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At Impassioned Meeting On Alcohol Sales, Y-K Delta Residents Say "Enough Is Enough"

Ruth Evon speaks at a Listening Session at Bethel Regional High School on March 17, 2017. The meeting was organized by Rep. Tiffany Zulkosky in response to resolutions issued by Napaskiak and Marshall.
Courtesy of Claire Richardson.

Elena Williams shook slightly as she spoke. She’s from Napaskiak; her son is in jail, her family is struggling. If someone hadn’t given her son alcohol, she said, none of this would’ve happened.

Napaskiak is a dry village, but it’s only seven miles from Bethel. And in the year-and-a-half since Bethel opened its liquor store, community members say that they’ve seen a sharp increase in alcohol-related crimes and deaths.

When Williams finished speaking, her daughter-in-law, Napaskiak Tribal Administrator Sharon Williams, stood to speak as well. "We came here to say enough is enough," she said. "We weren’t ready. We weren’t ready for this."

Two weeks ago, Sharon Williams and Napaskiak’s Tribal Council asked Governor Walker to issue an emergency declaration in their region. In a unanimously passed resolution, they wrote that Bethel's legal alcohol sales have so profoundly disrupted village life that they require state and federal intervention. The village of Marshall quickly followed suit. According to their tribal council, their village hasn't had law enforcement in years; it's incapable of managing alcohol-related incidents without it.

Representative Tiffany Zulkosky responded by organizing a "Listening Session" at Bethel Regional High School, which took place on Saturday during the Cama-i Festival. She invited tribal council members from Napaskiak and Marshall to attend the meeting with her, along with a small delegation from the governor's office. Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan and Assistant Attorney General Alex Cleghorn flew to Bethel for the Listening Session. They were joined by Barbara Blake, Governor Walker's senior advisor on tribal issues, and Claire Richardson from Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott’s office.

Y-K Delta elders, political leaders, State Troopers, and counselors attended the Listening Session. They all had similar stories. Ruth Evon from Bethel said that she's helped multiple relatives fight addiction. "I do tough love with my family," she said. "I gave the police my niece and her friend."

Minnie Snyder from Akiachak said that she’s seen young children help their intoxicated parents stagger home. She remembered one little girl in particular, walking her parent home at two or three in the morning. "I was so tired, looking at her," she said. "I was so tired for that girl. We need help."

While alcohol has been a nagging problem in the region for decades, community members say that Bethel’s liquor store is making it worse. According to Eileen Arnold, the Director of the Tundra Women's Coalition, several studies suggest that, "the more available alcohol is, and the more affordable it is, the higher incidents of crime relating to alcohol there are going to be, and the more severe they’re going to be." The Y-K Delta's experience, she said, reflects those statistics.

"This area is really under-resourced for what’s going on," Arnold said. The healthcare and legal systems are both overwhelmed with cases. The Bethel Police Department has been stretched thin for years, and several community members pointed out that village law enforcement is alarmingly understaffed. Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan said that he's seen similar problems at the state level. "Do we underserve rural Alaska?" he said. "Absolutely. We need more. I want more. I don’t have more."

In an interview after the meeting, Barbara Blake, a senior advisor to Governor Walker, said that the administration will be unable to respond to pleas for an emergency declaration right away. "We were asked to intercede on something that was an issue between the city and the tribes," she said, "so that made it a little more challenging." The voters of Bethel approved liquor sales in a local option election. 

This is Tiffany Zulkosky’s second week in office, but she said that she knew this would be a big issue. She sees the meeting as a first step. "Because of how complex this is, we know this is just one conversation of many conversations to find solutions," she said.

According to both Zulkosky and Barbara Blake, one thing residents can do now is participate in next month's meeting of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board in Nome. The board will consider renewing the license of AC Quickstop, Bethel's only operating package liquor store, and community members can call in and voice their opinion. The Bethel City Council has already weighed in, opposing the renewal.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated Barbara Blake's title. We regret the error.