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Bethel City Manager's Last Council Meeting

Adrian Wagner
/
KYUK

Bethel City Manager Ann Capela attended her last city council meeting Tuesday night before her early retirement from the position. Capela praised city workers and council members at the end of the meeting.

“I want to thank the many, many, people who work in Bethel and call Bethel their home," Capela said. 

Then Capela thanked Bethel itself.

“Lastly, I want to thank this great land that is called the tundra. It is unique and unlike any place I’ve lived before. This land that is the tundra, this land that sustains a special kind of life and its culture. The vast land that is so beautiful, yet it can be so unforgiving. I will cherish the opportunity that was given to me to live and work in Bethel. I will cherish the people that I have met here. I will cherish so many sunsets that blew me away as I stood on the edge of the continent," Capela said. 

Capela also made reference to possibly her greatest victory and legacy project, the expansion of Bethel’s sewer lagoon. The city manager successfully pulled together over $8 million of funding for the long overdue project during her time in Bethel.

Capela announced earlier this year that the arctic climate was causing her chronic pain, and cited this as her reason for breaking her three year contract with the city. Council appointed a temporary manager for the city, Peter Williams, who will start work later this month.  Williams currently serves as Bethel’s Port Director. A permanent replacement for Capela has not yet been found.