Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce announced his resignation from office to focus on his gubernatorial race as his name is one of the top four to advance to the November General Election, which will be decided through Ranked Choice Voting. Mayor Pierce’s resignation will become effective 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September 30, 2022.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Attorney, Sean Kelley expects the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly to address the vacancy issue at its next regularly scheduled meeting in accordance with the process proscribed under Alaska State Law. Kelley adds that operations of the borough are not impacted, and they will continue as normal, and all public services will remain open for business.
When asked of the process of his replacement, Borough Mayor Pierce said:
“I think they got a month to put some things in process and that would be to temporarily appoint an individual to take care of the day-to-day needs of the mayor and then to prepare for a special election. I think code calls for if there’s a year, and there is a year left in my term, if there’s a year or more, then you have a special election. So, I suspect that’s where we’re going to go, but I want to certainly help in that process of making sure that there’s a smooth transition.”
A publicly available memorandum regarding Pierce’s succession process is expected to be published this week, in advance of the next Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting. It is a process outlined under Alaska Statutes, Title 29, which says, “The governing body shall, by two-thirds concurring vote, declare the office of mayor vacant only when the person elected resigns and the resignation is accepted.”
A vacancy in the office of mayor occurring six months before a regular election shall be filled by the governing body and if a member of the governing body is appointed mayor, the member shall resign the seat on that governing body. Additionally, according to state statute, if a vacancy occurs more than six months before a regular election, the governing body shall call a special election to fill the unexpired term.
A mayor appointed serves the balance of the term to which appointed, except the mayor may serve only while a member of the council.
