During the Nov. 9 Bethel City Council meeting, some members of the public took issue with the city’s COVID-19 emergency mandates. Others took issue with its funding of legal counsel for a dispute about a local bed and breakfast.
During the meeting, city council voted to renew a series of COVID-19 pandemic mitigation measures. The measures come up for renewal every couple months. Among them are the citywide mask mandate and a measure that requires unvaccinated people traveling to Bethel to either quarantine or test for the virus. There’s also a measure that allows households and businesses to accrue a certain amount of debt before the city shuts off their water services.
The measures passed 6-1. The opposing vote came from council member Mary “Beth” Hessler. Hessler is unvaccinated and has previously touted controversial and unproven COVID-19 remedies. But Hessler wasn’t alone in her opposition. Several members of the public called into the meeting asking the council to strike down the mask mandate.
One was a piece of a written testimony by a former doctor from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, Dr. Ronald Bowerman. City Clerk Lori Strickler read his testimony aloud:
“How long are these restrictions going to continue? My wife and I just returned last week after a few days in Florida. How refreshing. Once out of the airport, no mask, no mandates, no fear, and interesting, the state has the lowest COVID-19 seven-day rolling case rate among all states,” wrote Bowerman.
Florida has had some of the most COVID-19 related deaths during the pandemic. It rose from the 18th highest death rate to the eighth highest death rate after the Delta variant surged. Of all states, it has the third most total deaths.
Dr. Ellen Hodges, who is the chief of staff at YKHC and working on the front lines of the pandemic, said that COVID-19 transmission continues to rage on in the Y-K Delta. She expressed concern that if the city doesn’t continue to have mitigation measures, the infection rate could surge even higher. Currently, the region has some of the highest rates in the country. And, said Hodges, surges in death rates usually follow surges in case counts.
Hodges also said that vaccines and masks continue to be highly effective.
“Vaccination is the way this pandemic ends,” said Hodges.
Vaccines against COVID-19 are now available for everyone ages 5 and up.
In a related measure, the council also voted to once again allow in-person public attendance in its meetings. The council had blocked in-person attendance to reduce COVID-19 transmission. Strickler said that up to 18 people can be in council chambers at once. The chambers have new plexiglass partitions for council members, and more room for social distancing for meeting attendees.
Also during the meeting, the council voted to allot more funding for a lawyer in the case against a couple who owns a bed and breakfast that the city shut down. Although a former city planner had given Dawn and Dan Hackney verbal permission to operate their bed and breakfast, the current city planner, Ted Meyer, said that type of permission is invalid. Meyer said that the Hackneys’ business was out of code. The Hackneys have been appealing the city’s decision in the courts.
The city attorney cannot legally represent both the city council and the planning commission, as they are separate entities with separate legal powers. The city needs to fund a different lawyer for the planning commission.
The council voted to allot $30,000 for the separate counsel. It had already approved $35,000 for this case. Several members of the public spoke against the funding. Bethel resident Abigail Miller said that the Hackneys should be allowed to operate their bed and breakfast.
“I think you guys should cease your legal battle against the Hackneys and grant them approval that the former city planner gave to them, even if that means "grandfathering" them in,” said Miller.
At one point, Miller called councilmember Rose "Sugar" Henderson “uneducated” for her standpoint on bed and breakfast regulations. During a July meeting, when the city council restructured city rules for bed and breakfasts, councilmember Henderson said that she opposed grandfathering in businesses that were out-of-code. Mayor Mark Springer interrupted Miller after she criticized Henderson:
Miller: “I'm concerned about Rose Henderson based on her uneducated and ignorant comments at a city council meeting discussing the Hackney take down ordinance that was brought forth from the dirty planning commission...”
Springer: “Ms. Miller, Ms. Miller, I ask that you please refrain from making attacks on council members or other public servants...”
Miller: “Sir, I am asking you to please understand the rules of people to be heard. And I am reclaiming my time. Thank you.”
There are no rules in the city’s municipal code saying how people providing public testimony must conduct themselves. The rules say that council members may only ask questions of people providing testimony under a public hearing. Miller’s testimony was not during a public hearing, but rather during public testimony.
And lastly, the council voted to approve a police auction. Abandoned and surplus vehicles and firearms will be auctioned off by sealed bid. The date has not been announced.