City Council - Regular Meeting

5:30 p.m. I will call this city council meeting of May 5th, 2026 to order. Happy Cinco de Mayo. We recognize that this meeting is being held on the ancestral lands of the Co Salish people. We pay our respect to those past and present. Tonight's invocation will be led by Pastor Matthew Ericson of the First Reformed Church. If you could please all stand for the invocation and then remain standing for the pledge of allegiance that will be led by Council Member Stucky. Thank you. Please prepare yourself in the manner in which you are accustomed. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you this evening with gratitude for the opportunity to serve and to gather as a community here in Okarbor. We thank you for those who have been called to public service, our mayor, our council members, our city staff, and all who work behind the scenes to care for this city. Grant them wisdom as they make decisions, clarity as they weigh complex issues, and humility as they listen to the voices of those they serve. Tonight, we especially remember and honor those who protect and serve in law enforcement. As this council recognizes National Police Week, we pause to give thanks for the courage, sacrifice, and daily commitment of officers in our community and across this great nation. Be near to them, protect them, and comfort the families of those who have given their lives in service. Lord, as new leaders are recognized and promoted this evening, we ask that you would guide them with integrity, strengthen them in responsibility, and use them for the good of this community. May this be a place where truth is spoken, justice is pursued, and the common good is sought above all else. We entrust this time to you. Amen. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, as a reminder, this is both a physical and a virtual meeting. The meeting may be viewed on YouTube and following the meeting on Facebook. All council members are present and accounted for. We do not need to take ro. We will move forward to approval of the agenda. Are there any suggested changes to the regular agenda as presented? And if not, I request a motion to approve it as presented. Yes, Mayor Pro Tim. I move to approve tonight's agenda as presented. Second.

All right, we have a motion to approve as presented by Mayor Pro Tim, seconded by Council Member Marshall. Is there any further discussion before I call for a vote? Hearing seeing none, all in favor, raise your right hand. Passes unanimously. Thank you very much. All right, we have three different presentations tonight. We have the National Police Week proclamation and here to introduce that is our chief of police, Chief Slowick. And Council Member Romero will read the proclamation aloud. Right. Good evening, Mayor and City Council, Chief Slowick. And I have a uh a great number of uh our police officers here with us and uh that's a wonderful thing. So, I just wanted to say a brief uh comment on National Police Week, which starts on May 11th, is that it's an time to honor and celebrate um those that were lost in the line of duty. So, our police officers who have sacrificed their lives, lost in the line of duty, and al also to remember their families that are are surviving and and carrying on uh without them. This also is a time that we honor our men and women of the Okar Police Department who work tire tirelessly day and night because we're a 247 operation uh to protect and serve our community. Uh their professionalism and resilience are the backbone of our agency and we honor their unwavering commitment to the uh to serving our community with respect, integrity, and excellence. So, thank you very much. Very few can appreciate having what it takes to do law enforcement after 15 years. I know what they go through and what they will go through in general terms. So I stand when I reading this proclamation because I respect the badge and the of course the heat that you carry. Thank you for all you do.

City of Oak Harbor, Office of the Mayor, Ronnie Wright, Mayor Proclamation. Whereas there are more than 800,000 law enforcement officers serving in communities across the United States, including the dedicated members of the Oak Harbor Police Department. And whereas National Police Week in America was created to honor and recognize the sacrifice and contributions made by police officers in communities both large and small. And whereas National Police Week, held every year in May, was created in 1962 through a proclamation issued by then President John F. Kennedy. And whereas our community will always appreciate and commend the risks police officers take every day to ensure our community's laws are properly enforced and that public safety is ensured. And whereas since the first recorded death in 1786, there are are currently more than 24,000 law enforcement officers in the United States that have made the ultimate sacrifices and have been killed in the line of duty. And whereas now more than ever, the community appreciates and encourages the community engagement facilitated by our police officers to better serve and install mutual trust, camaraderie, and a positive relationship among our increasingly diverse population in Oak Harbor. And whereas police engage with and serve the public in the most varied and wide-ranging manner and efforts do not go unnoticed. And now therefore, we mayor Ronnie Wright and the council members of the city of Oak Harbor do hereby proclaim the week of May 11th through 17,9 2026 as National Police Week in the city of Oak Harbor and publicly in the city of Oak Harbor and publicly salutes the services, sacrifices, and efforts of law enforcement officers at the Oak Harbor Police Department and across the nation. Signed this fifth day of May, 2026. Ronnie D. Wright, Mayor

