Volunteers urge assembly to reject tighter meeting rules, approve higher stipend for Service District 1

Residents and elected members of local service districts urged the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly on April 10 to reconsider proposed ordinance changes that would shorten the allowable number of missed meetings and to support a request to raise the Service District 1 chairman stipend.

Multiple speakers said the proposed amendments to ordinance sections concerning vacancies and meetings would unduly penalize volunteer board members with seasonal work schedules and other obligations. They asked the assembly to preserve current attendance rules and to allow the local board to excuse absences.

Service District 1 Vice Chair Jason Bunch said the vacancy proposal—identified in his remarks as ordinance “415040a7”—would reduce the number of missed board meetings that trigger consequences from three to two and would remove the chairman’s ability to formally excuse absences. “This proposal reduces missed board meetings by a member from 3 to 2 and does not provide for a formal excuse by the chairman, which I think is a little bit weird,” Bunch told the assembly during the public-comment period. He said his board is largely composed of self-employed and seasonally working residents who routinely travel April–May and September–December to earn a living.

Fred Roberts, who identified himself as a Bayview Service Road District board member with more than two decades on that board, told the assembly the current rules have worked for 25 years and cautioned against making changes. “We don’t need any changes. What we have has worked just fine for at least the past 25 years,” Roberts said.

Elected Service District 1 board member Mike Sarofchuk said terminating elected seats when a board fails to meet for two consecutive quarters raises legal and fairness concerns. “Terminating and vacating elected seats is pretty dangerous territory,” Sarofchuk told the assembly. He said weather and travel—routine realities in Kodiak—mean members sometimes cannot attend scheduled meetings and that local leaders should retain authority to excuse absences.

Bunch and Sarofchuk also asked the assembly to support a local, board-approved increase in the monthly chairman stipend. Bunch said Service District 1’s chairman performs time-intensive duties—driving roads to inspect work, coordinating contractors, communicating with residents, and making winter road decisions—and that the stipend of $400, set more than 10 years ago, no longer covers vehicle costs and other expenses. “For this reason, the board has unanimously agreed on a request to increase the $400 monthly stipend to $800,” Bunch said.

Speakers noted the stipend adjustment would be paid from the service district’s own budget and not the borough’s general fund. Sarofchuk said the board passed a local resolution to increase the stipend and asked the assembly to support the change.

The assembly did not take formal action during the work session; the items were delivered as citizen comments and part of the ongoing code-review discussion. The proposed ordinance language on vacancies and the quorum/meeting rules remains under staff and assembly review. The assembly did not vote on the stipend request at this meeting; board members said they expect the borough to consider the local resolution and any related code amendments in upcoming agenda items.