LaDonna Botsford worked in the Wrangell Ports and Harbors office for 17 years before moving on to the Alaska Marine Highway System for 13 years. The 60-year-old is recently retired and is now one of four candidates running for two available three-year term seats on the borough assembly.
Since retiring, Bottsford says she now has the time to help address issues she’s been seeing in her town, which led her to run.
If you see a problem, you have to be willing to be part of the solution to make the changes. And then the project at the 6-Mile Mill is definitely something that I think I could be an asset to.
She says that as a natural deepwater port, she thinks Wrangell would be a great fit for such a shipyard.
The daughter of a logger, Botsford grew up in Wrangell and only left for a period in her 20s when she spent some time in Washington state. She says she raised her kids in Wrangell and that they, and most of her grandchildren, are still living here.
The only thing I know is I am Wrangell, born and bred. I have a heart for my home. I know I know what its core values are, and I know what’s good for our community and what might not be good for our community.
She says that between growing up in Wrangell and her time with the Port and Harbors Department, she knows practically everyone, which she says has given her a good understanding of what her home needs.
