LaDonna Botsford, 60, worked in the Wrangell port and harbors office for 17 years before moving on to work for the Alaska Marine Highway System for 13 years. Recently retired, she is one of four candidates running for a three-year term on the borough assembly. There are two open seats available.

Since retiring, Botsford said she now has the time to help address issues she’s been seeing in her town, which led her to run.

“If you see a problem, you have to be willing to be part of the solution to make the changes,” she said. “And then the project at the 6-Mile Mill is definitely something that I think I could be an asset to.”

The borough is going after state and federal funding in an effort to attract a privately owned shipyard at the site, particularly to work on U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships.

Botsford said that as a natural deepwater port, she thinks Wrangell would be a great fit for such a shipyard. She also highlighted that Wrangell has less rainfall than some neighboring communities, making it easier to work on steel ships. “It’s really hard to do steel work on boats in inclement weather when you’re trying to kill rust.”

The daughter of a logger, Botsford grew up in Wrangell and only left for a period in her 20s when she spent some time in Washington state. She said she raised her kids in Wrangell and that they, and most of her grandchildren, are still here as well.

“The only thing I know is I am Wrangell, born and bred. I have a heart for my home,” she said. “I know what its core values are, and I know what’s good for our community and what might not be good for our community.”

She said that between growing up in Wrangell and her time with the Port and Harbors Department, she knows practically everyone, which she says has given her a good understanding of what her home needs.

“I have a voice. I’m not afraid to use it. I have a brain. I’m not afraid to use it,” Botsford said. “I’m not unreasonable.”