The governor’s office plans to meet with leaders from Bethel and Napaskiak to discuss the impact of legal alcohol sales on Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta communities.
Gov. Walker’s staff proposed the meeting in response to a resolution issued by Napaskiak’s Tribal Council this week, which urged the governor to declare a state of emergency in their region. According to tribal council members, Bethel’s liquor store has led to a sharp increase in alcohol-related deaths that they compare to the state’s opioid crisis.
Tribal Administrator Sharon Williams said that five Napaskiak residents have died in alcohol-related incidents since Bethel legalized alcohol sales in 2016. That’s a little over 1 percent of the village’s total population.
Williams said that she hasn’t heard from the governor’s office yet. Governor Walker’s Press Secretary, Austin Baird, said that they plan to iron out the details of a meeting with Bethel and Napaskiak leaders within the next two weeks.
“There’s been a lot of attention to the opioid epidemic, and that’s certainly an enormous issue, but alcohol has been a constant issue,” said Baird. “It’s a very painful and complicated issue, and that I would expect to be a part of the conversation.”
Baird added that questions surrounding Bethel’s liquor store specifically should be addressed at a community level.
Inspired by the Napaskiak Tribal Council, the village of Marshall issued its own resolution Friday afternoon urging Gov. Walker to declare a state of emergency in their community too. Tribal Administrator Nick Andrew claims Bethel’s liquor store has contributed to an increase in alcohol-related crime in Marshall, and adding that the village has no way of coping with it. Beyond occasional visits from state troopers, Marshall hasn’t had a police force — or any other law enforcement — in over a decade.
“We have a generation of children and they have no idea what a police department is,” Andrew said. “You all take police officers for granted, and once it’s taken away, there’s an uneasiness that envelops the community.”
Andrew said state budget cuts meant Marshall could no longer afford law enforcement.
