,$77 million has been spent, (amounting to$11 million per year)over and above the day-to-day work needed to operate, manage, and strengthen an electric utility, harbor and Port, water and wastewater system, healthcare facilities, and all the other operations that go into keeping the City running. That equates to outside monies coming into Seward totaling$28,000 per man, woman and child, or an average of$4,000 per person per year, during the city manager's tenure with the City. If you were to execute a search for a city manager, I suspect it would be nearly impossible to find an administrative team that could generate so much in the way of funding to improve our community and its infrastructure. It is true that funding isn't everything. So let's not focus on the tens of millions of dollars in funding and instead, focus on what has actually been completed for the betterment of our community. We should be asking the question, "What has the City accomplished under this city manager?" • A $26 million Seward Marine Industrial Center expansion. This facility has languished since it was constructed more than 30 years ago, and without the efforts of the Council working hand- in-hand with this city manager and his team, Seward would have had difficulty attracting the quality businesses which are now clamoring to lease space across the bay, build their marine- related businesses, and raise young families in Seward. There is tremendous momentum at SMIC. On Mr. Hunt's watch, $26 million in funding was secured, the breakwater construction was completed, a new fishing pier was recently installed, a 330-ton lift was purchased and the travelift pit expanded, and there is a growing demand for businesses interested in leasing land at SMIC to start and/or grow their business. A crane has arrived and will soon be installed, and a vessel washdown pad was installed. We could not have even dreamed of having this level of expansion at SMIC five short years ago and yet, here we are. The development at SMIC brings year-round employment opportunities that Seward has sought for many years; it has resulted in young entrepreneurs eager to invest their time and their money and their energy in our community. Who could have imagined? Clearly Mr. Hunt did not accomplish this project or any other on his own; he was not hired to do so. He was hired to partner with the community, the City Council and the City staff to seek funds, lead projects, build up our town's infrastructure, grow the economy, improve the business climate and make Seward a better Page I 1 place for families to live and thrive. In my estimation, on each of those points, he has earned high marks. • $6 million grant-funded upgrades to the City's electrical system accomplished on Mr. Hunt's watch. By leveraging outside funding, Seward's ratepayers achieve savings of more than $2,100 per household because these improvement costs are not passed along to our customers. Seward's electrical utility, with its new generators, warehouse, and automated controls, is in its best physical condition in decades. If that weren't enough, the utility is completing the transition to automated meter reading at very little cost to the ratepayers, receiving more than$500,000 in donated high-quality equipment to make the project possible. In the near-future,that will mean a reduction in annual meter reading costs of$50,000 which will fall to the bottom-line, reducing costs passed on to customers. When Snow River threatened our electrical infrastructure in 2016, Mr. Hunt's strong connections in Washington DC made it possible to obtain $2 million in federal funding on very short notice, to protect the watershed and our power poles. Before Mr. Hunt's arrival,the City's electric utility had a long list of critical repair needs and the most significant items on that list have been completed during his tenure. • The costs of power remains high in Seward, primarily due to the cost of fuel directly passed on to our customers from Chugach. On Mr. Hunt's watch,the administration and Council recently completed the City's participation in the lower-cost hydro power project from Battle Creek which will provide access to lower-cost fuel in the future. And the largest opportunity for reducing power costs comes from the growth in new business which will share in spreading the cost of fuel among a larger customer base. This city manager has a strong track record in promoting a positive business climate, and he continues to promote Seward as a new business destination for a family fun center, a major minerals plant, and large marine transport and fishing operators,to name a few. • $5.5 million in major local road system upgrades. Seward's roads were in serious disrepair and the public was begging for action. Under Mr. Hunt's leadership, the City was able to wrestle back a large federal earmark that had been stalled at DOT for more than five years before Mr. Hunt's arrival, and without which, the paving project could not have happened. Not only are the roads in the best condition they have been in in decades, but Dieckgraeff Road and the road to the long-term care facility have been upgraded from gravel to paved surfaces, reducing the impact on the residents of Forest Acres and improving the noise-level and safety related to traffic to the landfill. These road improvements improve safety and liveability for our residents and our visitors, helping us to take pride again in the beauty of our little town. • Our two sewer lagoons represent the single largest assets of the City's Wastewater system. They were at risk of failure when Mr. Hunt arrived and on his watch,were completely dredged and upgraded to improve aeration, representing the single-most important upgrade to the primary physical plant of the Wastewater system in decades. • During Mr. Hunt's tenure Seward has secured $5.5 million in funding to construct and equip the new water storage tank,at little cost to Seward's ratepayers. The new tank, as well as the refurbished tank repaired on his watch, improve our fire-fighting capabilities, allow for the Page 12 abandonment of old wells, and allow for future expansion of homes into areas that will now have improved