City of Nome sees turnover in key positions

This year the City of Nome will see several of its longtime employees leave prominent positions. Port Director Joy Baker, Chief of Police Michael Heintzelman, Deputy Chief of Police Bob Pruckner and City Clerk Bryant Hammond will all be out within the next six months. “What we’re seeing is a lot of senior people retiring,” said City Manager Glenn Steckman. “This is what happens to every organization.” Nome Police Deputy Chief Pruckner will leave by the end of next month and NPD Chief Heintzelman plans to step down in October. Steckman hopes to fill the NPD Deputy Chief’s position internally. While Port Director Baker had previously announced she would leave her position this spring, Steckman said she will now stay through this summer’s port season. City Clerk Hammond is stepping back from his role over the next several weeks. The City had also been advertising for a newly created assistant city manager position, but Steckman said that his priorities right now are getting a new port director and a new city clerk and moving through the changes in the police department. The city is advertising widely for the clerk and port director positions. He said that open positions often take four to six months or longer to fill. He was hopeful that the planned expansion of the Port of Nome would make the port director job attractive to potential candidates. Steckman said he is in the process of trying to hire a new city planner and the city is also looking for new police officers. The position of a museum director has also been vacant since Dr. Amy Philipps-Chan’s departure in last fall. “Just like everybody, we have a lot of positions open in the city,” he said.