After months of indecision, the Unalaska City Council has finally reached a consensus over restructuring the Department of Public Safety: They’ve agreed to shelve the matter until a new city manager is hired.
The unanimous decision came Tuesday at the urging of Interim City Manager Nancy Peterson.
“This is going to be a huge undertaking," she told the council. "There will be pain within the organization to do this. It’s not just shifting titles, so I ask that the council have patience.”
Peterson’s recommendation seemed to break through the recent back-and-forth, in which councilors and Public Safety officials have pushed for a conclusion but failed to find common ground.
The questions at the heart of the debate: Should Unalaska’s firefighters have their own department, separate from the police force? Or should both divisions continue living under the consolidated Department of Public Safety?