Mike Navarre has been tapped for the lead role at the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development.
Navarre has served as the Kenai Peninsula Borough mayor for the last six years. He will leave office in early November, after borough voters elect a new mayor in the upcoming runoff election on Oct. 24. In public comments, he has said he planned to take a role assisting Gov. Bill Walker in fixing the state’s ongoing fiscal crisis, but has not specifically said what that role is to be.
Walker announced in a press release Tuesday that Navarre will take over as commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development upon the departure of current commissioner Chris Hladick. Hladick has been named to a role as the director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 10, which includes Alaska, headquartered in Seattle.
