Wrangell Mayor Patty Gilbert is running unopposed for a third two-year term. She brings 16 years of public service experience to the mayor’s seat.

Gilbert is 78 years old. She previously served six years on the then city council and six years on the borough assembly before stepping into the mayor’s office four years ago. A former educator, she spent 23 years teaching math, physics and chemistry in Wrangell schools.

Here’s Mayor Gilbert.

My approach is when there’s a problem, you face it head-on, no matter how difficult it is. I have always lived by the motto that every problem has a solution.

She says a central priority for her remains aging infrastructure, particularly failing underground water and sewer lines that break too often. She says her guiding policy has been tackling at least one road a year.

Beyond road repairs, Gilbert says the borough has completed some street and sidewalk rehabilitations, public stair replacements and generator upgrades at the power plant. Repairs to the Public Safety Building and school building roofs are next on the work list.

Economic diversity also anchors her platform. She says she advocates supporting established merchants, creating steady employment and investing municipal funds safely to generate interest on bond and grant proceeds.

Gilbert points to livestreamed assembly meetings as proof the administration has expanded public transparency, along with redesigned online resources and regular updates from Borough Manager Mason Villarma.

We have a skilled and dedicated municipal workforce. They are problem solvers. They could MacGyver their way through anything. I’ve seen them in action.

Looking ahead, Gilbert says she wants to ensure the town’s future is guided by the people who grew up here. She says she regularly encourages younger residents — including many former students who now run businesses and raise families in town — to step into civic roles on the assembly, the port commission and the planning and zoning commission.

Adapted from original article by Jonathan Dawe for the Wrangell Sentinel