Sam Fletcher reports from the Oak Harbor City Council’s workshop of Tue., Aug. 20, 2024 for the Whidbey News-Times.
When the Oak Harbor mayor’s recent raise, over doubling his salary, came as a surprise to some city council members, they questioned the ethics and lack of transparency of the process.
At Tuesday’s meeting, several council members apologized for calling volunteers into question and not doing more research.
They Said It
“In reflection, I realize I could have communicated the process with the salary commission better,” [Mayor Ronnie Wright] said. “I will work to do this differently in the future. We are all learning. Part of my learning was focusing on following the process from the past and keeping the salary commission and the council separate, because the salary commission is an independent commission appointed by the mayor following approval by the council.”
[Salary Commission Chair Tiffany] Scribner [said] that if they think a friendship influences a professional decision, she questioned how they viewed the community.
“Look around,” she said. “Is there a person in this room that you have not had coffee with? Sat in a bar and had a drink with? Shared a meal with? Indeed, I have many of you in my cell phone.”
While many council members were concerned about the “optics” of the situation, the optics of “badgering” community volunteers is not better, she said.
The council did not call into question the appointed members of the salary commission until it made a decision that the council did not agree with, she said.
“What ensued was frankly a circus,” she said.
Mary Elizabeth Himes, another salary commissioner, urged the council to become more familiar with the process so they are not blindsided, don’t have “egg on your face” and don’t interpret their decisions as “glitches.”
The discussion about the mayor’s salary, for as long it was, was inefficient, as the council cannot change the decision anyway, she said.
“Another opportunity is for the council to increase the level of efficiency within our meetings by eliminating wasted time on emoting and emoting and emoting moot points,” she said.
Wright noted that every council member except Shane Hoffmire discussed their concerns with him individually. He complimented the candor and professionalism of those who did.
Wright also urged the council to communicate with the public through the communications officer and not personally through social media and not with their personal cell phones.
He apologized to city staff for the criticism they’ve taken at the front counter regarding this issue, which he claimed is a result of the information being given through social media.
Facebook is where a lot of the council’s electorate is, and interaction on Facebook has spurred much community involvement, said Hoffmire, who shared Wright’s letter to the salary commission regarding the hours he’s worked via Facebook earlier this week.
Some council members were quick to apologize.
“We were shocked and surprised and there were probably some things said that shouldn’t have been,” said Councilmember Jim Woessner.
Hoffmire, however, held his ground about his concerns of lack of transparency in Wright’s administration.
“I think almost every one of us addressed that we wished the communication would improve,” he said.
The salary commission, unlike the other commissions, doesn’t have regular meetings and are separated from the council more than the others, said Councilmember Eric Marshall.
Councilmember Christpher [sic] Wiegenstein doubled down on Wright’s comments, saying that sharing this issue via Facebook was inflammatory and uninformative.
“I too didn’t grow up until my late 30s,” he said, addressing Hoffmire. “Just a helpful hint.”
