Voters re-elect Gilbert as mayor; approve bond issue for Public Safety Building repairs

Voters by almost a 3-to-1 margin Tuesday approved a $3 million bond issue for repairs to the water-damaged Public Safety Building.

Residents re-elected Patty Gilbert as mayor over challenger David Powell; re-elected incumbent school board member Angela Allen and elected newcomer Dan Powers over incumbent board member Brittani Robbins; and re-elected Chris Buness to the port commission along with newcomer Eric Yancey over challengers Antonio Silva and Tony Guggenbickler.

Voters rejected a ballot proposition to amend the municipal charter, which would have allowed the assembly to establish a compensation plan to pay the mayor and assembly for their work.

The preliminary vote count of 445 ballots cast Tuesday does not include 99 early ballots, which will be tallied by the borough canvass board Thursday afternoon.

The assembly will hold a special meeting Thursday evening to certify the final election results.

The remaining 99 votes are unlikely to change even the closest of races, which is the contest for the second port commission seat — Buness leads Silva by 34 votes.

With the 99 ballots included, turnout this year (544 votes) was more than double last year’s exceedingly low count of 218 ballots, and more than 10% ahead of the average turnout of 2019 through 2022.

Gilbert defeated Powell 295-146 to win a second two-year term as mayor.

Assembly Members Jim DeBord (365) and Bob Dalrymple (318) were unopposed in their quest for three-year terms.

Allen, at 329, was the top vote-getter in the race for two, three-year terms on the school board, followed by Powers at 302 and Robbins with 168 votes.

Yancey, with 309 votes, leads the race for two, three-year terms on the port commission, with Buness in second at 215, followed by Silva with 181 and Guggenbickler at 112.

The charter amendment compensation vote failed 197-240.

The Public Safety Building bond issue was approved 325-115, pending the addition Thursday of the 99 early votes.

The borough has asked for a $2.4 million federal grant to combine with the $3 million it will borrow to repair the worst of the problems at the building. The project will include new exterior siding, windows and doors; structural repairs to walls weakened by water damage and rot; a new roof which will include building over the flat roof sections; and installing exterior gutters to protect the structure.

Wrangell is waiting on Congress to adopt a federal budget for next year to include the $2.4 million in Public Safety Building repair funds, requested by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. But Congress is not expected to adopt a budget until late December, at the earliest, or maybe not until next year, depending on the results of the Nov. 5 national election and which party is waiting to take control.

Regardless of whether, or when, it receives the federal aid, the borough will work next year on engineering design, then seek competitive bids for the building repairs, with construction anticipated in 2026, said Amber Al-Haddad, the borough’s capital projects director.