City Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome and good evening. As it is 530, I will call this city council meeting of September 15, 2026 to order. I am presiding today at the request of Mayor Wright. We acknowledge that these meetings are held on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish people, and we pay our respect to those past and present. We do have an invocation on our agenda tonight, Pastor Amy Jansen from Living Word Four Square Church. Is Amy in the room with us? Perfect. Pastor Jansen. If you choose to rise for the invocation, please do so.

Lord, we come before you tonight with gratitude for the shared responsibility of caring and for serving this beautiful and diverse community of Oak Harbor. What a gift this community is. We are honored and humbled by this gift to serve and don't take that responsibility lightly. So tonight we ask for wisdom and discernment as people share, listen, and weigh decisions before them. May our community be strengthened and built for the common good and for the peace of our home city, both now and in the future. God, grant courage, grant grace, compassion, and your blessing, both to leaders and then through the leaders to others around them as we go forward from here. We ask all of these things in your powerful and mighty name. Amen.

Thank you so much. Please join me in the pledge.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

Tonight's meeting will be both a physical meeting and a virtual meeting. It can be viewed live on YouTube and then following the meeting on Facebook. And also, are we back on Channel 10, or is that like TBD?

Maggie's, I don't see Maggie, but I think we're still working on it. There's Maggie. Maggie can answer that question.

And maybe Channel 10. Are we back on Channel 10? Not yet. Not yet, okay. Yeah, I didn't think so, thanks. Don't want to make promises I can't keep. Sorry, cable viewers. I know, apologies. Aww. At this time, I will ask our city clerk to take the roll.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Pardon me. Council Member Stuckey.

Present.

Council Member Marshall.

Here.

Council Member Wittgenstein.

Here.

Council Member Arms. Here. Council Member Merrill.

Present.

Council Member Peterson. Present. Mayor Pro Tem, all members of council are present. Council member Peterson is attending remotely. Thank you so much.

Are there any suggested changes to tonight's agenda? And if not, I request a motion to have it approved as presented.

So moved. Second.

Thank you. We have a motion from Councillor Wittgenstein, second from Councillor Marshall. to approve tonight's agenda as presented. All those in favor, please raise your hand. And any opposed? That passes unanimously, thank you. Presentations. Our first presentation is a proclamation recognizing the month of September 15th to October 15th as Hispanic Heritage Month. And our communications officer, Maggie Aguilar, will present and introduce representatives of Razas Unidas, who will read tonight's proclamation. Hi, Maggie.

Hi. Good evening, Mayor Pro Tem and Council. Thank you for having me here today. My name is Maggie Aguilar. I'm the communications officer here for the city. Of Oak Harbor, a role I have outside of the city is the Vice President role of . We are a local 501 nonprofit who gives back to the community by providing scholarships by producing the event which will be on October 2nd and 3rd this year. Each of you have a postcard at your seats and we'd love to see you out there. It is my pleasure to introduce to you some of our board members that are here tonight to present the proclamation and Sam Ortiz, who is a newest member of the board and also our board secretary, will read the proclamation.

Welcome, Sam.

Whereas National Hispanic Heritage Month is observed annually from September 15 through October 15, and provides an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the history, culture, traditions, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities in the United States. And whereas Hispanic Heritage Month was established by Congress in 1988, expanding the observance from Hispanic Heritage Week to a month-long celebration beginning September 15th and ending October 15th. And whereas September 15th marks the independence anniversaries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, while Mexico celebrates its independence on September 16th. And whereas Hispanic and Latino Americans have made significant contributions to the history, culture, economy, military, education, arts, and civic life of the United States. And whereas the city of Oak Harbor recognizes the many contributions of Hispanic and Latino residents, families, workers, business owners, educators, military members, and community leaders who enrich our community and strengthen the fabric of our city. And whereas Rosas Unidas, a local nonprofit organization, helps celebrate and share Hispanic heritage in Oak Harbor through its annual Hispanic Heritage Festival, Dia de Fiesta, bringing residents together to experience and appreciate Hispanic culture, music, food, dance, traditions, and community. and whereas Hispanic Heritage Month provides an opportunity for all residents to learn more about the diverse cultures and traditions of Hispanic and Latino communities and to celebrate the many ways they contribute to the Oak Harbor community in our nation. And now, therefore, we, Mayor Ronnie Wright and council members of the city of Oak Harbor do hereby proclaim September 15th through October 15th, 2026 as Hispanic Heritage Month. in the city of Oak Harbor and encourage all residents to celebrate the rich history, culture, traditions, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans and to participate in opportunities that promote understanding, appreciation, and community connection. Signed, this 15th day of September, 2026. Thank you.

