Ketchikan’s City Manager is resigning. Delilah Walsh sent her resignation letter to the City Council on Tuesday announcing that she will be stepping down in late February.
Walsh has been the City’s chief administrator since 2022 after a career as a county manager in her home state of New Mexico.
Walsh is returning to New Mexico to accept a job at her alma mater, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
“That’s all official now,” Walsh said, minutes after sending her official resignation letter. “So, I accepted a Vice President of Administration position with the university. New Mexico Tech.”
Walsh said she is sad to be leaving Ketchikan though, and that the decision was not made lightly. In an email to city staff about her departure, Walsh said “Serving this community has been one of the most fulfilling and rewarding experiences of my career.” She added that she was proud of what city staff had achieved together in her roughly two years in the position.
Walsh worked for nearly all of her time in Ketchikan under former Mayor Dave Kiffer. Kiffer said Walsh was a steadying influence in council chambers.
“The big thing that she did was to get the council to sit down and say, ‘Hey, these are our four or five or six priorities. These are the things that we want to do going forward,'” Kiffer said over the phone.
The former mayor said the City Council will likely appoint an interim manager when Walsh departs in February. Though, Kiffer said Walsh will not be easy to replace, especially since hiring from outside Alaska can be difficult. The cost of living is high and salaries often struggle to be competitive.
“It is a challenge to find just the right person who can deal with the challenges of being the city manager in Ketchikan, which is not just managing the city, but it’s also managing the utility,” said Kiffer.
The Ketchikan City Manager also oversees the city-owned water, power, and telecommunications utilities.
Walsh said the City plans to post the job opening for a new city manager soon.
