Jill Lawhorne departs as Community Development Department director

Scott Ciambor appointed new leader of department that handles permits, inspections, code enforcement

Jill Lawhorne, left, works on a presentation during a Juneau Assembly Committee of the Whole meeting on Nov. 3, 2025. She has stepped down as the city’s Community Development Department director, a job she held the past six years, according to an announcement Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

Jill Lawhorne has stepped down as director of Juneau’s Community Development Department, a position she has held for the past eight years, according to a City and Borough of Juneau press release issued Wednesday.

Scott Ciambor, the department’s planning manager for the past five years, took over as the new director Monday, according to the release. He said in an interview Wednesday he has been serving as interim director for the past month and was asked last week to take over the job permanently.

"I've been closely working with Jill for four years as the planning manager, and so we've often swapped positions because of vacation and leave," he said. "I filled in for her probably half a dozen times for two, three weeks at a time as the director while she was on leave. So I’m pretty familiar with what the role was, and definitely familiar with the staff and processes, and just looking forward to keeping things rolling."

The department is responsible for short- and long-range planning, permitting, building inspections, code enforcement, and providing staff support to the Juneau Planning Commission.

The reason for Lawhorne’s departure was not stated. Attempts by the Juneau Independent to reach her Tuesday and Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Lawhorne was appointed director of the department in May of 2018, after working as a senior planner at the department since September of 2015. Before coming to Juneau she was the city planner in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and worked for the planning department in Marshfield, Massachusetts.

Ciambor moved to Juneau with his family in 2007, working as a teacher at Yaaḵoosgé Daakahídi High School for a year before transitioning to other jobs, including serving as the city’s chief housing officer for six years.

“I had one class where six of eight students were unhoused,” he said in a prepared statement. “It felt like housing and homelessness were the key issues in the community that I wanted to work on...and I have ever since.”

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.