Thank you so much. We might have to hire you as our new professional proclamation reader. Yeah, that was fantastic. Do we want it in Spanish? Do we want?

Oh, no, there you go.

Thank you so much. Next up, we have our public comments. Members of the public may comment on subjects of interest not listed on tonight's agenda at this time. If you have a comment for something that is listed on the agenda, you have an opportunity to comment at that time. Please note that comments regarding public hearing items will be heard during that portion of the agenda, and we did have a public hearing originally scheduled for tonight, but that has been rescheduled for October 5th, so there are no public hearings tonight. If you have a public comment that you'd like to submit via written form, then you can visit our website for instructions on how to do that. Public comments sent anonymously or from a non-verifiable address, they will be shared with the mayor and the council, but not displayed during meetings. So at this time, we will accept public comment for items that are not currently listed on tonight's agenda or the consent agenda. And if you had an opportunity to sign in to speak, I will have the clerk call your name in that order. And then if you didn't get a chance to sign in, then we'll cover that once we get past the sign-in sheet. Julie? Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

We have one person who signed up in advance to speak tonight, and that is Sue Carhalas.

Am I supposed to give my address, or because it's on here now, I don't have to? miss car Hollis yes we do appreciate you stating your name and your address I have three items I want to discuss real quick like one of them isn't well part of it is a thank you to council member Stephanie and Marshall who came today for our ribbon-cutting for our cover player and it's going to be at the Boys and Girls Club and the help that the city has given for the permits and This has been a six-year process to get this. We're very, very appreciative of the help the city has done on that. Second item. You have, in recent months, been doing wonderful work with the falcon on taking care of the seagulls. I believe it's a falcon or is it a hawk? Falcon. And the falcon's done a fabulous job there. I was just down there having dinner and saw that there were very few seagulls. But guess what? they have traveled to the east side of the city. And my concern is what's going on all over Skagit Valley College's roof, all over the roofs of my condominiums, and all the roofs that are down on that east side. Now, it's not near as bad as what you have on the other side, but I'm asking the city to start contemplating equity for all of us who are citizens and have roofs in the relocation of the seagulls. We did have trouble, we believe, with the nest that they're going up to clear out now that the baby seagulls are gone. The next item is another thank you. A thank you to the street people, the people who are working on our streets. Not only am I seeing many improvements, but right away today the street cleaner was out. For those of you who know, we are a city of Gary Oaks.

And the oak trees are shedding like crazy.

The acorns are everywhere. And if you don't get them out, we get starts. And technically, if the start gets very far up, we have a Gary Oak Society that comes out and wants you to leave it, because that's our heritage. So do your best to do the diligence to get the acorns away, or you might be responsible for a 400-year-old tree, which is what we have at our corner, which is beautiful. But it also can be hazardous for walking, et cetera. And then in the other thing, I would like to compliment the city and how the article was in the paper. I have no idea if it was right, wrong, or indifferent. But please continue to do the due diligence. I believe you're going into executive session. And make sure you're doing a thorough job, having been a citizen of the city now for, I think, 34 years. I was in the county prior. I want us to be as frugal as possible so we can keep the other maintenance and infrastructure things going on. So please do the best you can for us. Other than that, thank you. But if you need a guided tour on the seagulls, I'll be more than happy to help you. And I do want you to someday compare the seagull to the rooster. They do get up about the same time.

Thank you, Ms. Karhalis. I'm sorry, Ms. Carhalas is a former member of this body and a state representative, so thank you for being here.

Julie?

I'm going to pretend that Ms. Carhalas was the only one who signed in in advance to speak.

Is there anyone present who wishes to make a public comment at this time on an item that is not on our agenda, but who didn't get a chance to sign in? If so, now would be your opportunity to speak. OK. So we will go to our online submitted or written submitted public comments. We've received five new public comments since our last meeting. Four of them will be displayed now, and one is in regard to the LTCH item on our agenda later. So we'll display that when that item comes up.

Mayor Pro Tem, that concludes the comments.

