Dalrymple wants to continue public service

Bob Dalrymple currently serves on the borough assembly, the second time he has been appointed to temporarily fill a vacant seat. He is running for a three-year term in Tuesday's municipal election.

Dalrymple and Jim DeBord are running for the two open three-year terms. Both will win unless a write-in candidate declares by Monday and gathers more votes than either of the two names on the ballot.

"My entire adult life I've been in public service," Dalrymple said. He serves on the borough's economic development committee and worked 40 years in the U.S. Forest Service, mostly in Southeast Alaska, the last 10 years in Wrangell before he retired as district ranger in 2019.

Joining the assembly would allow him to continue his public service, Dalrymple said.

He learned during his two temporary appointments to the assembly just how complex some of the issues are for the borough. "That's one of the benefits to me now," he said, pointing to the experience he has gained from his time on the assembly in 2020 and again this year.

Needed repairs and rebuild to the Public Safety Building and the community's water reservoirs and water treatment system are a couple of those complex - and costly - issues, he said. "They're all beyond the (financial) means of Wrangell to deal with," and the borough is looking toward state and federal assistance.

His four decades with the Forest Service gave him an understanding of just how the federal bureaucracy works, which could help as the borough goes after federal funding, he said.