Stepansky quits; job to get 2nd look
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Haines Borough Manager Mark Earnest said he wants to revisit the government’s tourism program before hiring its next director.
Lori Stepansky, who has served as director six years, resigned Aug. 31, effective Oct. 1. Stepansky this week declined to explain her resignation to the Chilkat Valley News.
She submitted a three-sentence resignation letter to the borough. She said in an e-mailed newsletter that her decision was "bittersweet" and that she would be moving to Anchorage. "Life is a journey and it has come time for me to move on."
Earnest said he wanted to involve the borough’s Tourism Advisory Board and assembly in a discussion of the job. "There’s a model. Do we want to keep this model or change it?"
"I want to revisit the program overall to see if there are any other ideas people might have on what the focus is," Earnest said. "It’s important to promote the community to do all we can to attract visitors. At the same time, we want to see how those efforts go on."
Some concerns include that declining sales tax revenues in the past two years have eaten into the department’s budget, Earnest said. "We had concerns going into this budget year about sustainability."
Other concerns involve the interface between tourism and economic development. Since adoption of a 1 percent municipal sales tax for tourism promotion in 1986, voters approved extending use of the money to economic development efforts. About $70,000 of the $390,000 raised by the tax go to economic development.
"I’d like to explore some ideas people had on how best to proceed with the whole concept of economic development and tourism," Earnest said.
A borough department head, the director oversees the borough’s tourism promotion efforts and prepares and administers the department’s $320,000 budget. The budget for the current year includes $9,335 in dues, $12,880 in travel and per diem, and $105,400 in advertising.
The director reports to the manager and serves as liaison to the Tourism Advisory Board, a group of industry and public representatives. The job includes supervising a full-time information coordinator and three seasonal workers.
Michael Ahmuty, an industry representative who serves on the advisory board, said he agrees with the idea of a review. "Anytime you bring a new person on, it pays to look where you’ve been and where you’re going and what could be done differently."
"Lori’s done well at marketing to the Yukon and she’s done a lot of other great things," he said. At the same time, the borough should review its marketing efforts and get "hard figures" to see if recent campaigns have been effective, Ahmuty said.
The tourism director’s job is a difficult one because the person who holds the position has to answer to so many different personalities in the community, Ahmuty said.
Stepansky was paid $45,157. Current job requirements for the director’s job include a minimum of four years of experience in the visitor or marketing industry, "preferably with management experience involving supervision of employees."
