Walker picks outgoing Kenai mayor as new commerce commissioner

Outgoing Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre will be Alaska's next commerce commissioner, Gov. Bill Walker announced Tuesday.

Navarre replaces Chris Hladick, who is leaving Walker's administration on Nov. 1 for a job in the Trump administration at the Environmental Protection Agency, the agency announced Tuesday.

Navarre, who served six two-year terms as a Democrat in the state Legislature, has been mayor of the Kenai borough for six years. He'll be replaced by the winner of an Oct. 24 runoff election between Charlie Pierce and Linda Hutchings.

Navarre has been one of the most prominent supporters of a plan to fix Alaska's budget and its multibillion-dollar deficit, calling for a restructuring of the Permanent Fund and a broad-based tax.

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He'll lead the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development and its 425 employees. The department oversees corporations and banking, municipal aid programs, the state's insurance industry and a wide range of professional boards and licensing programs.