Candidates have until 4 p.m. Aug. 31 to file their declaration and signature petition at City Hall for a spot on the Oct. 4 municipal election ballot.
The offices of mayor, two borough assembly seats, three school board seats and two spots on the port commission will be on the ballot.
Mayor Steve Prysunka, who has served two terms (four years), said last week he is not seeking reelection. Before winning his first term as mayor in 2018, Prysunka served three years on the borough assembly.
The mayor’s job is a two-year term.
The terms also expire this fall for assembly members David Powell and Patty Gilbert. Both seats on the ballot are for three-year terms.
Powell last week said he is undecided about running again. Gilbert also said she is undecided.
Unlike some municipalities around the state, Wrangell Municipal Code does not impose a term limit; elected officials can serve as long as voters support them.
Most of the five school board seats will be on the Oct. 4 ballot. The terms of school board members Julia Ostrander, Dave Wilson and Jessica Whitaker will expire this year. Wilson is the school board president. The three ballot choices will include two three-year terms and a one-year term.
The terms of port commission members Frank Roppel and John Yeager are up this year. Voters will fill two three-year terms in October.
Persons interested in filing for office need to submit their candidacy declaration form and a petition signed by 10 qualified voters. The forms are available from the borough clerk’s office at City Hall, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.
The deadline to register to vote in the October election is Sept. 4.
Just under 500 people voted in last year’s municipal elections, which tend to attract a lower turnout than statewide elections. Wrangell’s 2021 municipal vote total was about a third less than in the 2020 statewide election when the president and U.S. senator’s races were on the ballot, and almost a third less than in 2016, when Alaskans elected a governor.
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