For much of the last 20 years, Alan Carr has led the small Thurston County town of Bucoda, or “Boo-Coda,” depending on the time of year, as its mayor. That includes through two recessions, many Halloween celebrations and even a pandemic.
But he won’t be at the helm much longer. Citing aspirations to “move back east,” specifically to Florida, Carr is ditching town for sunnier skies.
“(I’m) starting a new chapter, seeing how much trouble I can get into," Carr said on a recent sunny afternoon from inside the community center section of Odd Fellows hall, which also houses city hall. "I think it's my time to move on. I'd like to stay in and do things, but I've been talking the last eight years about moving back east and doing something.”
During candidate filing week, Councilor Steven Purcell filed to be Carr’s successor. He will run unopposed in November for the mayoral seat, an unpaid position that oversees the council’s legislative business.
Talking over the phone Monday, Purcell said he and the community have tried talking Carr out of leaving Washington, but haven’t gotten too far in convincing him. Purcell said he’s even tried talking up Florida’s mosquitoes, alligators and hurricanes.
Still, no budge.
“Any time I need to bounce something off someone, he’s a good person to bounce it off of. He’s going to tell you what he thinks — that’s crucial. He’s not going to beat around the bush,” Purcell said, characterizing Carr as a “doer” who gets things done.
Part of what’s spurred Purcell to run for higher public office has been Carr’s effort to vacate the top job.
“I’ve been on the council and involved in the town for 20 years, but my biggest concern is continuity and consistency in the administration. You can’t just stop and pick up fresh and expect things to go smoothly,” Purcell said.
But Carr, 69, has reason enough to start his next chapter: after losing his wife last year, who he’d met shortly after moving to Washington state, Carr has tentative plans to move near Tampa to be close to his brother and live with his daughter and son-in-law.
"I think we've done a lot of accomplishments over the years, even though a lot of them are hard to see," Carr said, recounting his time as a small-town public servant, as sounds of blaring trains reverberated off Main Street. "There's a lot that goes into that."
Much of his tenure has been spent around infrastructure work and revitalizing the Odd Fellows hall, which the city acquired from a private owner back in 2005.
Through state grants and funding, the city has invested at least $500,000 into the hall.
The city has worked to replace its water system’s pipes from asbestos concrete, which has been known to be hazardous to human health, to newer piping technology. Currently, about 11% of the city’s piping consists of the asbestos concrete piping, he said.
Carr said they’ve also been working with the community to bring more tourism dollars in through its “Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular” agritourism events, which in recent years have spurred the creation of the Pine Box Derby Casket and Zombie Races and the annual hearse procession.
Carr moved to Bucoda in 1982, he said, a freshly-retired petty officer first class having served 10 years in the United States Navy. He originally came to the area working as a plans engineer with Albany International, a manufacturing company that builds belts for machines that make paper and other textiles.
He was with the company for about two years and was living in Catskill, New York, 35 miles south of Albany, when he was offered the transfer.
"They had a facility in Tumwater and they asked me to come out and take over that position," he said.
At first, he was living in Lacey. But then, he met his wife, Vicki, who had been living in Bucoda. He was quick to make the move.
He eventually retired in 2011 and stayed until the point where Albany International sold its Tumwater facility.
“My job was to turn the lights off,” he said.
The thing he said he’s going to miss most about being mayor in a small town is just being in the thick of it all and being involved in community happenings.
Within a corner of city hall are hundreds of items from the de facto Bucoda historical museum. The town was originally incorporated in 1910 as the town of Seatco, and an American flag that was raised over Washington, D.C., during the centennial at the behest of Sen. Patty Murray was displayed among other items in the case.
A brick with Carr’s last name was also among those displayed in the case (it was found and given to him by a Centralia resident). He claims the museum holds “a little bit of everything,” including a metal cell door from the infamous Seatco Territorial Prison.
While there has been substantial changes to the area over the lifespan of the city, Carr said not much has changed about the town in recent decades: the town’s population of about 560 people has remained relatively stable, business remains relatively hushed and the call of the trains can still be heard multiple times a day.
"There's been a few new houses and such, but very few changes here in Bucoda," he said, adding later: "It's these smaller communities that built this state. A lot of the small communities were the ones that had the saw mills, the lumber mills.”
