When Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola visited Wrangell on Aug. 9 on a reelection campaign stop, she did more than just meet with supporters at the Marine Bar.
In a private meeting with borough officials, Peltola received multiple community project funding requests. As a member of the U.S. House, she is permitted to submit 15 requests every appropriation cycle, and Borough Manager Mason Villarma hopes she will consider Wrangell’s requests during this process.
The borough proposed two items. The first, and largest of the two, is $5.5 million to build a Southeast vocational education hub in town. The money would fund not only an expansion of the high school’s career and technical education programs, but would open the door for a postsecondary vocational school in town.
Villarma hopes Wrangell could partner with the Seward-based Alaska Vocational Technical Education Center to serve as a fulcrum for trade education in Southeast. Currently, the closest available center for vocational schooling is in Juneau, at the University of Alaska Southeast.
Additionally, Villarma said, the program would help counteract Wrangell’s recent population loss on two fronts: Not only would it attract new vocational students to town, but it would provide an avenue for Wrangell’s aspiring students to stay on the island instead of jetting off to places with stronger programs.
Though the borough requested $5.5 million, that figure is malleable, but would likely cover the expansion of the high school offerings and the development of a postsecondary school facility, according to Villarma. No matter what, he hopes to expand the high school’s vocational offerings in the coming years.
The second request for Peltola to consider is funding to clean up the former mill property at 6-Mile. Like the vocational school request, Villarma hopes this project would also spur economic growth in town.
“With both of these, we are targeting economic growth and refuting the notion that we are going to (accept) recent population loss,” he said.
Peltola is up for reelection this year, so even if she wants to submit the Wrangell requests she will have to win reelection in November to submit them for next year’s appropriations bills. The earliest the money could come to Wrangell is 2026.
A week before meeting with Peltola, the borough assembly met with Sebastian O’Kelly, a lobbyist who has represented Wrangell in Washington, D.C., since 2001. O’Kelly offered the assembly advice for maximizing the amount of federal money it receives.
One point Kelly hounded was to meet with Alaska’s congressional representatives twice a year — especially Peltola and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, as they both exercise their ability to request appropriations for local projects. Villarma and Mayor Patty Gilbert plan on visiting Washington during the holiday season, which will allow them to follow up with Peltola after meeting with her this month.
Kelly also encouraged borough leadership to request multiple projects to maximize the chance that at least one of them is approved.
“Pursue multiple projects,” he told the assembly. “Don’t request 20, but make sure you target it. … This game is about persistence. Stay on it.”
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