A leadership shakeup at Juneau International Airport is underway as two board members were removed by the Assembly on Wednesday due to unspecified “concerns” and plans are underway to rehire Dave Palmer — a former airport and city manager — as interim airport manager starting in April to replace retiring Manager Patty Wahto.
Palmer, who served as Juneau’s city manager from 1995 to 2002 and airport manager from 2006 to 2009, is now working as an interim manager for hire by municipalities, with a listing on the Alaska Municipal Management Association’s website stating he is available for stints of one to three months. The Juneau Airport Manager Hiring Committee at a meeting last month approved asking him about returning to his old job temporarily.
Wahto, who is not a member of the committee, said Friday it should be a fairly smooth handoff due to his previous experience.
“He’s very familiar with the airport so it’s just about bringing him up to date on some hot topics that are going on right now and what he may have to be looking after for these interim months,” she said.
Wahto, the airport’s manager for the past 11 years and deputy manager for 15 years before that, said she’s planning to depart in May.
Palmer, in an email Friday, noted “I have offered to fill in as interim Airport Manager while they search for the next full-time manager,” adding he will be willing to discuss his return at greater length if it becomes official.
An agreement with Palmer is scheduled to be considered by the hiring committee at midday next Thursday and, if approved, a vote by the full airport board is scheduled that evening.
However, the seven-member board itself is also going through changes as Assembly members, during a Finance Committee meeting Wednesday night, voted unanimously to remove board members Jason Custer and Jodi Garza. The removals occurred after the Assembly members went into an executive session “to discuss concerns regarding Airport Board,” returning 90 minutes later and casting the votes with no discussion.
Mayor Beth Weldon on Friday said specifics discussed during executive sessions cannot be disclosed publicly.
The removal came as a surprise to at least some current and now-former board members. Vice Chair Dennis Bedford said Friday he didn’t know about the removals until afterward or why they occurred, and Custer — who was chairing the board’s Finance Committee — said he didn’t know about his removal until he called an Assembly member upon hearing Garza had been removed.
“I don’t know what the concerns are,” he said. “Nobody told me and I was surprised. I found out about it secondhand the next day.”
Custer was appointed to a three-year term by the Assembly on July 1, 2023.
Attempts Friday to reach Garza, whose was reappointed to a seat in July of 2022 with a term set to expire this year, were unsuccessful.
The Assembly has scheduled an online-only special meeting at noon Monday to “discuss appointments to the Airport Board and will include an executive session,” according to an announcement posted Friday by the City and Borough of Juneau.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