Thank you so much, Julie. At this time, we will move on to our consent agenda. Are there any objections, questions, changes to the consent agenda? I already called for it. No, thank you. Thank you. Any objections, comments, questions, motions regarding the consent agenda? If there are no changes, then I would entertain a motion to approve as presented.

Moved.

All right, we have a motion from Councilor Wittgenstein to approve the consent agenda as presented with a second from Councilmember Arms. Any questions? All those in favor, raise your hand. Any opposed? I see Councilmember Peterson has her hand up. That was an aye? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. That passes unanimously. Moving on to mayor's and council comments. I'm going to provide the following comments on behalf of Mayor Wright. Hey, wait. That's me. Sorry. I was discombobulated when I looked up and saw me instead of him. OK. Slide one.

No surprises.

I want to start by recognizing the 25th anniversary of September 11 and thanking everyone who came out to last Friday's ceremony and the commemorative run. 25 years later, September 11 is still a day that carries a lot of weight. Thank you Chief Anderson, Chief Slowik, our public safety teams, and everyone who helped organize Friday's event. It was a meaningful way to come together as a community, remember those we lost, and honor the courage and service that followed. Island Transit is making service improvements based on feedback from riders, community partners, and residents. Beginning September 27th, riders will see more frequent service on routes one and 60, additional trips on route 58, earlier service on select routes, improved ferry connections, and increased frequency serving NAS Whidbey. Riders are encouraged to check updated schedules and time points before traveling. Schedules and service information are available at islandtransit.org, with new service guides being distributed throughout the community. And the Oak Harbor Marina invites the community to join the second annual Harvest at the Harbor this Saturday, September 19th, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Oak Harbor Marina. Bring the family and enjoy a fun afternoon featuring a scavenger hunt, boat tours, a rain gutter regatta for the kids, and more. It's a great opportunity to get out, enjoy the marina, and celebrate the season with our community. And then we will feature a slide with some upcoming community events. Sorry, Tim, would you mind going back to the previous slide? I just, I didn't, my vision isn't that good. Location? They're not, at the Legion? Legion? Thursday, 17th, 7 p.m. Does it say?

Bring it back.

Is that the American Legion? Is that the American Legion?

It's the Legion. Okay.

Thank you. There you go. Can anybody see? All right. Thank you so much. We are still looking for students to apply for boards and commissions. We have a variety of positions available. So please go to ocarford.org to apply online. And there are a number of ways you can connect with the city. You can see all the options listed on your screen. You can go online or you can contact our communications officer, Maggie Aguilar, More information, she will point you in the right direction. I think that's all we have for mayor comments. Next, I will call upon the council for council comments. Council comments, questions. Council Member Merrill.

With regard to Island Transit, just a point of information about AI policy. We finally finalized the final draft for policy. And big emphasis was a human in the loop. And I made direct observation that putting a human in the loop does not guarantee it's going to work right because humans fail too. But it's a step in the right direction and the document itself is a work in progress. Or shall we say a dynamic process on a final document. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Merrill. Council Member Stuckey.

I think we can agree that could have been handled a little bit better. I think it was a little confusing for the public as we negotiated those treacherous waters. I'd also like to apologize to staff. We did ask some hard questions and there's a place for those hard questions. And we can always do better, and we should always strive for transparency. And if there's issues, we need to fix them. But I think we should always assume a positive intent, not necessarily nefarious actions. And I think some of our tone may have came off a little more accusatory towards staff than it should have. So I just want to apologize, say sorry, and that we should do better. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Council Member Marshall.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. I just want to address Ms. Whitbeck's comment that I spoke with our city attorney yesterday regarding the perceived conflict of interest. And just for the record, that property that in question is not actually owned by Mr. Thompson. It is owned by another individual who we have to seek permission from. Pacific North Group is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, just about the same as 475 other members of the Chamber of Commerce. In addition, I have no additional financial interest with Mr. Thompson or his companies. And I believe the last one was familiar relationships. We are not family. And so there is no conflict of interest there between myself and Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Council Member Marshall. Any other council comments, council member arms?

Yeah. Um, a few of the salmon have returned to the Marina. Of course the seals are busy, uh, but they are, you know, they are there and we are making some progress on and doing some work for the Marina. So things are going along really well and we're looking to Saturday's event harvest at the Harbor. Thank you so much.

