The Homer City Council passed the city’s 2020/2021 budget last night at their regular meeting. This is the first two-year budget for the city.
Also at last night’s meeting, City Manager Katie Koester announced her resignation. Koester will be moving to Juneau to become the city’s Director of Public Works and Engineering.
Her job as city manager requires a 60 day notice. The City of Homer has not yet announced her last day. Koester has been the city manager of Homer since 2015, overseeing daily and long-term operations of all of the city’s departments. The council scheduled a special meeting next Monday, December 16 to begin planning the process of replacing the city manager.
New council member Storm Hansen-Cavasos did participate in the meeting despite an attempt to keep her from engaging in council business. Former council member Tom Stroozas is suing the city and the council to overturn Hansen-Cavasos’s election. He appeared in Anchorage Superior Court yesterday afternoon seeking a preliminary injunction to bar Hansen-Cavasos from participating as a member of the council until the suits are decided. Judge Josie Garton denied Stroozas’s petition. Court documents say that Garton will issue an order explaining the denial promptly.
And, the council passed updated city fee schedules and officially set the date for the end of distribution of single use plastic bags. The bag ban takes effect on January 1st, business have until February 1st to use the bags they already have in stock. This was the final council meeting of 2019. The next Homer City Council meeting will be on January 27, 2020.
You can read the 2020/2021 budget for the city of Homer at
https://www.cityofhomer-ak.gov/sites/default/files/fileattachments/finance/page/53041/2020-21_draft_budget_19.10.29.pdf
