Sam Fletcher reports from Oak Harbor Mayor Ronnie Wright‘s community event for the Whidbey News-Times.
Friday morning, community members met with Oak Harbor Mayor Ronnie Wright at Mad Batter Bakehouse on Pioneer Way for a casual conversation about the city’s pressing issues.
The idea behind the informal community meeting was that there is a different kind of impact having a one-on-one conversation rather than a public meeting setting. It’s an opportunity for frequent online complainers to voice their concerns in a constructive way, he said.
“The Wright Blend” will recur every third Friday of the month at Mad Batter. More information will be provided at oakharbor.gov.
They Said It
“It’s hard right now,” [Wright] said. “There’s a lot of negatives. One of the best things I did was stop paying attention to what’s online.”
Wright considers [the increasing visibility of the homeless population] a mental health epidemic, not a homelessness epidemic, he said…. On Friday he addressed a shorter-term solution: finding better locations for those who are trespassed from SPiN to dwell.
As soon as three months, Wright said, he wants to see substantial improvements to “lower the temperament.”
“We need to be a little more understanding and show people grace,” he said.
[Detective Sgt. Jeremy] Andreano had some questions of his own. To Wright, he said the police department has seven positions to fill, and the current facility will not be able to hold them all.
Wright said he is looking toward new facilities. Perhaps it will be one big facility holding city hall, the police department and a recreation center.
More details will come after a feasibility study, he said.
Marina upgrades also arose, which will come up at a council workshop later this month. Wright envisions hotels and restaurants on the pier connecting the marina with downtown.
He sees these upgrades as both a tourist attraction and an improvement to the lives of locals. Recently, he toured the Vancouver waterfront as a model, he said.
“I know it happens in an hour on TV, but it doesn’t happen like that in real life,” he said. “It takes time.”
Many new programs are coming this year from the parks and recreation department, for both youth and adults. Eventually, Wright said they will launch a pickleball league.
“Tennis is a little hard on the knees,” he said.
Despite some adversarial comments from community members in the past, Wright was not worried about Friday’s conversation, he said.
“You rest in the peace of knowing who you are,” he said. “You know who you are and what you stand for.”
Wright said his efforts come from deep care for the community.
“I really didn’t need to do this,” he said. “I’m a successful business owner. I have a successful business. I was happy. Who in their right mind would be subjected to the things I’ve been subjected to in the past year?”