Councilmember Peterson or Wittgenstein, do you guys have anything to report? I just want to give an opportunity because I was going to go last. Okay, she's shaking her head. To piggyback on Councilmember Stuckey's comments, I want to I don't like formally request. I mean, I guess I could make a motion, but I hesitate when you're directing staff to do something as a council person, that's not always an appropriate thing to do, but I am making a formal request for us to have an in-person procedural training parliamentary procedure, specifically Robert's Rules. I would like us to all do it together in the same room with department heads so that we know exactly, I guess, what everybody learned and when, so we can help hold each other accountable. Because right now it's just up to us to independently study that. And it is very clear after last week that we could all use a refresher. So I don't know how, you know, staff would go about. Last time we did this, it was an in-person, like intensive all-day workshop. That's probably a bit much. so we don't necessarily need to do anything like that, but if we could get a registered parliamentarian in here to give us a custom training, that would be much appreciated. And if you need any lines on anybody that might be able to do that, just let me know and I can make some recommendations. Thank you so much. We will start working on that. Thank you. Another meeting, I know. Okay, item six, other items for consideration. If the council doesn't have anything else, then we are gonna move to Oak Harbor Main Street, lodging tax amendment request. And to introduce this item, we have our grants administrator, Wendy Horn, to present. Good evening, Wendy. Good evening.

I will be talking about Oak Harbor Main Street.

grant agreement that they have in place right now. So background, O'Connor Main Street Association received $11,280 in a grant from the city's Flying Tax and Tourism Promotion 2026 grant program. The purpose of it was to conduct a 2026 October best event. So I believe in August We received a letter in July, we received a letter from them asking them, asking to change the contract to a different event. They noted in the letter that they had experienced some form of institutional turnover, they needed leadership, the board had re-evaluated the event schedule, and they would like to reallocate the funds to a 2026 home for the holidays event. The letter noted that right now they don't have the capacity to do the Oktoberfest. They also noted that another local business is holding an Oktoberfest event and they don't want to compete with it. They stated that the home for the holidays has basically the same purpose, to bring tourists to Oak Harbor and increase overnight stays and increase spending. I just thought I would throw up the legal authority in terms of the lodging tax revenues. They must be used for tourism. I also wanted just to remind you, RCW 6728-1817, that any change in a request or a request for change needs to go to the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee for review and comment. And the committee can provide comment and feedback to the council for consideration. So that is what we did. In terms of the fiscal impact, the $11,280 is budgeted. It's set aside. There's no additional fiscal impact for 2026. If the funds aren't spent this year, it may just remain in the lodging tax account for reauthorization next year for something else. So we presented the request to the lodging about moving the funds and Oak Harbor Main Street had representation there so they did explain a little bit what the new project was going to be. And the LTAC moved to approve the contract amendment to use the funds for the home for the holidays event. So if you have any questions, I'm here to answer them. We also have a presentation from Oak Harbor Main Street if you'd like to ask them any questions.

Does Oak Harbor Main Street have a presentation they want to provide or are they just here in case we have, as part of the. I put together a PowerPoint

I'm sorry. Name? Oh, sorry.

Thank you.

So the purpose is to tie it into future years of making downtown a place that people want to come and stay. Christmas lights always bring people from far away. So, I mean, at least itself anyways, and a few other people I've talked to. So it's meant to bring them downtown, and if they stay late, they're going to want to stay the night. So hopefully, you know, it's a hotel in the harbor, at least on Avenue County.

thank you for that at this time I will ask if there are any public comments on this item if you have a loose if you have a I know we received one written public comment if there's anyone present who wishes to speak on this item then that would be your opportunity to do so please step forward state your name and address into the microphone and you have three minutes Nope, okay. All right, Julie will display the public comment that we received. Thank you, Julie. Thank you, Tim. And thank you, Ms. Mason, for your well thought out comment. The last maybe 2 thirds of that applied to a different LTAC request. And today's LTAC request is about the Main Street amendment request. And I wanted to let council know that the recommendation from LTAC was to approve this request, but the committee acknowledges that changing something up in midstream and funding an event that's different than the one that was initially scored on specific criteria isn't a precedent that they necessarily want to set. And so one of the things that we are going to work on this year is ironing out a process but because this was something that we hadn't encountered before and you know Main Street came and asked and so staff was like well it doesn't hurt it never hurts to ask their question right so we'll take it to the take it to the committee and see what they say and based on our existing relationship with Main Street and our history the fact that there is already an existing contract this isn't a you know, a brand new, unfamiliar, something that is just being asked to circumvent the process. The committee was comfortable approving this amendment this one time, but for future purposes, we are going to come up with a process for amending existing contracts. So, you know, previously, if an event was just outright canceled, then the funding was put back into the, back into the general LTAC pool and applied to something else as opposed to applied to a different event. So Main Street asked the question. And since there wasn't a precedent to rely on, the committee said that they were comfortable doing that for now because of our relationship with the organization and the history of we're familiar with the event. But just so council knows, going forward, Precedent that the committee wants to set nor will it is it anticipated to be an ongoing thing? So any concerns about? You know Future similar circumstances. I just want to assure the council that we're this is we're only considering this one request tonight for this one time In case anybody else was concerned about that in particular So with that background out of the way, I will turn to counsel for their comments questions councilmember Merrow

