Politics

More housing options could be coming to Bethel. The Bethel City Council unanimously introduced an ordinance to enter into an agreement with the Orutsararmiut Native Council to develop a subdivision. The approximately 17-acre neighborhood would be located near the Bethel post office and contain 38 housing lots.

On Tuesday, the Bethel City Council will look at introducing an ordinance that would compensate city council members for their duties. Council member Fritz Charles proposed the ordinance, which would pay council members $300 per month and subsidize their water and sewer costs. Council member duties include participating in regular city council meetings, special meetings, and budget meetings. Each council member must also be a member of at least one committee or commission for the city. 

Sen. Lisa Murkowski is keeping mostly neutral on Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget cuts. She spoke about his budget on a visit to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta this past weekend. 

Bethel residents often ask, “Why are the roads so bad?” KYUK sat down with Bethel’s City Manager Pete Williams to find out.

“Gravel is gravel, and there will always be a need to maintain it. And the worse the weather is, the more it needs to be maintained,” explained Williams.

On Tuesday, Bethel City Council unanimously approved the building of Blue Sky Subdivision, which would wrap around Larson Subdivision near the airport. At the start of the council meeting, Bethel residents expressed resounding support for the proposed neighborhood, saying that Bethel needs more housing.

Bethel has a new city holiday. March 13 is now “Pete Kaiser Day,” commemorating when the Bethel musher won this year’s Iditarod.

On March 13 of this year, Pete Kaiser became the first Bethel musher and the first musher of Yup’ik descent to win the Iditarod. Kaiser grew up competing in local races in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. His list of achievements include being the first winner of the "Kuskokwim Triple Crown," having won the Akiak Dash in 2005, the Bogus Creek 150 in 2008, and four consecutive Kuskokwim 300 victories from 2015 to 2018. On Tuesday, Bethel City Council will consider a proclamation to declare March 13 "Pete Kaiser Day."