DJ McConachie, who was appointed to the port commission to fill a vacancy in June, is running unopposed in the Oct. 6 Wrangell municipal election for a two-year term.
He says his experience dealing with different people with different needs — whether it’s a boater who needs five gallons or a big yacht — serves him well on the port commission.
Here’s McConachie.
Yeah, and I guess you know it’s something I think that I would have relevant information with because I see a lot of people, I get to interact with fishermen and all walks of life.
McConachie was born and raised in Wrangell and didn’t start out working toward a career on the waterfront. After high school, he spent two years at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, where he earned his pipe-welding certificate and a U.S. Coast Guard aluminum welding certificate.
My main intention was to try and get up on the North Slope, but yeah, sometimes it just doesn’t work out. But you know what? It really did in the end because I like where I’m at, and you know I wouldn’t have it any other way.
He has now worked with Petro Marine for nine years.
Though he has been on the port commission just a few months, he says he is impressed with the work underway for the port and harbors. He says that there are a lot of good projects in the pipeline that he would like to see get done.
The expansion of the Marine Service Center is a big priority for McConachie. He says that it’s maxed out and needs more space. He is aware that rates are going up for the Marine Service Center, port and harbors, noting that the facilities need to pay their own way, which includes saving for replacement equipment and repairs.
Dredging the downtown harbor is also high on his list.
I think it’s definitely a huge priority because, on these big minus tides, the inner harbor, let’s say. If you have a big minus and you have, you know, decent sized gill netter, you’re gonna be, you know, you’re gonna have to really watch it if you want to get out of there, you know, if at all.
Other goals include expanding the downtown waterfront and the borough’s effort to attract private investment in a shipyard at the former 6-Mile Mill property.
