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...
Oak Harbor Council Member Joel Servatius resolved an apparent conflict of interest or violation of campaign laws by paying the entrance fee to the Chamber of Commerce’s 4th of July Parade. The Chamber gave out free spots to city council members as well as the mayor and other politicians. However,...
Emily Gilbert reports on the July 30 Oak Harbor City Council workshop. It seems like almost everyone was surprised at the speed at which Oak Harbor government moved, and not for the usual reasons. It took just one meeting for a public survey about the “Angel de la Creatividad” sculpture...
Oak Harbor Finance Director David Goldman presented city council members with an overview of ideas on how to spend $6.5 million from the Federal Gov’t during a workshop meeting on June 30. Although there were many ideas forwarded, there are limited categories for which the funds can be used. These...
Last spring, in a 4-1 vote, Langley City Councilmembers voted in a ban on fireworks within city limits. Councilmember Thomas Gill was the only nay vote to the ban. During last Monday’s meeting, Craig Cyr asked staff to send a notice to property owners about the change. Police Chief Donald...
Scott Chaplin has been appointed over Councilmember Thomas Gill by the Langley City Council to serve out the remainder of the term of Mayor Tim Callison who is resigning. Councilmembers grilled the two candidates on a number of issues including management style, financial concerns, traffic safety, climate change preparation and...
Whidbey Island will soon receive millions of dollars of American Rescue Plan funding. Oak Harbor was allotted $6,578,122. Coupeville was allotted $550,480 and Langley was allotted $318,229. Island County will get $16,500,000. Half the money will be received in 2021 and the other half in 2022. The respective city councils...
The Oak Harbor City Council is in disagreement over paying for a traffic study that has already been completed. There is confusion about who ordered the study concerning the access road to the future 75-acre city park. The study compared Northwest Elwha Street and Gun Club Road as entry points...
