Gilbert runs for mayor to improve infrastructure and economy

After nine years in public service across four different councils, commissions and committees, Patty Gilbert is running for Wrangell's highest elected office.

Gilbert is a retired math and science teacher who left the Wrangell School District in 2018 after 23 years. The mayoral candidate has since served in a wide variety of government organizations, including the borough assembly, where she is vice mayor, and the school board, where she served a two-year term as vice president. She also sits on the municipal code committee and the investment committee.

During her time in office, she has advocated for an annual review of user fees to prevent steep, unexpected fee hikes, and supported expansion of the cemetery's capacity by purchasing a new columbarium.

She also pushed to amend the assembly's bylaws to ensure that any agenda item regarding an expenditure of $25,000 or more must be fully vetted by the assembly. Supporters of this change say it increases government transparency; detractors say it lengthens assembly meetings unnecessarily.

If elected, Gilbert's primary focuses will be infrastructure and economy. By improving and properly maintaining infrastructure - or, as she calls it, the "bones" of the community - Wrangell will be better equipped to accommodate expansions in tourism, industry and housing that the borough so desperately needs, she said.

Gilbert's big-ticket infrastructure goals include upgrading the backup diesel power plant, stabilizing the upper water reservoir dam and expanding the capacity of the water treatment plant. She also has a series of smaller-scale fixes on her list, from repairing the City Park pavilion to installing public restrooms, which she believes will become necessary as Wrangell seeks to attract more tourists to the island.

"We can no longer afford to wait," she said. "We have no other option but to improve our infrastructure."

However, she recognizes that pandemic price hikes, transportation delays and supply chain issues have made it extremely difficult to carry out infrastructure improvement projects. By planning repairs far in advance, Gilbert believes the borough can deal with these pandemic-era difficulties. "One thing to overcome the supply problems ... is to plan early," she said. "Get the materials now and be ready to roll when the weather permits."

Gilbert's economic plan centers around getting borough land into private ownership, where it can be developed into industry and housing to attract and support workers. "We have to move (the hospital property)," she said, "reach outside of Alaska, get it out of the borough's hands, whatever it takes." She also supports developing the former Wrangell Institute property.

For Gilbert, infrastructure improvement and economic development are intrinsically linked. Expanding the capacity of the water treatment plant, for example, would allow the borough to support more housing, which could attract more workers.

Gilbert supports collaboration, both within Wrangell and with communities throughout Southeast. A partnership between the borough, the Wrangell Cooperative Association, and Evergreen Elementary could provide necessary child care services that would free up parents and guardians hoping to reenter the workforce.

Despite her many years of experience in municipal government, Gilbert is quick to admit that she "(doesn't) have all the answers," which is why she prioritizes collaboration and community input. She hopes to increase government transparency, encourage dialogue and "earn the public's trust" in office by communicating the borough's goals and accomplishments more clearly.

She identified the bond issues as an area where trust and good communication are essential. In the upcoming municipal election, the borough will seek voter approval for bonds to finance repairs at the schools and Public Safety Building. But community members have expressed disappointment at the borough for letting the buildings deteriorate. "We have to earn the public's trust that we're going to maintain (them)," she said.

As the borough assembly prepared to put the bond issues to a public vote, Gilbert continued to push for transparency. She asked the borough to provide taxpayers with an estimate of how the bonds might affect community property taxes - for each $100,000 of assessed property value, taxpayers could be obligated to pay an additional $112 per year to repay the debt on the Public Safety Building work.

However, Gilbert acknowledges that this metric is imperfect. Due to the ongoing property reassessment in Wrangell, many residents do not yet know what the assessed value of their properties will be in the upcoming fiscal year. Financing the repairs, she said, comes with inherent uncertainty for residents. "That's a factor we just have to face."

Regardless, she believes that the repairs are necessary, and plans to vote yes on the bond issues at the Oct. 4 municipal election.