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. I strongly favor doing this change. It does not materially affect the use of the money as far as the principle or the purpose. I do agree with Mayor Pro Tem that it cannot be a precedent setting, but I'm all about getting things done. And when there is a hindrance like this, I really want to set it aside and move on. So I strongly support this change. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Marrow. Any other council comment, questions? Oh, did you have your hand up? Oh, I'm sorry. I did not see your hand up. Council Member Peterson. Thank you.

That's OK. It's a little hand. I want to offer all of the entities that come to us for LTAC funds. I don't know how you can say making an exception is not precedent-setting. It seems very precedent-setting to me, which is of concern. I'm not strongly pro or con this idea. But we are supposed to know I just heard the executive director say we hope, which is I guess how any person can do, but I don't know that they have a good idea that this money will be spent towards something that we would have looked at before. I'm certainly junior here. It's just an opinion that I'm worried that then later somebody would come back and say come. Well, you did do it for somebody else. I don't think we can say we're not setting. That's it. Thank you. That's it. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Peterson. Council Member Arms.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem Heisen. I think you're doing a great job of saying, okay, we'll do it because it's so short time. You know, we only have so much time and we know the holidays are important. That was a fact. And so, yes, it makes it a little awkward, but we do know from last year There were so many people out there. It was just like a mob scene. I mean, it was like, how can we find a place on the sidewalk? So we do know that that event brings a lot of people, and we saw it last year. And so I wish it hadn't happened this way, but it did. I think it's important for the community. They're willing to use that money for some worthwhile thing that everybody seemed to enjoy. So I think we should just go ahead and approve it. Fix the rules for next time so we don't run into this again. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Burns.

And yeah, that was the thing that we ran into as a committee was, while we have ideas about fine tuning the process going forward, at the time of the request, we could only work with the existing process. So within that existing process, the committee decided overall that they felt they didn't

love the change but they were comfortable with it so that was their recommendation councilmember Stuckey all right there's got to be some questions but first i want to turn to our city attorney partly because she's in the house it's one of those questions i know the answer but i always got to ask it my wife as of like a week ago is now on their board am i allowed to vote on this Can I say that definitely she's not on the board yet because I haven't given her her contract and she hasn't signed it. It shows how much I know. She's probably watching right now.

Call him out.

I still pose the question.

Is she salaried?

No.

OK, so she would. At least not that she's told me. She would fall into a remote interest, which is that of a non-salaried officer of a nonprofit corporation, correct? So under state law, it's not imputed to family. And I'm now scanning your own council member ethics code. And I don't think it's imputed to a family member. um let me just make sure yeah it's it's a personal interest so i think you're okay i don't even think it's a remote interest is what i'm saying um let me scan the rest of your council specific because under state law i'll ask a couple of my questions of the executive director if you find something different let me know so just a reminder

of the RCWs. Applicants applying for use of revenues in this chapter must provide the municipality to which they are applying estimates of how money is received will result in increases in the number of people traveling for business or pleasure away from their place of residence or business, staying overnight and paying accommodations to a place 50 miles or more from their place of residence or business. And I want to zero in on that. So first of all, for Wendy, Because we don't have an updated application with those updated numbers, are we still able to approve this? Because the RCW is saying we need the game plan, and we had a game plan for the other project. We don't have a game plan for this project.

Right. So actually, in the application that we give to people and they fill out, all we ask for is an estimated number of participants. We don't actually ask how many people are coming. They have to report on that, and that's what we tell them, that after your event, you have to report on these seven items, which is where did they come from, 50 miles away, et cetera. So technically, they don't have to provide that information up front.

