Patty Gilbert files for mayor in municipal election

Patty Gilbert, who serves on the borough assembly and previously served on the school board, has filed her candidacy papers to run for mayor in the Oct. 4 municipal election.

Steve Prysunka, in his sixth year as Wrangell mayor, has decided not to seek another term.

Gilbert currently serves as vice-mayor on the assembly. Her term ends in October. She served on the school board 2019-2021, and served on the borough assembly 2016-2019.

The deadline to file for municipal office is 4 p.m. Aug. 31 at City Hall.

In addition to the mayor’s job, two borough assembly seats, three school board seats and two port commission slots will be on the ballot.

Brittani Robbins, the chamber of commerce executive director, has filed for a three-year term on the borough assembly, according to the borough clerk.

School board president Dave Wilson said last week he intends to seek reelection to a third term.

Elizabeth Roundtree has filed for a three-year term on the school board. She ran unsuccessfully for the board last year.

Port commission member John Yeager has announced his intention to seek reelection. Yeager is finishing his second term on the port commission. He was first elected in 2016.

None of the other incumbents whose terms expire in October — assembly member David Powell, school board members Julia Ostrander and Jessica Whitaker, and port commission member Frank Roppel — had filed candidacy papers with the borough clerk as of Monday afternoon.

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.

Ostrander was appointed to fill a vacant seat on the school board last winter. Whitaker was elected to the board last fall. Roppel was appointed to fill an empty seat on the port commission in 2020, then elected for a one-year term in 2021.

Of the three school board seats up for election in October, two are three-year terms and the other is a one-year term. Candidates choose which term they want when they file for office.

The port commission seats are three-year terms, as are the two borough assembly seats.