Bethel says 'no' to alcohol in five ways

Published on January 28th, 2010

By ROY CORRAL

One by one, each of the five propositions presented Jan. 19 during the Bethel advisory vote on alcohol gave a thumbs down to having booze in the city as a wide majority of residents marked their boxes "no" and severely challenged the four-month old decision for Bethel to become "wet."

Bethel residents resoundingly rejected the possibility of liquor stores in the city, and said no to bars, no to liquor licenses for eating establishments, no to a city owned liquor store, and no to liquor licenses of any type within city limits.

Although the election was advisory in nature, it has already given the City Council the necessary means to begin obstructing alcohol sales and licenses.

"It'll be a no-brainer now for us to protest every license," Mayor Joe Klejka said.

However, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, four local restaurants and the largest store in the city, Alaska Commercial Co., still have liquor license applications that are pending state approval.

Klejka said the city intends to fully support the will of Bethel residents, whose preferences have been clearly voiced in the advisory vote. Nearly two out of three people opposed liquor stores in Bethel, and a greater number, almost three out of four, objected to licensing bars in town.

Former Bethel mayor and resident Hugh Dyment commented with grave concerns about the impact to Bethel as well as neighboring villages when Bethel residents voted to go "wet" on Oct. 6.

"The local option petitioners are pleased, and not surprised, that the voters of Bethel made clear to the City Council that they opposed alcohol sales in Bethel. We're also deeply concerned that since going wet there is now a legal, unregulated, massive flow of hard alcohol being imported through Bethel and ending up in local option dry communities throughout Southwestern Alaska. This is creating thousands of innocent victims of alcohol related crime who are suffering immeasurably," Dyment said.

As well, resident Jerry Domnick was satisfied with the advisory vote.

"I'm certainly pleased with the results of (the) vote. It shows that most people don't want alcohol sales in town under the current wide-open situation, recognize what a bad thing it would be for our community and our region, and want the City Council to oppose all license applications. I hope that the council listens to their constituents regardless of their own personal inclinations. The numbers from (the voting) are very clear and strong. It was not a close election," Domnick said.

Four months ago, Bethel voted to become "wet" after 32 years of being "damp," which limited the importation of alcohol into the city. Supporters of the change did not necessarily want liquor stores or bars in town, but more importantly, disagreed with the state's restrictive oversight on alcohol consumption.

As a result of last week's overwhelming advisory results, a spring election is expected to pose the question about whether Bethel should once again become "damp," and opening the door for more discussions, including the possibility of changing state law to allow the ban of alcohol sales, one of a few issues currently being reviewed by the mayor.