Thank you very much. We also have a drinking water week proclamation and here to introduce that is our public works director Steve Scheler as well as our operations manager Mr. Price to present and council member Marshall will um read the proclamation. I do not see them though. Alex, I'm sorry, but I don't have Alex down. So, Alex, you want to do the honors? I didn't have myself down either. So, I don't have anything in front of me. So, um I will send it to I'm sorry. Who was the council member? Council member Marshall.

All right, Council Member Marshall, you are up for drinking water week. Thank you, Alex. Whereas May 3rd through May 9th, 2026 is recognized by the American Waterworks Association as drinking water week. And whereas safe uninterrupted drinking water serves as a fundamental utility in the daily lives of our citizens, providing for hydration and hygiene and promoting the quality of life in our community. And whereas the city's water division of the public works department supplies our city with over 400 million gallons of drinking water each year and responds around the clock to emergencies and routine calls for services. And whereas the city's operators diligently work to ensure the safety, quality, and continuous supply of our drinking water every day through over 100 miles of water manes, three pumping stations, four water reservoirs, and three groundwater wells. And whereas the city's water supply has continuously and consistency consistently met all Washington State Department of Health and US Environmental Protection Agency standards for health and safety through the water division's efforts. Now therefore, we mayor Ronnie Wright and the council members of the city of Oak Harbor do hereby proclaim May 3rd through May 9th, 2026 as drinking water week in the city of Oak Harbor. And we urge all citizens, businesses, and institutions to celebrate this special observance and to join us in learning about our water system and the ways we can all join together to conserve and protect our water supply. Sign this 5th day of May, 2026. Mayor Ronnie Dight.

Thanks. Thank you. Thank you, Alex. Thank you, Council Member Marshall. Cheers. All right. Our next presentation is Oak Harbor Police Department. Uh we have some police sergeant promotions and here to introduce those is our chief of police, Chief Slowick. And after the presentations and the swearins, we will take a 5minute break for pictures.

All right. Thank you, Mayor. Um it is my honor today to uh promote two of our officers to uh sergeant. And um if you'll ask anybody that's uh previously been a sergeant, uh they will typically say that was the best position they've ever h had. Uh the ability to make the daily impact uh with our officers um to um be able to foster new relationships, mentor and see um our officers grow and engage with the public is an amazing thing. And our first line supervisors, which in Carber are uh police sergeants, are those people. They're instrumental in making sure that we are a professional organization, that we are um out in the community, and that we're representing oursel um as you all would expect us to do. So, without further ado, I do want to bring up um Angelica Selzy and Keith Crutchman, and we're going to promote them to sergeant. So, Hang on. Pick it up.

Okay, if you can raise your right hand, repeat after me. I state your name do solemnly swear domly swear that I will support and obey the Constitution I will support and obey the Constitution the laws of the United States the laws of the United States the laws of the state of Washington the laws of the state of Washington and the ordinances of the city of Okar and the ordinance of the city of city of Okar and that I will abide by that I will abide by the law enforcement code of code code of ethics the law enforcement code of ethics adopted by the OK Carver Police Department adopted by the Okarta Police Department. And I will faithfully discharge And I will faithfully discharge the duties of police sergeant the duties of police sergeant for the city of Okarter.

For the city of Okartner. All right. CONGRATULATIONS.

