The tiny town of Seldovia bills itself as a place where everybody knows everybody. But this summer has brought a new face to town. Tod Larson is a retired lieutenant colonel who spent 25 years in the Army National Guard before getting his master's in public administration. Now he’s Seldovia’s new city manager.
“I’ve spent my life in public service, so this is just kind of an extension of that,” Larson said.
His main priority as city manager is to continue providing the services on which Seldovia residents have come to rely.
“We are a small community. Small budget itself. Really want to try my best to maintain all of our current services through fiscally difficult times. My whole purpose here is to maintain those basic services — drinking water, sewer, trash collection, senior meals,” Larson said.
Larson is also working on several other projects. He’s acting as the city representative for Seldovia’s new $5.4 million water treatment facility to be completed in July 2017. And he’s hoping to attract a variety of new businesses to the area.
“Our goal is to have some economic development so we can have year-round businesses. We really want to diversify. There’s a fishing nexus, there’s tourism, there’s a lot of biking and hiking,” Larson said.
Larson started the job in June and is enjoying his first summer in Alaska.
“I’m lucky to be here, to be honest. This is fantastic,” Larson said.