Alex Angerman to push for day care, community outreach

Alex Angerman, CARES Act coordinator for the Wrangell Cooperative Association, is running for borough assembly to improve community outreach and foster youth engagement in municipal government.

"The community oftentimes feels like they aren't heard," she said, and she hopes to use her assembly seat to provide a voice for the rising generation.

She believes that the borough should increase its social media presence to better connect with the community, and has been actively fielding questions about her political stances on the Wrangell Community Group Facebook page. She also hopes to launch an outreach program at the high school that would encourage students to get involved in municipal government.

In her role as CARES Act coordinator, Angerman connects tribal members with pandemic resources. She also serves on the borough planning and zoning commission and is pursuing a master's degree in teaching at the University of Alaska Southeast. She does not have experience in elected office.

Selling or leasing the former hospital property is not a high priority for Angerman. Though she is "open to anybody's ideas on it," she thinks that the borough should keep the land "on the back burner" if it is not purchased. Attempting to demolish the building would be a money pit. "I don't see it as a pressing issue," she added. Insurance, heat and electricity for the building costs the borough almost $100,000 yearly.

Lack of access to child care, however, is a high priority for Angerman, who called the problem a "community emergency." Opening a day care, she explained, would benefit not only working families but the entirety of Wrangell. It would create jobs and allow a greater number of parents to join the workforce.

Angerman is not yet certain of how she would like to see a day care implemented. She hopes that the borough can partner with the WCA or SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium to fund and staff the project.

While she doesn't think the borough should directly fund housing, she would support selling or leasing land to private developers specifically for housing projects.

Regardless of how the borough ultimately develops its lands, Angerman plans to push for sustainability. "I care deeply about the environment," she said, and has tried to steer the planning and zoning commission toward more environmentally friendly development options instead of logging, which can harm mammals' habitats and degrade waterways.

Though Angerman identified several key challenges facing the Wrangell economy, including shortages of housing, child care and funding, she takes an optimistic view of the borough's future. "I'm not necessarily worried about the economy of Wrangell," Angerman said.

She believes that much of the borough's financial struggles are attributable to the pandemic and to natural economic "ups and downs" that towns experience. "If you look forward and you look in the past, it's always going to change," she said.

Wrangell's demographic data shows a steady decrease in school enrollment since the 1990s and a steady increase in the percentage of the population that are senior citizens exempt from property taxes on their homes. The borough's population has decreased 13.4% since 2010 while the state population grew 2.6% and the national population grew 7.3% in the same period, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Angerman plans to vote yes on the bond issues on the Oct. 4 municipal election ballot, which would pay for repairs to the schools and Public Safety Building. She believes that supporting the bonds is a matter of community safety and said the borough should "put in the effort" to repair its public buildings.

Despite an unsuccessful run for school board last year, Angerman is committed to participating in municipal government. "I've always been motivated to put myself out there in the community," she said, citing her former fundraising efforts as Fourth of July queen and her current position helping tribal members. "I'm trying to get my name out there still and I'm not giving up."

She is one of three candidates running for two seats on the borough assembly. David Powell and Brittani Robbins are also competing for three-year terms. The top two vote-getters will win the seats.