OK. Now, I struggle with that 50 miles. And sometimes I bend when it comes to LTAC. Main Street is wonderful. And having been to that Christmas event, I think I've only missed one year of the last six. It's wonderful. But I think to myself, if this event was held in Arlington, would I go? Probably not. I don't know how often any of us have gone that far for a small town Christmas event. Maybe I'm wrong. To the executive director, if you could explain a little bit, I mean, we have this, but there's also the public watching. So if you could explain a little bit why this would be different, the influx of funds would be different than what you've done in the past. Why do you think this will bring people from 50 miles? Just maybe a little more of a recap just for those that may be watching to have access to the materials.

So this will purchase an 18-foot tree that grows taller every single year. It can be put up. It can be taken down. So we don't have to worry about trying to find somewhere to plant it. We don't have to worry about any of that. And it gives us a basis to build on. The chamber wants to do a light trail. We want to light up downtown. We want to put snow machines out eventually. We were talking about an ice rink. So these are all things that we want to build on.

Snow machines?

Yeah.

That's cool, that's cool.

I was just told the podium might not be picking. We heard that earlier, so we've been trying to adjust it. be the start of it. This is meant to grow year after year and become a place that people want to come, like a destination. I said it to a few people. I went to Port Orchard last year. I went to King Harbor the year before that. And I've only been to Oak Harbor once. And I want to make it a place that I want to actually go to.

So the money, I heard it's for the tree, which we did have a sad tree a few years, so. But it was for what else specifically that this is being used for this year? That would be used specifically for the tree. That's how much tree.

It actually costs more than that.

Show us how much I know about trees. Yeah. So. It's a commercial grade tree.

So all that good stuff.

It's a metal platform and all that.

Fair enough. And then to Mayor Pro Tem, who's our LTAC chair. I mean, I hear what you're saying about the precedent. How do we navigate that in the future? Because I really don't want people applying. I mean, a lot of times you have applicants that apply and they never use it, which kind of stinks because they take the money out of the pool. Yeah. but what can you do? But how do we stop people from, I don't think anyone's doing an intentional bait and switch, certainly not with this project, but it could happen in the future. And that's kind of my worry is, we're applying for this, you know, we didn't have the attend, we didn't have the signups, it fell through, hey, can we use it for this? It gets a little sticky, so.

100%. And that was the concern from the committee, and so, I'm trying to remember the exact language, was we're okay with it in this scenario. Sorry, also, I'm gonna circle back a little bit to that committee had the advantage of seeing other Main Street Christmas-associated applications with all of that associated data in there in terms of the numbers, and so the committee felt like they, you know, yes, it was squishy, but in general, they had the information that they needed, and so agreed that it was a one-time thing, but going forward, we are going to iron out a process in which you know, midstream requests or contract amendments, request amends, we're gonna establish a process for, if you want to change an existing contract, this is exactly what the, what the steps are to request that, what information we need, whether it's a new application, all that. So that's something that we are going to be discussing at our meeting, which is, I think, the first week of October. So going forward, if someone comes with a request like this, that new streamlined or, I guess, fine-tuned process would apply. So we wouldn't theoretically be in this situation next year.

OK, and then circling back to our city attorney. I'm good?

Well, so please remember with me.

I will remember with you.

We had a workshop not too long ago to talk about this very issue. And so under Washington law and under your current rules of ethics, there are things called remote interests, where if a council member has a contractual relationship, financial benefit, you have to go through the steps for a remote interest. all of your boards and commissions impute that to a family member. So if you were on the planning commission and you asked me this question, you would not be allowed to vote on it. It would be a remote interest. And then at a workshop earlier this year, we talked about whether or not you guys wanted to adopt this in your council rules of ethics. If you wanted to include the language where your conflicts of interest potentially relate to a family member. And I think we talked about it, and I don't think that was ever adopted. So the version of the rules of ethics that I have in front of me as adopted mean you're in the clear. But unless I'm misremembering that, I don't believe we ever voted, the council never voted to amend your rules of ethics to impute conflicts of interest to family members. So I think you're OK. Does that make sense? Does that all sound right? Am I ringing any bells?

Could you, if I abstain, I really don't think it's a big deal considering she's not even on the board, but if I abstain from this round, can you let me know for sure? Are you sure enough?