water pressure and fire suppression. These projects represent the most significant infrastructure needs in the Water Fund for many years and are now behind us due, in large part,to Mr. Hunt and his ability to bring together a strong team to accomplish projects that have been envisioned, but not completed, for years. • The Harbor has seen incredible growth, expansion and upgrades since the arrival of Mr. Hunt. We have a new security float and have relocated the Coast Guard building to the east harbor and the cutter and response vessels to the entrance to the harbor. Many of the floats and docks in the harbor have been recently replaced and/or upgraded, including improvements to the electrical, lighting and fire-suppression systems. During Mr. Hunt's tenure, we have constructed new fish cleaning stations, renovated the harbor restrooms, extended the harbor boardwalk, installed mooring dolphins for the UAF research vessel at Seward Marine Center, secured funding for the shellfish hatchery, installed a new sewer pump-out station, upgraded the T-Dock, and closed out critical harbor breakwater repairs,just to name a few of the major accomplishments. We have secured funding to replace the South harbor launch ramp. Plans are underway to accommodate the expanded needs of the US Coast Guard. While Seward is not receiving an additional Coast Guard vessel, local residents are unaware of the challenges Seward's city manager and his team faced to ensure that Seward remained a homeport for the Coast Guard and for the expanded number of crew and their families moving to town as a result of this effort. Once again, strong relationships in Washington DC made it possible to retain the Coast Guard presence in Seward, despite efforts of competing communities to relocate the vessel. That could easily have been lost without the persistent and cooperative efforts of Jim Hunt, Ron Long, and the City Council. • Seward is prone to natural disasters and we have weathered a number of storms in the past seven years,with the city manager doggedly pursuing funding to ensure that Seward maintains its ability to access much-needed grant funding to repair the fish ditch, beachfront erosion, debris removal and road repairs. Soon we will see repairs to Lowell Point Road,which has been on the City's list for funding assistance for decades. Without the pursuit of reimbursement from state and federal sources, our local taxpayers could have been responsible to pay for these repairs or forego them altogether. • The city manager continues to leverage his role with colleagues affiliated with the Alaska Municipal League to champion efforts to protect funding for interoperable communications for emergency 911 and disaster response, to address coastal erosion, and to protect other funding sources critical to Seward's financial strength such as community jail funding, PERS state assistance and revenue sharing. His leadership role with the Alaska Municipal League and with the International City Manager's Association, offer strong benefits to the City of Seward in terms of advocacy, strengthening key political relationships, and providing awareness of funding opportunities.This city manager is not sitting back doing nothing. He is cultivating strong relationships at the state and federal level,to ensure that Seward has a seat at the table when it comes to securing funding and saving programs and projects dear to the residents of Seward. Page 13 m The city manager and the Council supported funding for the heat pump project at the Alaska Sealife Center, and thanks to Jim and Ron's lobbying efforts in Juneau, the City has recently been awarded $750,000 in future funding to start our own pilot project to heat the City library, City Hall, Fire Hall and the Annex. Should the project prove successful, it opens the door to the potential for expanding energy efficiency opportunities for downtown Seward, potentially benefiting our largest concentration of small local businesses. Seward has been begging for ways to reduce utility costs for its residents and we continue to see the city manager and his staff seek ways to make that happen. The administration recently recommended, and Council approved, the City's expanded participation in the Battle Creek Project, which increases the City's share of ownership in hydro energy,the lowest-cost current option for purchased power. These are exciting times for energy efficiency, and Mr. Hunt continues to do more to promote energy efficiency than any city manager in my tenure. He presses department heads to seek grant funds and to do more to think outside-the-box, and alternative energy projects are happening under his leadership, where they have not come to fruition in the past. Perhaps the most important accomplishment of this city manager is his ability to bring the US Army Corps to the table to resume temporary ownership and financial responsibility for the Lowell Canyon Tunnel in order to accomplish the largest-scale repairs to the tunnel since its original construction. The Army Corps' feasibility study will develop alternatives for the City to mitigate the largest threat to the community of Seward,which is a blockage of the tunnel. This project has been on the City's radar for decades, but until this administration, we did not have the momentum or the depth of partnership needed to secure funding and a project award. This is a monumental accomplishment for Seward, and we have this city manager to thank for bringing his strong relationships with our Washington DC contingent and the US Army Corp leadership team to bear, on moving this project forward in a meaningful way. I don't have to remind the City Council that it takes a team effort to bring these amazing projects to the drawing board, then to the funding stage and finally, to fruition. Until the last election, Mr. Hunt maintained a strong relationship with the elected body and with his staff. The momentum on major City projects was extraordinary; the excitement among staff was palpable. How have things gone so wrong over the past seven months since the election, to bring us to the point where we are willing to throw the baby out with the bath water? We each have