Mayor-elect Ethan Berkowitz announced several key administration hires Friday afternoon, including the positions of fire chief and city attorney.
Denis LeBlanc, director of maintenance and operations for CH2MHill's North Slope operations, has been appointed fire chief, according to a statement from Berkowitz's transition team. LeBlanc was previously city manager for Mayor Mark Begich and he was hired by Mayor George Wuerch to review Anchorage Fire Department operations before becoming budget director.
For city attorney, Berkowitz has tapped Bill Falsey, a partner in the law firm of Sedor, Wendlandt, Evans and Filippi (a practice co-owned by Assembly member Bill Evans). Falsey focuses on civil litigation, administrative proceedings and regulatory issues and has represented clients in Alaska Superior Court, the Alaska Supreme Court and the Federal District Court of Alaska, according to his biography.
The city attorney represents the city in litigation, supervises the municipal prosecutor's office and serves as a policy adviser to the mayor.
Berkowitz also said he was appointing Karen Turner Williams, a senior human resources strategic partner at Providence Health and Services Alaska, as director of employee relations. Heather MacAlpine, currently an associate city ombudsman, will become the director of the city's Office of Equal Opportunity.
Berkowitz takes office Wednesday.