The Haines Borough Assembly’s 5-1 decision to hire Debra Schnabel as borough manager Tuesday has further engulfed a community already embroiled in controversy.

As it stands, three borough assembly members are in the midst of a recall effort, another resigned Tuesday night after the manager hire, Haines Police officers have filed a grievance against the borough and, for many reasons, distrust is apparent between elected officials and borough staff.

In written feedback reports and during public comment, borough administrative staff and department heads came out in support of interim manager Brad Ryan. Several voiced their support to the assembly Tuesday night after both candidates were interviewed.

Borough chief fiscal officer Jila Stuart expressed a sentiment shared by many borough employees, that the current staff is productive and motivated and eager to work with Ryan, who she said has demonstrated his abilities to do the job.

“It just seems like such a shame when we’ve had so much turmoil and turnover in the manager position, and instability to finally meet with some success and then think about throwing it away,” Stuart said. “Brad’s been through two budget cycles, he’s been through a collective bargaining negotiation. I think he’s really shown leadership.”

Community feedback forms also weighed in Ryan’s favor. Sixteen community members who participated in a public interview supported him while 10 others were in favor of Schnabel. Seven individuals advocated against Ryan while nine advocated against Schnabel.

Curbing divisiveness, bringing the community together and promoting cohesion and civil discourse was a major theme and an ability both Ryan and Schnabel said they’d bring to the community.

Mayor Jan Hill said the assembly’s hiring decision has only added “fuel to the flames” of discontent shared by a section of the populace.

Ryan’s executive assistant Krista Kielsmeier told the assembly they made her feel like she doesn’t belong in Haines because they voted for a friend rather than the most qualified candidate. She said the assembly engaged in “straight up cronyism.”

“You have an old guard of people that are favoring someone they know who is their friend,” Kielsmeier said. “They are ignoring the professional qualifications outlined in the job posting and they are alienating people who have moved here.”

She also cited the borough charter, which states, “The manager is selected solely on the basis of professional qualifications.”

Ryan has served twice as interim manager, a total of nine months. The borough’s facilities director, he holds a doctoral degree in fisheries science. He has directed nonprofits and led projects for government agencies.

Schnabel holds a master’s degree in public administration. Executive director of the Haines Chamber of Commerce, she managed two public radio stations and worked for the borough six years. She served several terms on the borough assembly.

Deputy clerk Alekka Fullerton, who spoke in support of Ryan earlier in the night, cited a petition 165 people signed in support of him for manager.

Assembly member Margaret Friedenauer, the only assembly member to vote against hiring Schnabel, said Ryan was the most qualified candidate.

“I appreciate all the input we got, many, many, pieces of input,” Friedenauer said. “I stick by my decision that I think Brad Ryan was the better candidate both in professional qualifications and experience and especially as far as having staff support.”

Assembly member Mike Case agreed with Friedenauer and originally voted to hire Ryan. When the motion failed, he later voted for Schnabel to send a message of unity.

After public comment, he resigned from the assembly and walked out while the meeting was in progress.

“I don’t have anything more to contribute to this body and I resign from it,” Case said. “Goodnight. Good luck to Debra and all of you.”

In a separate interview, he said for the assembly to request feedback from the staff and then not listen to it was “selfish” and is one reason he resigned. He said he didn’t plan on running again in October.

While most at Tuesday’s special meeting spoke in support of Ryan, others pushed the idea of Schnabel and Ryan working together as a team with Schnabel as manager and Ryan back in his old post as facilities director.

“I think we would have an amazing team,” Evelyna Vignola said. “I think we would have a chance of doing what they each want to do if we had both of their energies and talent and the ways that they are different…will balance each other,” Vignola said. “It’s thrilling to me and I would hope that you could see that.”

It’s a pairing assembly member Heather Lende said would benefit Haines the most.

In a separate interview, Lende said she believes Ryan did have community and staff support but that he would better serve the borough as the public facilities director, rather than trying to put out fires and deal with personnel issues at the administrative level. She said she wants staff to know she values their input.

“I want to tell them it would be so much easier to have kept everything exactly the way it is,” Lende said. “I do care what they think and I appreciate the work they do…There’s nothing in here that’s personal at all. We have to look at what’s best for the whole borough. We’ve been having trouble with the relationship between the citizens and the government.”

Not all staff members were against the assembly’s decision to hire Schnabel. Haines Sheldon Museum director Helen Alten told the assembly she’s willing to work with either candidate.

“I will work with the manager, whoever that manager is and I will try to help make their transition easier and continue to provide for the community,” Alten said in a separate interview. “A leader is not your friend. A leader is the visionary that moves us forward.”

Assembly member Tom Morphet said while Ryan has been able to bring a certain amount of peace to the staff, the job is bigger than that. He said Schnabel is more “resolute.”

When asked if the recall influenced his decision, Morphet said it did in a minor way. He cited concerns about not being informed of communication in an email between police chief Heath Scott and Ryan, where Scott asked the interim manager to “provide direction” to Morphet and Lende. Scott believed they had a conflict of interest over the police blotter. Lende and Morphet were never informed of those concerns and the email was later used to support a recall effort against the assembly members.

“I think Debra will be more forthright,” Morphet said. “We only get one employee and that’s the manager. That’s a person we have to have a lot of confidence in. We have to have a lot of confidence in that person’s independence and their courage. I felt Debra had more of that.”

Morphet said he is concerned that the staff did not support Schnabel and wants to offer her a one-year contract with no severance to prove herself.

During the meeting, assembly member Ron Jackson spoke to the difficulty of the decision.

“To think this decision was taken lightly would be an understatement,” Jackson said. “In the end, for myself personally, I had to evaluate the interviews, all the facts that I had and make a decision that went against a personal friendship in my case. I think it’s the best thing in the long-run.”

Assembly member Tresham Gregg said he appreciates what Ryan has accomplished as interim manager but that he wants to “…have a good handle on how we actually operate as a borough assembly and as borough government and as a community and I’m hoping in fact Debra can help us achieve those kinds of goals.”

Ellen Larson thanked the assembly for the work they do and for the difficult decision they had to make.

While some believe the split between the community and the assembly will further widen, others hope a change will do some good.

As she spoke in support of a Ryan-Schnabel team, Diane La Course also optimistically summed up what the majority of the assembly members hope will happen within borough government and around the community.

“I think most human beings would choose comfort over change and yet sometimes it’s change that’s really the best thing to move us forward…Yes there will be some discomfort with the staff but that too will pass,” La Course said. “Change is inherent. It’s always going to happen...change always precedes something that happens and often it’s goodness.”

Andrew Gray also spoke to the divisiveness plaguing Haines. He didn’t see it as a question of who the manager is or isn’t.

“I think everyone needs to stop thinking that a manager or one person can find the magic bullet that will solve divisiveness,” Gray said. “That’s up to every single one of us to find ways to positively contribute, to be involved and to work together.”