to answer that question for ourselves. For me, I believe that we have lost our focus on what is important. We have fallen prey to lies and deceit and character assassination, and unless we refocus our attention on strengthening rather than tearing down the strong partnership between the Council and the administration,we stand to lose the one thing that takes literally years to build: the combination of capacity and momentum. It is time to lay aside the social media circus and continue on with the work that the people have elected and/or appointed us to do. This city manager and his team stand ready to continue the amazing work that we have started, in partnership with members of the City Council and the public. I implore the Council to restore the stability of this City by extending Mr. Hunt's contract so that we can all get back to finishing some of the amazing projects we have begun. By having the manager's contract in limbo, instability will continue to reign, and Seward will lose its leverage and its momentum which will require years to re- establish. We have a number of key players in the administration who will be retiring in the next five years. Without stable leadership at the top of the organization, we will lose the remaining opportunity we have to leverage the experience of these tenured individuals, and the relationships they have Page 14 • developed over decades serving Seward, to finish some key remaining projects that have been on the priority list for many years. We have a window of opportunity here, but without the continuity of Jim Hunt and Ron Long at the helm,the opportunity will be lost to accomplish these remaining projects in the next few years. I ask the City Council to consider what you really want in a city manager. When Mr. Hunt was hired, Council was looking for a change. You moved from a former military leader who operated without an assistant city manager,to a city manager-team;you wanted a stronger focus on building the local business community's relationships with the City and creating a more business-friendly City. On that point, Mr. Hunt and Mr. Long deserve high praise. You asked them to focus on addressing the critical infrastructure needs of the City. In my opinion, they have more than delivered, having completed a major overhaul of infrastructure in every enterprise fund in the City; the Harbor, at SMIC, in the electric utility, and in both the water and wastewater utilities. You asked them to address critical infrastructure needs. They brought you City-wide road improvements, handicapped accessible sidewalks,significant savings from refinancing major City asset debt, handicapped-accessible restrooms at City Hall,asbestos removal,and extraordinary repairs to the Tunnel. You were interested in expanding SMIC without any particular idea of how to do that,short of the shiplift facility serving as the key driver of economic activity. Who could have envisioned the early successes we are seeing across the Bay? It is nothing short of astonishing when you consider the substantial decline in activity at the shiplift,yet marine-related activity at SMIC is rapidly expanding. You asked that the new city manager have more of an open-door policy and be more accessible. He has a constant stream of community leaders and business people and state and federal officials coming through his doors. While certain council members may choose not to take advantage of the open-door policy and instead make every interaction with the manager a negative one, that doesn't change the fact that he is accessible and approachable and easy to talk to. That has not been the case with some former city managers. Council members have an important role to play in ensuring the success of the City. The city manager does not own that responsibility alone. He has a strong team of department heads and a strong staff who have demonstrated the ability to accomplish great things when given stability and clear direction from a cohesive City Council. As a taxpayer and a City employee, I simply ask that you please put your differences aside and focus on where we are going and the improvements coming right around the corner. Oh,the places we'll go! This City is on the verge of amazing things. For the first time in many years,the administration has a plan for relocating the animal shelter, for building a new City shop, and for replacing the parks and rec warehouse, and a plan to accomplish these projects at little-to-no cost to the taxpayers. As a result of public meetings and public-private collaboration ideas, we have a great opportunity to expand business opportunities and housing for local residents due both to the vacation of the Air Force Rec Camp, and the great synergies of the Planning and Zoning Commission and staff, seeking more development-friendly solutions. City staff,at the manager's direction,are investigating assessment districts for utilities,a family fun center, supporting the Parks Playground and ice rink groups to encourage their grassroots efforts. These are exciting times for Seward. The only ingredient missing is stability, continuity, and a return to the days before the election of October 2017, when the Council and the administration were strong partners with a shared vision for moving Seward forward. I can't end this letter without addressing the elephant in the room,and that is the social media vilification, bullying and character assassination that has been building in Seward since October's election. Most city employees are fully aware of the primary source of the campaign to axe the city manager;the same source Page 15 who disparages the manager's character by passing off rumor, innuendo, lies and false accusations as truth, all with the end goal of harming him personally and professionally. Many rightly ask, "Why?" The short answer: It is personal. The city manager inherited a number of large personnel problems when he arrived. He did what the city council hired him to do -- and what the taxpayers would expect of their city manager -- when he dealt with these challenging personnel issues. As a result, certain individuals will not rest until they see him run out of town. Specifically,the