Wrangell’s Borough Assembly on Tuesday evening decided to offer Interim Borough Manager Mason Villarma the job permanently.
At the special meeting, the assembly held interviews for three candidates who applied for the borough manager position. They were the finalists from a pool of 10 original applicants. The meeting was mostly in executive session, meaning it was behind closed doors.
Two of the final candidates reside in the lower 48. Villarma lives in Wrangell.
After two and a half hours of interviews and discussion between the assembly, Mayor Patty Gilbert announced their decision.
“The Assembly did select a candidate to negotiate a contract,” she said. “The name of that candidate is Mason Villarma and I will appoint the mayor and vice mayor to negotiate a contract with Mr. Villarma.”
“New wave of energy sweeping through”
Villarma, who is Wrangell’s finance director, has been acting as interim borough manager since November 20th, the day of Wrangell’s fatal landslide.
During the short time he’s led the Borough, he’s helped guide the community through significant events and challenges.
This includes the landslide disaster and lobbying for and receiving $5 million in funding for the Wrangell Dam Safety Upgrades Project. Villarma said he thinks the Borough has strong leaders.
“I’m looking forward to working with the staff that we have,” he said. “We have a really competent group of directors and I think we’re a bit ahead of the game in that way. Because looking at some of the surrounding communities, you still have a lot of the old guards and director positions that are nearing retirement and we’ve kind of already refilled and have like this new wave of energy sweeping through.”
He said Wrangell has helped build him and he wants to give back.
“I want to just push this place forward,” Villarma said. “It’s a community that means a lot to me. My family has always been from here. It’s kind of a place that’s helped build me and kind of just a cool way to give back and see how much we can get done and improve the lives of Wrangellites. So that’s exciting.”
Wrangell’s Borough Clerk, Kim Lane, wrote in an email that currently “there are no details available for negotiations. The mayor, vice-mayor and Villarma will meet and negotiate the terms.”
The Borough will begin advertising for the finance director position once Villarma is officially hired as the borough manager.