All right. So, I'd like to call up um AJ's mom, an Antonia, for her. Yep. right there for pinning. So, Sergeant Selzy has been with us uh since 2020 uh for 6 years. She was a prior lateral officer from Georgia. Um and so we're excited for this opportunity to have her as a police sergeant. Excellent. Hey, we invite um officer or Sergeant Crutchman's wife Tracy up for her badge pinning. And Sergeant Crutchman has been with us since uh 2015. Also from Georgia as a lateral police officer and prior service Navy, a Navy retired chief. So, we have checked our boxes off for all the officers we want from Georgia. We're looking for a few from other states. So, but congratulations both of you. Would I would either of you want like to come up and make a quick statement at all? Yeah. First and foremost, I just wanted to say thank you to God for this opportunity. Um, and not just for this opportunity, but for every opportunity that's led up to this moment, the good and the difficulties also. When you pray for strength, God sometimes gives you difficulties to work through. And I appreciate not only that, but being blessed with all of the people that are

in my life and have been in my life to this point supporting me and answering the call to service as well. So, there's not going to be enough time for me to thank everybody leading up to this point from the very beginning. Thank you, Mom. Thank you for all the family that I have that cannot be here but are with me in my heart. And I want to thank all of the officers that have mentored me up until this point and to all the officers that I work with every day. And that's truly what makes this one of the most beautiful things that I've gotten to do in my life. So, thank you. I don't know how I'm supposed to follow that, but I I do say that uh I am thankful for where I am. I love my job. I love the people I work with and work for. And I I appreciate the brothers and sisters that are standing behind me that help me get where I'm at because without them, I wouldn't have been here. And of course, my family, those that could be here, Jason, those that can't. Other than that, appreciate it and thank you very much. All right, we can recess until 5:50 so you guys can take some pictures and then we'll reconvene at 5:50.

All right. As it is 5:50, we will reconvene. We will move on to public comment. Comment on consent agenda items or subjects of interest not listed on the agenda at this time. opportunity to comment on the remaining agenda items during the meeting as appropriate. Please note, we have received a number of comments regarding a proposed ordinance that was discussed at the April 14th council workshop regarding parking of vessels, trailers, recreational vehicles, and oversized vehicles. The council had noted had noticed a public hearing on the proposed ordinance for this meeting on May 5th, but issued a revised notice and rescheduled the public hearing on this item to the council's June 2nd regular meeting to allow time for more input. We have also scheduled this item for an additional workshop discussion on May 26th. We invite those wishing to speak to that item to attend the public hearing on June 2nd or to submit their comments online or via email to the city clerk to be included in the record in the to be included in the record. We have no public hearing item for today's meeting. Visit our website for methods to submit public comments. Public comments sent anonymously or from a non-verifiable address will be shared with the mayor and council but will not be displayed at this time. We will accept public comments on items not listed on the agenda or on the consent agenda. Julie, has anyone signed up to make public comments about anything?

No, mayor. No one signed up to speak this evening. And is there anyone here with us this evening that would like to step forward and make a public comment at this time? All right. hearing. Seeing none, do we have public comments to display? Okay.

Yes, mayor, we do. All right, at this time we will close public comment and move on to consent agenda. Are there any objections or changes to the consent agenda as presented? Nope. None. A motion to approve would be

I make a motion to approve consent agenda. Second.

All right. We have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. Seconded by Mayor Prom. Is there any further discussion before I call for a vote? All in favor? Raise your right hand. All right, that passes unanimously. We're going to move on to mayor and council comments at this time. We have great kickoffs to event season with Holland happening and international festival. It was great to see so many of you there. I volunteered with chamber staff and personally want to thank the chamber, all the volunteers, our public works team, our parks and recreation staff and executive services coordinator Muel Finkele for their behind-the-scenes work on making this event happen for our community. Here are some photos from the weekend. Thanks to council for participating in the events like the parade and festival. I was happy to see that council member Stucky and Kevin Fendoza from the Oak Harbor Fire Department completed the Whby Island Marathon 2. We had some very cool We had some very cool guests in city hall recently and they brought the tough questions. The students from Exceptional Academy stopped by the police department in city hall for a tour and to chat about current issues and day-to-day life and government. They asked some great questions about immigration, homelessness, and the impact of their school on the community. It was a pleasure to chat with them and we can't wait to host them again soon. Busy week of meetings recently as the vice chair. It was a pleasure lo leading the island county regional transportation planning organization meeting on behalf of Commissioner Johnson. IRTPO carries out joint transportation planning efforts by the county cities ports and island transit major employers and washd as a member of the association of Washington cities nominee nominating committee. It was an honor to be a part of the process of finalizing the candidates for the board of directors for the upcoming June annual conference. I'm also very excited that I just submitted my application as I completed all my paperwork for my advanced certificate of municipal leadership today. Lastly, the Washington

