(Sage Smiley / KSTK)
Wrangell’s Assembly has appointed Finance Director Mason Villarma the interim manager for the borough, as the current borough manager Jeff Good is set to leave his position at the end of the year.
Elected leaders made the decision during a closed-door meeting (executive session) on October 11.
Wrangell Mayor Patty Gilbert told KSTK in an interview Friday (October 13) that current Borough Manager Jeff Good’s official last day is January 1, 2024. But he’ll be using up accumulated leave time and will be out of town for significant periods of time between now and then.
“So that propelled the assembly to move a little bit faster,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert said the borough assembly considered three options: immediately start advertising for a permanent borough manager, start advertising for an interim borough manager, or promote an interim borough manager internally, “so the Assembly decided to do a two-pronged approach,” Gilbert explained.
“We are currently advertising for a permanent borough manager – that advertisement […] will be advertising to Alaska Municipal League, and that is a mechanism that reaches the Lower 48,” Gilbert said. “And so the advertisement will be broadly broadcast, if you will, and then we promoted – or will promote and negotiate a contract with the finance director, Mason Villarma for an interim borough manager position.”
Gilbert said it’s not yet clear how long Villarma will serve as interim borough manager – that will depend on how long it takes the borough to find a longer-term replacement for Good.
The mayor declined to share further details of the decision-making process, since it’s a personnel matter. But she said that previous Wrangell finance directors have been the go-to for the interim manager position.
“We have a long history of promoting the finance director as interim borough manager,” Gilbert said, “And I believe – I can only speak for myself, but I believe that’s one of the key components in that decision-making.”
Assembly members also appointed borough Clerk Kim Lane to be Wrangell’s deputy interim borough manager. Lane has long been the designated acting borough manager when the borough manager is on vacation or otherwise out of the office.
Mayor Gilbert and assembly member Dave Powell are set to negotiate contract amendments for the interim manager and deputy interim manager positions on October 16.
The contract amendments for Villarma and Lane will have to be approved by the borough assembly before going into effect.
Wrangell is actively recruiting a longer-term borough manager. The first review of applications is scheduled for November 1.
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