Bethel's Vice Mayor, Bryon Maczynski, has announced that he will not be running for reelection next year because he’s moving to Dillingham. The 29-year-old Maczynski was born and raised in Bethel. He has served on the Public Works Committee during his three-year term, while at the same time working with his dad at their family-owned auto body shop.
Interview transcript:
Maczynski - “Bethel’s always gonna be a home for me. I'm always gonna pay attention to what’s going on here, and I’m still gonna fight for this whole area in Western Alaska against opiates.”
KYUK - "That was the platform you ran on when you were elected. What progress do you feel like you’ve made?"
Maczynski - “I feel like just getting the word out there so much that YK has to open up a program. They did open a program, and they have an inpatient and an outpatient program. I’m extremely happy for what they did and thank them so much.”
KYUK - "So you grew up in Bethel. There must be some sadness, not only leaving the Council, but leaving the community. Talk about that a little."
Maczynski - “There definitely is. I’m constantly thinking back and forth about it, thinking about what I’m leaving and hoping that the work that I began will continue with this new council. I looking forward to seeing whose gonna run and what are their ideas to tackle the situation.”
KYUK- "What has been your biggest obstacle with the opioid epidemic here in Bethel."
Maczynski - “Getting people to go out and do controlled buys is the biggest thing. This community is so small that even though people know whose doing it, it doesn’t seem like people are willing to step forward and testify against them, and that’s the biggest hurdle I think.
KYUK- "So will you continue this work in Dillingham?"
Maczynski - “Definitely. I’m still on the Opiate Task Force for the state. I’d love to continue my work through there. Actually the area that I kind of represent, Western Alaska and Dillingham, is a part of it.”
That was KYUK’s Adrian Wagner speaking with Bethel’s Vice Mayor Byron Maczynski about his time in office as he prepares to leave Bethel. Maczynski is moving to Dillingham for family reasons. He will not leave until the end of the year, which will be after the next Bethel City elections.