There’s one seat on Wrangell’s Port Commission on the municipal ballot this year. And incumbent Port Commissioner Gary Morrison is running for re-election, unopposed.
KSTK sat down with Morrison to hear about why he’s seeking another term and what he sees coming down the pike for Wrangell’s ports and harbors.
Wrangell’s local election is scheduled for October 3.
FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW (lightly edited for clarity and reading flow):
GARY MORRISON: [I’m] Gary Morrison. We’ve lived here in Wrangell for about 14 years. I’m a retiree. I worked 38 years for the U.S. Forest Service, most of that in Alaska, a good share of that in Juneau and Sitka. After retiring from the Forest Service, I was the state parks director in Anchorage, did that for a couple of years, and then retired here in Wrangell. So all I do is have fun.
KSTK (Sage Smiley): And how about your previous government experience? Have you been on the Port Commission before?
MORRISON: Yeah, I started on the Port Commission here in 2016. And been on it ever since. This will be my fourth time running. These last two times, one of the main reasons I’ve run is I waited till the last day to register and nobody else did. So I thought, ‘Well, somebody needs to be on the Port Commission.’ So I would go ahead and do it again for another three years.
KSTK: That speaks a little bit to my next question. But if you could elaborate, that would be great: What makes you want to be on the Port Commission – what makes you want to run for reelection?
MORRISON: Well, I’m a boater, and I’m very interested in our harbors and the facilities that we have for everyone. And I want to keep the cost down. And I want to keep the maintenance and service up. And there are a number of items going on with the harbors that I’d like to help follow through and see them get done. One is: currently, we’re looking at getting security cameras installed at all of the harbors and in the boatyard. And I think that’s going to be very important. And that’s coming up soon, and I want to do anything I can to help that follow through. And then another big one is when Heritage Harbor was built, for some reason, they did not install any anodes or anything to prevent corrosion of the pilings, and they’re now starting to corrode and we’ve got to get something on them or their life is going to be real short. So we need to get a contract out to put zincs on all of the pilings. And that’s going to be very expensive, probably going to cost over a million dollars to do that. Those are two things that are really important to the harbor. And then there’s some things I’d like to see get done as well that we either don’t have the money for or haven’t had the opportunity yet to deal with. And one is the idea of having a second boat ramp at Heritage Harbor, so that two boats can be getting in or out at the same time. There’s often times when it’s a crowd down there with boats trying to get in or out or some going each way. And it’d be nice if we had a second one. Obviously, there’s no money for that. So we have to keep watching for where there might be a grant that could help us do that. And at the same time the boat launch down at Shoemaker is in real need of repair. The lower part of that is very rough to get in; the space between the concrete slabs is getting big and the ramp doesn’t go out far enough on a low tide for you to launch your boat without going off the end of it and then damaging your trailer when you try to get back out. So that’s really important, too. So there’s those kinds of things that I think I’d like to see follow-up on. And actually on the commission itself, we’ve talked about it, and I guess we’ve talked around it, and that is figuring out some way that all the boats in the harbor would have some sort of insurance so that if one of them sinks and there’s clean up and there’s issues, that it doesn’t fall back on the city. And that has happened. It’s happened in a big way in some other towns in Ketchikan and Juneau. And it’d be nice if we could figure out a way to get everyone insured so that the taxpayers here in Wrangell don’t have to foot the bill if someone’s boat sinks. So I think those are important things.
KSTK: Absolutely. So this might tie in a little bit to all of those issues that you’ve talked about. But what do you see as the biggest issue – or maybe couple of issues – facing Wrangell’s port and harbors in the coming years? What’s coming down the pike that might really have a significant impact on the community relating to the port and harbors?
MORRISON: Well, I don’t see any problems in the near future. It’s just a matter of us making sure that the rates are such that we can continue to do the job that the harbor people are doing now, which is a very good job. And make sure that that can continue and adjust our rates to make that happen without overcharging people but having enough to where we can get along, and making sure that the rates in the boatyard are such that we can maintain the lifts in the various equipment that is down there so that we can continue to provide that excellent service one of the best and Alaska. So we want to see that continue.
KSTK: What is the function of the Port Commission within this broader system of borough government? How does that support the running of Wrangell, basically?
MORRISON: Well, a number of things that come up in Wrangell have to be addressed at the Port Commission. For example, if someone wants to lease tidelands that the city owns, that goes through the Port Commission for our recommendation. If someone wants to buy tidelands that the city owns, that comes through us to get our position on it before it goes to the assembly. I guess those are the main things that happen that the Port Commission is involved in. We set the rates for the slips in the harbors, we set the rates for licensing boat trailers and set the rates for the people that are in the boatyard with their boats getting repaired. So those are some of the main things that we deal with on a regular basis. And then everything we try to do is to support the Harbormaster, and the people that work there and their work.
KSTK: Is there something you’re most proud of in your time on the Port Commission so far that the Port Commission has been able to accomplish or see through or work on?
MORRISON: Well, I guess, yeah, the most important one, the time that I’ve been on there is the redevelopment of the Shoemaker Harbor that has happened since I’ve been on the commission. And then there have been improvements to the boatyard, a new bigger lift, and being able to handle bigger boats and additional improvements in the boatyard that helps the economy of Wrangell.
KSTK: What makes you a good candidate for the Port Commission?
MORRISON: I’ve got time (laughs).
KSTK: So is that why someone should vote for you: because you’ve got time?
MORRISON: Well, I don’t know why someone should vote for me other than they’d have to write someone in. There’s no one else on the ballot. And I think I’m doing a service to the community and I just want to continue to do that.
KSTK: Is there anything else you’d want to add?
MORRISON: There’s little things that we could do to improve our harbors here. And I’m always open to suggestions that people have that I can take to the Port Commission and take to the Harbormaster to try to improve things. Maybe a good little example might be the safety ladders that are in all of the harbors. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed but most of them have got a lot of stuff growing on the bottom of them. And they really aren’t that safe to use as a safety feature to get out of the water. And over time, it would be nice to be able to take those out one at a time and clean them and put bottom paint on them, so they might not grow some of the things that are grown on him now and they would be safer as a safety feature. And it’s just those little things that need to be done in the harbor all the time that like to assist the Harbormaster in accomplishing.
KSTK: Totally. Thanks for your time today, and letting people get to know you as a candidate for Port Commission. Really appreciate it.
MORRISON: Thank you.
Get in touch with KSTK at news@kstk.org or (907) 874-2345.
