City of Seward

After the sale of its utility to Homer Electric Association failed, again, by just a handful of votes, the city of Seward is trying to figure out what to do next.

Sorensen is the executive director of the Seward Chamber of Commerce. The Seward City Council quickly voted to offer her the position after interviewing five candidates.

The Seward City Council will request interviews from all of the applicants, but discussed the possibility of opening the application window another 30 days if they're not satisfied with those candidates following the public interviews.

The sale needed a 60% margin of votes to go through and failed by just seven votes. This is not the first time Homer Electric Association has unsuccessfully submitted a bid to buy city-owned Seward Electric Association.

As of Wednesday, the electric sale did not have more than 60% approval from voters — a threshold that kept a similar sale from passing in 2000.. The city will count the absentee votes it received tomorrow.

The city is searching for a new city head, after its current manager, Janette Bower, took the city manager job in Soldotna.

Seward Mayor Sue McClure said finding housing for city managers has been an issue in the past. She said extending the boundaries out even a few miles could provide candidates with more options.

Seward voters will decide this spring whether they want to sell their city-run electrical utility to Homer Electric Association for a purchase price of about $25 million.

Seward voters will decide in May 2023 whether to combine the utilities into a Kenai Peninsula-wide electric cooperative.

The holiday weekend often signals the start of the busy summer season for the community.