Political appointments are, by nature, temporary job holders.
Those hundreds of people appointed by Gov. Bill Walker when he took over in 2014 have now received their letters requesting their resignation. Most of them will go.
The letter requesting their resignation was signed by both the outgoing Chief of Staff Scott Kendall and the incoming Chief of Staff Tuckerman Babcock, and it went out to as many as 300 people who serve at the pleasure of the governor.
Those recipients would include everyone from commissioners to deputy commissioners and legislative liaisons for each department. They’d also include most division directors and other special assistants, as well as those working in state-owned enterprises, such as Alaska Energy Authority, Alaska Gasline Development Agency, and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority.
The executive director of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute has already resigned earlier this month.
It’s unknown whether the attorneys in the Department of Law are considered in the “exempt” category. They generally enjoy no protections of a union, and therefore would be considered partially exempt, employed at the pleasure of the governor.
The governor-elect has indicated that people who want to continue working for his administration need to apply, like everyone else, through his transition team.
A certain number of people were not asked to resign, Must Read Alaska has learned. But that’s a limited and closely guarded list.
In the final days of an administration, the janitorial crew comes through the offices of those exempt employees who are leaving and go through it thorough to clean it and make sure the next administration walks into a space that they can operate out of.
