February 20 , 2003
Thursday - 12:15 am

Juneau - Governor Frank H. Murkowski on Tuesday announced that Mike Barton will be the new Commissioner of the Department of Transportation & Public Facilities. Barton has been serving in the position as acting commissioner since December. Murkowski also announced the top management at DOT will be John MacKinnon as deputy commissioner for highways and public facilities, Kip Knudson as deputy commissioner for aviation, and Tom Briggs as

"With this knowledgeable and experienced management team in place at DOT, we can expect to move forward with construction of much needed infrastructure for Alaskans."... Gov. Murkowski

director of the Alaska Marine Highway.

"With this knowledgeable and experienced management team in place at DOT, we can expect to move forward with construction of much needed infrastructure for Alaskans, Murkowski said. "We have many high profile projects including roads, bridges, airport facilities and ferries that need attention now. Mike Barton has shown he has the ability to get things done, and will have an excellent team in place at DOT to help make it happen.

Barton served as commissioner of DOT for five months in 1994 and is currently acting commissioner. He has a Bachelor of Science and a masters of forestry from the University of Michigan. He served as the
Regional Forester for the US Forest Service in Alaska from 1984-94. Most recently, since 1995, he has served as chairman of the board for Juneau International Airport.

MacKinnon is a lifelong Juneau resident, who is currently the acting city manager for the City & Borough of Juneau. He has a bachelors degree in marine resource ecology from Huxley College of Environmental
Studies at Western Washington State College. MacKinnon worked as a building contractor for 24 years before taking on the city manager duties for CBJ. He also served multiple terms on the CBJ assembly.

Kip Knudson is general manager of Era Aviation, Inc. in Anchorage. Before that, he was director of marketing for Era from 1998-2000. In the past he has worked as a legislative aide, assisting with
constructing operating and capital budgets in the Alaska House of Representatives. Knudson has a bachelors degree in foreign service from Georgetown University.

Tom Briggs is currently city administrator for the City of Craig, a position he has held since 1989. Before that, he was VP for administration at Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka. He is past chairman of the Inter Island Ferry Authority, where he helped conceive, develop and operate the IFA. He is also president of the Southeast Conference. He has a BA from Montana State University and an MBA from the University of Montana.

Source of News Release:

Office of the Governor
Web Site

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