Former city council, KFSK board president also running for Petersburg assembly

Five people are running for two seats on the Petersburg borough assembly this fall. Another past member of the Petersburg city council is seeking his first term on the assembly. Bill Tremblay is also the president of the KFSK board but he said he’ll resign that seat if he’s elected.

64-year old Bill Tremblay is retired from a 36-year career with the U.S. Forest Service. He spent nine years on Petersburg’s city council but lost a re-election bid in 2007. He also served two and a half years on the city council in Craig in the 1980s. Besides the KFSK board, Tremblay is also on the board for the Petersburg Community Foundation and he’s president of the Petersburg Volunteer Firefighters Association. Tremblay retired two years ago and feels like he now has time for local office again.

“Well there was a vacant seat was identified kinda early in the process and sometimes I just don’t like the last minute scramble for people to raise their hands,” Tremblay said. “Also, I felt like I was at a good time with retirement and no work in front of me and my time being more local, or will be, that I would have the time to serve.”

Tremblay has been traveling and was reached by phone for this interview. He expects he will continue to travel but says he’ll be able to call into meetings by phone. He said he’s interested in pursuing several topics If he’s elected. One is the discussion over the future of Petersburg’s recycling program.

“Our community has done well working with other Southeast Alaska communities to deal with things like hazardous waste and other things,” he explained. “And I can see that we might be trying to look for other solutions because I’m sure we’re not alone with the recycle issue, which is a big one.”

He also is interest in looking for ways improve the cost of housing in town. He cites the partnership between the city of Petersburg and Tlingit and Haida Regional Housing Authority that resulted in the residential subdivision near the Hammer and Wikan shopping center. Tremblay doesn’t have a big capital project in mind as a top priority for the borough. But he wants to follow future discussions over a new or renovated hospital.

“I do know that we are going to have to, with a new administrator up there, that he’s in current discussions with a lot of people to talk about what the options are and what the services might be,” Tremblay said. “I think it’s a little bit premature to jump in with both feet for any type of a decision either way, but I’m encouraged with a discussion in trying to maintain as much as the community can with good medical facilities and services in this town.”

Tremblay points to the accomplishments of the local government during his nine years on the city council. He’s hoping for respectful dialogue on the borough assembly.

“I know when I first got on the city council for most of my years on the city council I sat in minority with opinions that I had but I appreciated the fact that everybody usually provided good opportunities for people to express their opinions and to be heard before a vote was taken,” Tremblay said. “And I would just hope that that would still prevail, that we would be open for discussion.”

Tremblay has been in Petersburg for nearly 27 years and raised two daughters here. He’s the husband of former mayor Cindi Lagoudakis.