State Court of Appeals was in town on April 21st for argument hearings at Scaja Valley College here in O' Car. Staff and I attended and I had the opportunity to sit at the defense table during the Whidby Environmental Action Network hearing. The Washington State Court of Appeals is a traveling court and provides students, faculty, and community members the opportunity to observe real world legal proceedings, including courtroom procedures and appellet arguments while gaining a deeper understanding of the judicial system. Island Transit is hosting community meetings. The next meeting will be tomorrow on KNO, then Thursday at the center here in Oak Harbor. Island Transit is asking the community how they would like to see the transit system change over the next 20 years. More information and times at www.ilandtransit.org. Washington State Fairies is hosting community meetings as well. The purpose of these community meetings regarding the fairies is to discuss service plans for the upcoming World Cup and provide an update on the pet policy. They will also be taking questions from the public. Both public meetings are virtual on May 26th at 12:00 p.m. and the other at 6 p.m. Both will cover the same material. Pre-registration is required. Visit www.ws.dot. So it's www.wsdot.wa.gov. I wanted to clear that up to sign up. It's also, I believe, in the packet. So if that was confusing, here are some upcoming events. This is for Saturday at 10:30 a.m. in the is the release of the coo salmon at the Oak Harbor Marina. It's hard to believe it's time to release them already. Hopefully in about two years, many of them will return to Okarbor Bay. We hope to see you out there on Saturday. We also hope to see many of you at the public safety training center ribbon cutting next week on May 15th at 3:30 p.m. Chief Sloick, Deputy Chief Barton, and the entire police department have been working hard on this project, and we can't wait to

show it off to the public. The ribbon cutting will be at 400 p.m., but come early to see the vehicle displays, grab refreshments, and take a tour. More info at www.okeh harbor.gov. Save the date for these two upcoming events. Save the date for the 8th annual Memorial Day service of remembrance on Monday, May 25th at Maple Leaf Cemetery at 10 a.m. The remembrance is hosted by the Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum. More information at www.pnwnam.org. The Oak Harbor Fire Department is hosting a free community pancake breakfast at station 81 on Whidby Avenue on June 6th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. There will be demonstrations, a touch a truck event, information booths, games, and prizes. Guests will be shuttled to the brand new station 82 for an openhouse tour. More information at oak harbor.gov. Also, Fire Chief Anderson informed me today that the Washington State Department of Health has granted our fire department's application to upgrade to a paramedic agency. Congratulations to Oak Harbor Fire Department.

Thank you, Chief. Congratulations to Oak Harbor Fire Department and the fine work undertaken to meet this goal. Get involved. There are still several openings for our advisory boards. Please visit the city's website to apply. Stay connected. come to a meeting, a right blend, send us a question via email, give us a call, or follow us on social media. I will now turn it over to council for their comments. Yes, Council Member Romero.

Uh, with regard to Island Transit, I did want to make as a matter of public record that we've had an order of magnitude increase in use of the Island Transit on and off base, which is exactly what we were looking for. It was single digits and now we're up into the 40s and so forth. So, we're looking uh or the district is looking to find other uh predictable, reliable, needed service uh opportunities as we go forward. See, also too, I wanted to make a public comment with regard to efficiency. Um, as a matter of public record, uh, there there's so many thousands of hours of work go into preparing for meetings. And of course, we have the workshop when citizens can come in and we can uh deliberate on at length on issues. But I prize uh the efficient use of government because anytime the government does anything, even under the best of circumstances, it's incredibly labor intensive, financially intensive, headache intensive. I'm just stating that if you want to get something done, the uh the more hindrances you have, uh the more difficult it becomes. I know it from firsthand experience. I won't go into the details, but in Texas, it was that way. So I would say for those who have inputs they want to bring into the meetings that they do uh they send emails and work uh before the meetings because normally we just try to move the business of the city through the council and get it done. Um it's not really the best time to be hammering out details. Of course everybody can do their three minutes and I understand that. That's all I have mayor. Thank you.

