The meetings will review the areas of public safety, education, revenue, human resources, natural resources and transportation. Findings will be compiled at a final meeting and forwarded to the new administration, Manly said.

The meetings are expected to be held in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, Kenai, the Mat-Su Borough and other areas, Manly said. He said the transition team is working to allow input from people living in the Bush.

The effort is being headed up by former House Speaker Gail Phillips of Homer and will be conducted by those who worked on the Murkowski campaign, Manly said. Phillips would not comment on the process and referred all questions to Manly.

The schedule of meetings will be announced within the next two weeks.

"(Murkowski) wants to have good participation from everybody in the state that wants to participate," Manly said.

Murkowski's transition team also is preparing to send representatives to review each department within state government, Manly said. Looking for efficiencies will be a part of the departmental reviews, he said.

Transition team leaders are expected to be announced sometime next week, Manly said.

Meanwhile, the outgoing Democratic administration of Gov. Tony Knowles has prepared documents outlining key issues to be faced by the incoming Republican administration. Knowles also has asked for letters of resignation from all commissioners, deputy commissioners and senior-level staff in the administration, said spokesman Bob King.

Manly said the transition teams assigned to each state department will review the open positions and available applicants. Applications for jobs within the new administration can be found at www.gov.state.ak.us/murkowski/index.htm.

Department of Administration Commissioner Jim Duncan said about 96 percent of all positions within state government are protected and cannot be replaced for political purposes. Of approximately 18,500 executive branch employees, about 700 positions can be removed without cause. Duncan said he doubted that number of employees would be replaced by the new administration.

All employees who have submitted letters of resignation at Knowles' request will end their terms of employment with the state as of Dec. 2, when Murkowski is sworn in as governor.

The inauguration ceremony will be held at noon at Centennial Hall in Juneau.

"That's when we all turn into pumpkins," King said.

Timothy Inklebarger can be reached at timothyi@juneauempire.com.

Web links

Applications for positions within the new administration can be found at www.gov.state.ak.us/murkowski/index.htm.