Robbins wants to encourage students and families to stay in Wrangell

Brittani Robbins is running for borough assembly to bolster Wrangell's economic development and stem the out-migration of families and youth from the island.

Robbins, 37, is executive director of the chamber of commerce. She has one year of experience in public office as a member of the school board. She was elected to the board last October and intends to keep her seat if elected to the assembly.

As a school board member, Robbins said she advocates for students and for non-certified staff, whose jobs are not governed by negotiated contracts with the school district. She also chairs the school board's budget committee.

"Wrangell is not in a great trajectory right now," she said, and concern for the borough's economic future is one of the primary motivators for her candidacy for assembly. She identified "money" - the borough's financial viability - and "sustainability" - Wrangell's ability to maintain its population - as the two primary issues facing the community today.

Robbins has several ideas for improving the borough's financial prospects. She believes that advertising the former hospital property more aggressively and to a wider audience would allow the borough to find a buyer and begin collecting property tax revenue, though she is not yet certain of the shape this advertising effort should take. "I don't necessarily have an idea," she said. "I just want it to go away."

The borough spends nearly $100,000 per year on heat, power and insurance for the building, which has not attracted any bids since it was put on the market in June.

She also advocates developing the former Wrangell Institute property, which the borough has owned since 1996. The borough has been waiting on a wetlands fill permit to develop the property. After that, roads and utilities for a residential subdivision on the entire property would cost a few million dollars.

Exploring new tourism revenue streams is a high priority for Robbins. Though she believes cruise ships are an important element of Wrangell's economy, she would like to see the borough invest in alternative forms of tourism. Fishing lodges and fishing tours, like those in Ketchikan, would encourage tourists to stay in Wrangell for longer. "That's an opportunity we're not capitalizing on," she said. "We have great fishing."

Fishing tourism would allow the borough to bring in more revenue without changing its fundamental character to appeal to out-of-towners.

She also hopes to influence how the borough allocates the funds it already has. "Community members, myself as well, see things that really need to be fixed that aren't getting fixed while other things are getting fixed ... that could definitely have waited," she said. However, she declined to provide specific examples of the projects that she would prioritize and deprioritize in office.

"I have thoughts and ideas," she said, "but I need to learn the whole before I can see."

Another issue Robbins hopes to address is population stability. Her concerns reflect recent demographic data, which shows that Wrangell's core population is aging, while youth and families are not moving in to lower the average age.

Wrangell has the highest percentage in Alaska of senior citizen residential property tax exemptions per total population, according to 2021 state data. School enrollment has dropped steadily from 550 in the mid-1990s to about 300 before the pandemic hit, settling in around 250-260 last year and this year.

Robbins believes that internships in borough government could encourage Wrangell high schoolers to stay in town and support the community. "How many of our youth would be able to be an economic development director?" she asked. "How many would be able to be a city manager?" Jobs like these, she explained, require training, knowledge and passion. Getting youth interested in borough government would prepare them to step into these roles and increase the likelihood that they'd make Wrangell a permanent home in the future.

Robbins declined to disclose how she plans to vote on the bond issues that will be on the Oct. 4 municipal election ballot to pay for repairs to the school buildings and Public Safety Building.

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