This week, KUCB is profiling candidates running in the October 1st municipal election. This profile focuses on Dave Gregory, who is running unopposed for seat D on city council. He and several other candidates will appear live on KUCB and Channel 8 on Thursday at 7 pm to answer your questions.

Dave Gregory came to city council after 24 years of public service as Unalaska’s fire chief. When he was first elected to seat D in 2007, Gregory says he thought he was up to the challenge.

"I’d been working for the city for many years and thought -- well, I thought maybe I knew a little bit about how the city ran," Gregory says. "And boy, I learned a lot I didn’t know."

Six years later, Gregory says he’s gotten a better handle on how the city works – primarily, when it comes to budgeting and taking care of capital projects.

One thing that hasn’t gotten a lot easier? Navigating Unalaska’s relationship with the state and federal governments. Gregory says it’s always been complicated.

"We’re always trying to tell them Unalaska and Dutch Harbor is a big tax producer for the state and they need to reciprocate and help us with some of these projects," Gregory says. "They have to some extent. But a lot of the stuff that we’ve done over the last 20 years has been mainly with money that’s come from the community."

From his seat on council, Gregory says he’s watched the city make major investments in infrastructure -- paved roads, upgraded power, and better water facilities.

Those improvements have made Unalaska attractive to industry. But more importantly, Gregory says, they make the town a better place to live. Gregory’s brought up two kids here with his wife, Patty, and he says he wants to make sure new residents have that chance.

"I certainly want to be an advocate for keeping our community a good place for people to work and raise families," Gregory says. "That’s probably to the forefront."

Gregory says he's concerned about how the community will be affected oil companies like Shell and Statoil start using the town as a jumping-off point for Arctic drilling trips.

"I think it’s important that we look at how that’s going to play out," he says. "We don’t want to be a big industrial center, but we need commerce and business to flourish."

Unalaska's developed a small-town feel that Gregory doesn't want to lose. He doesn’t think his fellow councilors will disagree with him on that. He doesn’t think his fellow citizens would either, but it’s tough to say.

"It’d be nice if I could say I hear a lot from folks but I really don’t," Gregory says. "You know, people sometimes will see you in the store and mention something. But I don’t get a lot of calls from folks."

That’s part of the reason why Gregory hasn’t proposed a lot of legislation; he prefers to let the city manager’s office take the lead on that.

Now that no one has stepped up to run against Gregory this year for seat D, he says he's looking forward to serving for another three years -- and hopefully, hearing more from his constituents, on the changes they’d like to see.