Success is all but guaranteed for four candidates vying for four seats on the Bethel City Council this year. Nevertheless, all of them showed up to share their perspectives and take part in the annual candidate forum hosted by KYUK on Oct. 2 at Bethel City Hall.
Incumbent candidate and current vice-mayor Teresa Keller said that she has put down deep roots in the community since moving to Bethel in 2005. After nearly two years on the council, she said that her priority is better roads.
"You have, you know, these roads that are almost undrivable, and then you can't get your equipment or your vehicles on them to service the city, or they break, and then you're then paying money to get new ones sent out here, or spending more money to get them fixed," Keller said.
Newcomer candidate Kelsi Kime also said that road improvements are critical, and that developing a long-term strategy is a key part of this.
"I think adjusting the budget to focus on longevity, as opposed to a band-aid fix now, could be pretty beneficial for everybody," Kime said.
Kime has lived in Bethel a little more than a year and serves on the city’s public works committee and public safety and transportation commission. She said that experience has highlighted a need to get young people more engaged in the community.
"I think I'd like to focus on finding a way to encourage, you know, their involvement with the community and our local government," Kime said.
For long-time resident, two-time Bethel mayor, and current city council member Mark Springer, better public safety is top of mind.
"We have some serious problems with opioids, sale and use and the destruction those cause. We have two establishments that are selling alcohol that, you know, may or may not be having an impact on people's lives," Springer said. "And we know that we've had an awful lot of turnover and issues with our police department. We've got to get some stability, and we've got to get police officers who live here in Bethel."
Greg Schiedler, who moved to Bethel in 2008, is running as this year’s only certified write-in candidate. He also said that issues with turnover are critical, but that they extend beyond the Bethel Police Department.
"[I] primarily would like to focus on continuity of services for our fire, our safety, [Bethel] City Hall, trying to see if we can get a longer term stability. And we have a fire chief for more than six months, a police chief for more than six months, and the administration that has gained some institutional knowledge back," Schiedler said.
In 2024, the city moved both its police and fire departments under the authority of a single public safety director. In September 2025, James Harris left the director position after a little more than a year on the job under circumstances that remain unclear.
The Oct. 2 forum also gave candidates an opportunity to ask questions of each other. Springer asked fellow candidates to share ideas for increasing economic development in Bethel.
Keller, who owns and operates a local insurance company, mentioned obstacles to becoming an entrepreneur in Bethel, including the lack of storefront space and the exorbitant costs of running a business.
Kime agreed that high overhead is an issue for spurring new businesses. She went on to mention that the city could explore ways to tax property owners who don’t live in Bethel, but are “essentially siphoning money out of the community.”
According to Springer, there may still be unused spaces that the city can leverage to bring new businesses like restaurants, or even a bookstore.
"The city does own some property that actually could be used for commercial development," Springer said. "We have kind of half-developed buildings in town that don't necessarily have any tenants in them right now."
Finally, Schiedler offered up a very specific idea for boosting Bethel’s economy.
"Let's see if we can get Amazon Prime to charter a jet in once a month that we can all get all the stuff we need that they won't ship," Schiedler said.
To conclude the hour-long forum, candidates were asked to weigh in on the best and worst decisions made by the council over the past year. When it came to the best decision, candidates were nearly unanimous.
"The best decision was putting the kibosh on that dumb TV show," Springer said.
Springer referenced the live policing television show “On Patrol: Live.” The national show had expressed interest in filming Bethel police officers as they responded to calls in the community. In August, the city council voted to oppose allowing the show to film in Bethel in a meeting that brought a rare level of public testimony also in opposition.
As for the worst decisions made by the council, candidates were less specific. Springer said that he couldn’t recall a decision made in the prior year that had given him “any heartburn.” Keller and Kime mentioned decisions to hire certain department heads without naming names. And Schiedler repeated calls made earlier in the forum for greater continuity in staffing.
Bethel’s municipal election is Tuesday, Oct. 7. Three of the four seats up for election are for two-year terms and will go to the top three vote-getters. The fourth place vote-getter will serve a one-year term.
Listen to the full candidate forum below.
