In just a little over two and a half years, Shadi Rabi has become a fixture in Bethel’s health and safety community. Now Rabi is running for Bethel City Council.
A Volunteer Firefighter and EMT, Rabi moved to Bethel in 2016. He is the manager of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health and Fitness Center and has served on Bethel’s Planning Commission for the past year and a half. If elected, Rabi wants to focus on the city’s infrastructure needs. He also wants to look for money in the budget to improve the community.
“Finding ways to have a surplus so that we can spend some money on community needs and community involvement; programs for children, programs for our adults, programs for our elders to get more involved in the community and to enjoy their life here in Bethel,” said Rabi.
Rabi would also like to make city government more transparent. He says that the council’s job is to work for citizens.
“The number one embodiment that I would like to see is honesty, and I do believe I am an honest person. I would be honest with the City of Bethel,” Rabi said.
Rabi says that he’s prepared to put in the hard work: the hours listening to community concerns and attending meetings, as well as the time to thoroughly understand the materials in the council packet.