Jessie Stensland reports from the Oak Harbor City Council’s workshop meeting of Jun. 30, 2022.
An attempt to strip Oak Harbor’s mayor pro tem of her title over an alleged threat against city employees was delayed this week by council members.
The episode appeared to have reopened a rift between the city administration and some members of the city council that loomed large over last year’s election.
The incident that spurred the current controversy occurred on June 8. Mayor Pro Tem Beth Munns allegedly told City Manager Blaine Oborn that he and Human Resources Director Emma House would be hit or slapped if they attended the memorial service of a city employee who died unexpectedly, according to several city officials.
[Ed. note: Every two years the Oak Harbor City Council elects from among themselves a Mayor Pro Tempore who will serve in the absence of the Mayor when needed. Councilwoman Munns has served as Mayor Pro Tempore since Jan. 2018.]
They Said It
“I’m sorry my choice of words were taken as a personal threat to you,” [Mayor Pro Tem Beth Munns] wrote to Oborn. “For that, I am very sorry and want to apologize to you. I meant no harm to you or anyone.”
“In honesty, I thought we had come to an understanding as a city council about how we can and should conduct ourselves appropriately when interacting with staff because of past complaints for which training was provided to city council,” [Mayor Bob Severns] said.
“I think that this is ridiculous that we would do this while she is out of town,” Councilmember Dan Evans said. “I’m embarrassed to be a part of it.”
Councilmember Shane Hoffmire pointed out that the issue was serious enough for the administration to hold a special meeting to discuss it. He said he wasn’t comfortable striking it without knowing all the details of what occurred.
Councilmember Bryan Stucky asked if there were details that the council members don’t know which make the issue urgent, but he didn’t say what they do know.
“I don’t know that we know what we don’t know, so that’s the problem,” Councilmember Jim Woessner said, adding that he would like to hear from the mayor about what happened before making a decision about tabling the issue.
