Wamsley wants an economy “made in Sitka”

Aaron Wamsley is one of five candidates running for a seat on the Sitka Assembly. Wamsley is a residential advisor at Mt. Edgecumbe High School, the state-run boarding school that draws students from across the state. And he says that his students’ dedication to their hometowns inspired him to run for office in his.

As part of his job, Wamsley is in charge of helping to ease the transition for new students to Mt. Edgecumbe High School. It’s his second year in the position, and he loves it.

“I work with the kids all day, and it’s really, really awesome,” Wamsley says. “The Edgecumbe kids, they’re great.”

Wamsley works in the boys’ dorm, which houses about 150 students — half of them brand new this year.

“You help them deal with homesickness, you help them deal with a whole different world than they’re used to. Because a lot of these guys come from villages as small as 50 people,” Wamsley says. “And it’s our job as caretakers to help them transition from village life into, as they call it, ‘big city life.'”

Wamsley was once new to Sitka, himself. Now 33, he arrived in town ten years ago, from Texas.

“My dad was in the marines, so I traveled a lot as a kid. We moved a lot,” Wamsley says. “I’d just never been to Alaska. We had a family friend that had come up here on a cruise, and she was like, ‘I loved it up there, I’m going to move there one day.’ And, well — I ended up moving here, instead.”

He met his wife, Erin, and he stayed. Now, he says, Sitka is home.

“This is the only place I’ve stayed for as long as I have, and I’m not going anywhere any time soon,” Wamsley says.

But over the past ten years, he’s seen changes in Sitka — and he’s worried about what the future holds.

“When I moved here ten years ago, Sitka was a bustling community,” Wamsley says. “There were tourists, the economy seemed like it was doing great, and since then, I’ve seen it turn for the worse.”

Wamsley says he’s concerned about the drop in tourism, and the stores that have closed on Lincoln Street. He says that as an assembly member, the economy would be his top priority.

“Because without an economy here, there is no Sitka,” Wamsley says. “Someone posed the question, ‘Take away all fishing, take away all tourism, what is there? What can Sitka live off of?’ And honestly, there’s not much.”

He says that it’s important to support the tourism and fishing industries, but the city also needs to find other economic drivers. He wants to see the city support small businesses, like the Baranof Island Brewing Company — businesses that will make things here in town.

“We can’t depend on fishing constantly. We can’t depend on tourism constantly,” Wamsley says. “We need a local economy, stuff that’s made here in Sitka. Businesses that are going to boost money into the town.”

But how exactly would Sitka achieve that? Wamsley admits he isn’t entirely sure. But as an assembly member, he says, it’s something he would push the city to explore.  He’d also like to see the city develop more affordable housing, and calls it “flat out wrong” that the city doesn’t currently fund the school district at the maximum level allowed by state law.

“I think we need new ideas, new ways of looking at how Sitka’s being ran,” Wamsley says.

Before landing at Mt. Edgecumbe High School, Wamsley worked at Aurora Business  Supply and at Sitka Counseling and Prevention Services, doing drug and alcohol rehabilitation work.  He has an Associate’s degree in psychology, with an emphasis in mental health and chemical dependency.

Wamsley has served on the police and fire commission for the past year, but he says he feels called to do more. In part, he says, he’s been inspired by the students he works with.

Wamsley: These kids – they don’t want to do things like go to parties. They do, but that’s not their main goal. There’s this one [student], he said he lives in a small village that gets snowed in every single year. And his brother graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe and went to the University of Alaska and became an engineer, an aeronautical engineer. And his brother was his hero because his brother went back his village and now he’s the only engineer that can work on airplanes. And that’s what he wants to do. Now he’s looking at chemical engineering so he can help produce fresh water for his village.

It’s an example that Wamsley has taken to heart.

“If these teenagers are fighting and learning as much as they can to improve where they’re from,” Wamsley says. “Why shouldn’t we?”

The municipal election in Sitka will take place on Tuesday, October 7. Aaron Wamsley is one of five candidates running for two open seats on the Sitka Assembly. There are also two candidates for Mayor, and two for School Board. Raven News is producing profiles of all nine candidates. You can find those profiles, as they are produced, here.