The borough assembly narrowed down the field of seven applicants for the borough manager job; a special meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, March 19, to interview the three finalists.
The finalists include current interim borough manager and finance director Mason Villarma and two Lower 48 candidates with city manager experience: Jack Harper of Texas and Alan Lanning of Colorado. Lanning has served as city manager in Cordova and interim city manager in Bethel.
The applicants were to be interviewed over Zoom in an executive session at the March 19 special meeting of the assembly. All three interviews will be identical, and the assembly was hoping to conduct them all in one meeting, said Mayor Patty Gilbert.
The assembly has been trying to hire a new borough manager since last fall, when Jeff Good stepped down and Villarma took over as interim manager. But the effort was put on hold after the 11-Mile landslide in late November.
The assembly re-advertised the job in February after a weak first round of applicants.
Assembly members will compile questions and establish the interview process. After the interviews, the assembly will either pick one candidate to negotiate a contract with or select multiple candidates for another interview, said Gilbert.
Though the interviews will be closed to the public, any assembly hiring decision would need to be taken during an open meeting.
Villarma has served as interim manager since November. He is also the borough finance director, a position he has held since September 2021. Prior to his work in Wrangell, Villarma worked as an audit and assurance associate at KPMG in Seattle. He has a bachelor of business administration degree from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.
Harper has nearly 31 years of municipal experience, with 22 years as city manager or assistant city manager. He has served as city manager of Fulshear, Stamford and Hillsboro, Texas, and assistant city manager of Waco, Texas. Harper also worked as a liaison officer for the U.S. Forest Service. He has a master of public administration from Texas Tech University.
Lanning has over 20 years of experience, and served as city manager of Minturn, Steamboat Springs and Central City in Colorado; Brookings, South Dakota; and Goodland, Kansas. In Alaska, he served as city manager in Cordova 2016-2019 and as interim city manager of Bethel for a few months last year. Lanning has a master of public administration from the University of South Dakota.
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