manager dealt with a complaint lodged by multiple employees against a co- worker. The city manager was not a bully and he was not a pushover. He held someone accountable to put in an honest day's work to earn their paycheck. As a result,they were hurt. They thought they were entitled to a pass;they didn't get one.They were not fired.They were counseled. They received incredible support to succeed and improve. Instead, they chose to leave and to lodge a campaign of payback. They have slowly organized a campaign of hate and misinformation aimed at this city manager. There is now a small legion of individuals doing everything in their power to run him out of town. Despite numerous public records requests, constant innuendo, repeated false and public accusations of wrongdoing, claims of inappropriate spending, travel abuses, etc., no one has brought forward a single shred of evidence of wrongdoing against the city manager. There are no complaints or grievances lodged against him for bullying or harassment, but the public would think the opposite because the false narrative against the city manager has taken on a life of its own. The city manager has not fired a single individual in his seven- year tenure with the City. Accusations to the contrary are a pure fabrication; an orchestrated work of fiction. This small group has spent countless hours of City staff time combing through years and years of records, hoping to find a 'smoking gun' to crucify this man. They have encouraged members of the press, who have done the same. Lacking evidence to support their false claims, they have no choice but to create fiction, draw suspicion, level false accusations. They have created a false narrative that department heads and supervisors are bullies, to draw support from union advocates. In fact, not one grievance or complaint has been lodged against the city manager, a department head,or a supervisor,for bullying or harassment, with the exception of a part-time 10-hour a week employee claiming to have been harassed because they received a single e-mail on the weekend from their supervisor, and then claiming retaliation when their City e-mail was turned off after they requested a pause from employment. The accusations are enough however, to support a false narrative aimed at building distrust,with the goal of running the city manager (and others) out of their jobs or out of town. This group recognizes that if you share lies and gossip, and repeat them often enough, you will get some people to believe them as truth. In fact,you may eventually get a lot of people to believe them. In the end however, no matter how many times you repeat a lie, it will not make a lie the truth. If you pass off innuendo and rumor at every Council meeting and in every newspaper article and on social media posts;just enough to create public distrust, you might just succeed in building a tide of opposition to a good man who has done a good job and who does not deserve the public lynching that he and his family have endured at the hands of those who don't care how much damage is done to the image and reputation of this man or this town, so long as they succeed in getting revenge. I work with the city manager every day. Jim Hunt is a good man with an amazing wife. They have big hearts. His wife spends her days caring for individuals who need extra help in life, and in running a small business. He spends his days serving the citizens of Seward for much less than other city managers in Alaska earn for the same job. He has served honorably. He has accomplished amazing projects for the Page 16 citizens of Seward. He has not bullied a single employee. His biggest mistake—and also what he gets paid to do -- has been in holding a number of his direct staff accountable for coming to work on time, not working on their own personal businesses during work hours, not claiming pay for time they have not worked,and not posting and surfing the internet while on the taxpayers' dime. How much easier it would have been for him had he simply overlooked the failure of certain employees to perform. He did not do that but instead, did what he was hired to do, and that is to manage the employees in his charge. The few employees who did choose to leave were not bullied. They were held accountable for various performance-related shortcomings and as a result, they voluntarily left employment. For that, he is suffering ruthlessly. But for those of us who are here day in and day out, we know the truth. We see the tremendous accomplishments. We are not perfect. We work hard. We make mistakes. But most of all, we are willing to pull together and do what it takes to accomplish the goals of the City Council and the city manager. Please set an example for our children who are watching. Please show them that bullying does not pay and that public officials deserve to be held accountable for their actions and their work, but should not fall victim to individuals or groups who use social media to tear down and destroy individuals they do not like. Please look at the track record of this city manager, and at the team that he has standing ready to continue the good work of Seward's taxpayers. Please pay attention to the silent majority of Seward's citizens who are begging to see members of the City Council and the administration set aside differences and get back to doing the work of the people. Our citizens want their bike park and their ice rink and their new animal shelter. They want the prime land on the waterfront to be made available for development and for homes. They want to see the city shop moved and the Lowell canyon tunnel made safe. They want us to focus on keeping their kids safe and giving them healthy opportunities to recreate. They don't want us to focus on signs, and records requests and personalities. They want us to be representatives of Seward and remember that we have been entrusted with an amazing opportunity and responsibility to make a small difference in this beautiful little place on the planet. I respectfully ask that you allow the city manager to continue the work he has begun, to make Seward an even better place to live and raise our families. detazo Page I 7