Thank you mayor promp. Thank you. I wanted to follow up on the uh the public comment about using local vendors for events. And I agree with the sentiment and I'm just sitting here thinking about what the best way to put something like that into practice would be because like the city itself, we don't throw a whole lot of events. That's up to the people hosting the event, the music festival committee or um you know Main Street or the chamber whoever marathon whoever happens to be doing the event you know they are the ones that go out and and hire vendors and and do all that. So the city itself is really limited in our scope. I guess our our it's not something we can really require legally. can't tell the host of of a special event that they have to use local vendors, but the feedback is well taken uh and well intentioned and I think that there might be something that we can do whe to incentivize I guess maybe to incentivize use of local vendors whether that's something through the special event permitting process whether we include maybe just a sheet of hey here are local vendors that um make t-shirts or rent portaotties or whatever it is that that people need done. So, I mean, we could try to provide that information for people or otherwise incentivize it, but beyond beyond that, I'm not sure there's a whole lot that we as a city can do. Um, but I think it's it's worth discussing whether or not there is anything we can do and what that thing is. I think that would be a a worthwhile discussion to have. So, thank you for

bringing that up.

So, and just for the record, we did respond our um Julie and I had a conversation and then Julia responded um and let them know that these are um most of the events that were being referenced in the email, I think, were um nonprofits that were managed by their own board of directors. and one of the companies was actually um an organization that contracts to the city. So, we don't have a lot of control over mandating that they use certain vendors. Um but we do encourage folks um and the incentivization like you're recommending. I think that's a good point and I don't know, we could look at how we could potentially make that happen as far as maybe reduce permit fee or something. I don't know. We can look at that. So, I don't want to make a promise here publicly, but I'm just saying we could look at that. So, um, but we did respond and we let them know that. So, um, just so you're aware. I don't know. You didn't probably copy council on those responses, but

No, no, mayor, I did not.

Okay. Okay. So, but you did respond. So, all right. Anybody else for council? Yes, council member Wenstein. Um, again, thanks to the police department for all they do. Uh, fire department as well. We appreciate it. Um, as the city grows, it it we need to expand our services to be able to take care of everybody. Um, just a reminder, it's uh, mental health awareness month as well. Um, please have open and frank discussions about mental health with everybody you can. Um, with that, we also have the police community advisory board. We'll meet tomorrow at 4:15. So, and we have openings, so please come down and join us. That's it.

Thank you. Anybody else? Nothing. Yes, Council Member Peterson. I might as well start myself back from vacation by being controversial. Why not? Um, as much as I appreciate Mayor Pro Tim's comment and the comment of the person who wants us to use local vendors, and I think when we can, we should, we're a capitalistic society and when people are putting on events, they're going to be looking for the best deal they can get um so that their fees remain low. And um perhaps while I appreciate saying here are our local vendors, here are people we use, that sort of thing is also incumbent upon the vendors to have competitive prices and want uh people to use them and to make themselves known. And I cannot imagine. We're we're trying to figure out how to make a fair and equitable um ordinance for people parking on city streets. How on earth can we possibly say we're going to tell people where to buy their stuff for their um their events? I those two things don't even work in conjunction for me. And so I I don't I appreciate that, but I think that vendors have that people who come here to do um events have the right to do whatever they want in terms of where they get their stuff. Thank you.

Thank you. Anybody else for the good of the order? Yes, Council Member Arms. Well, as you already mentioned, the salmon will be released on Saturday. Um and they are busy. I mean, they were really busy today. They are ready to go. And also the bird and the seals are ready for them. And the gulls, they're all eagerly awaiting the release.

All right. So, anybody else? All right. Hearing nothing, I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. Then there's no further business. All right. We have a motion to adjurnn, seconded by council member Marshall. Is there any further discussion before I call for a vote? Hearing none.