Latest Curated Headlines from Oak Harbor and North Whidbey

Approx 1 hour, 10 minutes. Link to agenda. Link to full meeting packet.

Future Oak Harbor school board meetings will be held virtually after audience members disrupted two recent in-person meetings where multiple audience members refused to wear masks. Jason Uemoto, who is running for school board against incumbent Erik Mann, questioned the data about masking as well as the constitutionality of the...

Candidates for the Oak Harbor City Council weighed in on the pending City Council vote on whether or not to accept the gift of the bright-red abstract depiction of an angel that will cost the City $35,000 to install. A recent public survey indicated a 70% opposition rate to accepting...

The North Whidbey Pool, Park and Recreation District commissioners voted to authorize Commissioner Jay Cochran to sign a contract with Northwest Thermal Hydronics, LLC to replace the 39-year-old boiler for the Pool. However, the commissioners have not yet figured out how to fund the $152,460 price tag. Commissioner Cochran said...

The State Auditor’s Office issued two findings against the Whidbey Island Hospital District in a just-released audit report covering Jan. 1 2019 through Dec. 31, 2020. The audit found that the hospital district is two years behind in submitting complete and accurate annual financial reports and that the hospital district...

The Oak Harbor City Council will use a combination of funds from insurance settlements, marina funds, and a grant from the Washington state Dept. of Commerce to pay for much needed repairs to F dock at the marina. City Council members agreed to award a contract to American Construction Company...

Oak Harbor School Board President John Diamond cleared the audience from the school board meeting during Monday night’s meeting after several people began shouting over board members while they were discussing Governor Inslee’s new mask mandate. The new mandate is for anyone, whether they are vaccinated or not, will be...

Oak Harbor City Council members are postponing until Sept. 7 any further decisions about the proposed gift of the “Angel de le Creatividad” sculpture. The city is waiting on documentation from Sculpture Northwest, who will do the work to install the 37-feet tall sculpture, and for the donating estate’s executor...

The two largest law enforcement offices on Whidbey Island are facing the loss of significant numbers of commissioned officers this year. For some departing Oak Harbor Police Department officers, the significant changes in laws regarding how police officers operate affected their decision to leave. Oak Harbor Police Chief Kevin Dresker...

A proposal for a city staff survey that caught Oak Harbor leadership off guard has mysteriously disappeared. Councilmember Beth Munns announced last November that the city council had developed a survey to take the “pulse” of city staff due to concerns over morale, transparency, and the quality of supervision. At...