Bethel city manager wants out of hard-to-fill job a year early

BETHEL – A key job that the Bethel City Council struggled months to fill less than two years ago in the Southwestern Alaska hub appears to have opened up again.

Ann Capela, Bethel city manager since November 2014, asked the council on Friday to be released early from her employment contract, which doesn't end until November 2017. She said she would stay on three months to ensure a smooth transition but wants to leave before another winter sets in.

"Due to difficulties adjusting to living in an arctic climate, I am requesting that my employment agreement ends to coincide with a ninety (90) day transition period," her memo to the council said.

Mayor Rick Robb said late Friday that he wasn't sure the request amounted to a resignation. But it appears the council will be searching for another city manager, he said.

Council members including Robb in public meetings have expressed some frustration with Capela, including recently when she ended a city permitting program without first alerting the council. But Robb also praised her work to secure funding and create a plan to rebuild Bethel's disintegrating sewer lagoon – an $8 million project.

The council met in executive session on Thursday to conduct a performance evaluation of Capela. She responded with the request to leave within three months. Capela was not fired, the mayor said.

Capela, 62, made $130,000 a year, plus benefits including a city vehicle and, like other city employees, subsidized water and sewer service. She had worked as a public administrator in multiple states before coming to Alaska in 2014. The council had searched months for a manager and had offered the job to a top candidate who turned it down. That's when Capela applied.

She said securing a plan and funding for the sewer project is a significant accomplishment. The city has been studying what to do for three decades, she said.

She knitted together funding involving a variety of sources and agencies including the city, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Legislature, the U.S. Indian Health Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The project involves dredging and improving the sewer lagoon, reconstructing the crumbling jetty that haul trucks drive on to dump waste, and purchasing new sewer trucks.

Capela said she also has recommended changes in city staffing, including hiring a new finance director with expertise in public budgeting. The current finance director would serve as the new hire's assistant, she said.

She said she is not sure what she will do next. She had worked previously in Michigan, California, Illinois and Wisconsin.

"I love my staff and everything here but I just never adjusted well to the arctic weather," Capela said.