I'm sure enough. Unless someone remembers making that, because that was in a workshop earlier this year and we have not talked about it since. So I think the rules of ethics that I have clear you.

All right, thank you, that's all I have.

Yeah, I don't see how she would benefit financially from a, yeah, that's a reach.

I'd rather be overly cautious.

Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.

Okay, Council Member Marshall.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. As the chair of the LTAC committee, may I also make a recommendation that when reviewing this, we look at moving items from year to year as well because that has come up in the past that we had a request for funding for one year and then that event didn't take place and so we were asked to move that to the next year and that too was also kind of a squishy situation as you described it.

That's an excellent point. Thank you.

Yeah. So in this particular matter, however, I fully support this reallocation of the funds. I know that the director is new, was not the one that made this request last year, kind of inherited what it was. I personally am more in favor of building on an existing event as opposed to trying to create a new one. All the numbers... were just hypothetical when it comes to the Oktoberfest event. Those were hypothetical numbers based upon past performances. But I think that growing this type of event is gonna pay off having a tree that you can use year over year. I think the Warm Beach, for example, the lighting at Warm Beach is very popular. That certainly attracts people from more than 50 miles away. The Bellevue experience that you had referenced also brings people from all over the area. And so I think if we can build up our holidays and this can anchor that, I think it's a great move. And I fully support this change. So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Marshall. Councilmember Wittgenstein.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Councilmember Stuckey kind of brought it to that point of I was wondering how much the tree cost.

Does it have a warranty?

I hope it's got a gold star.

I don't like the squishy.

I'm not a fan of squishy at all. I'd rather it come back and not be squishy. That's where I kind of sit with this, and it's not to delay. I don't mean to do that. I think it's the right thing to do with it, but I think that process should be laid out. We're setting precedents, whatever we do tonight.

Thank you. Yeah, and the committee is going to iron that out so that... it doesn't become an issue. And in terms of not just changing, you know, not making alterations to the event, but yeah, moving the event from one time to another, you know, changes like that, we're going to establish a process for exactly what to do in situations like this. So any other feedback or circumstances that council can think of, if you pass them my way, so that we can, the LTAC can consider them when we meet next month, that would be really helpful.

I think what I'm saying is that I won't even vote for it tonight because it's not teed up and eyes aren't dotted and the T's aren't crossed for me. So that's the reason.

Sure, that's your priority.

Good? Okay. Mayor Patem, Council Member Peterson has her hand raised again. Oh, she did. Did she?

I did, but I took it down. But I'm happy to ask my question if you all have time.

Yeah we've all had a chance to speak once so you can have the floor.

I'm curious about a tree that isn't planted that grows. I'd love to know a little bit more about that. And also Councilmember Stuckey I think what you're remembering is we talked about no immediate family member chairing a commission. I think that's but I don't remember there being anything about voting if our family member was on a commission.

I want to hear more about that tree.

Please.

So the tree is built in platforms, and they're two feet. And you can order two feet every single year. So the first year would be the whole tree, and it has a five-year warranty on the steel frame of it. And then you can, every single year, you can buy it in two-feet increments to make it taller. I've done a lot of research on this.

Somehow I thought you were talking about a live tree, and I'm like, there is no way that I am.

Thank you. That clears a lot of things up. Thank you. OK, so we're all talking about the same tree now. OK, any further council comments, questions, concerns? Council Member Romero?

I'd be proud to make the motion if it's presented on the screen. And have your permission.

You have the floor.

I move to approve an amendment to the Oak Harbor Main Street Association Professional Service Agreement for lodging tax slash tourism grant funds from the 2026 Oktoberfest event to the 2026 Home for the Holidays event. Actually, I strongly move. Thank you. Second.

Okay. Okay, we have a motion from Councilmember Romero and a second from Councilmember Marshall to approve the recommended amendment as presented. Any further discussion, question from Council? Hearing none, all those in favor raise your hand. Any opposed? Councilmember Stuckey and Wittgenstein oppose.

And Peterson.

And Peterson.

And you voted against it. No, she was against it.

I was voting yes. Yes. OK, so that passes 5 to 2. Is my math correct? She was a yes. Stucky and Wittgenstein. Tim, are you voting? We voted. We just wanted to make sure that we recorded your vote correctly.

Thank you.

Thank you. All right, that passes five to two. The contract will be amended. Good luck with your holiday event, Main Street. Thank you, Wendy. And at this time, we will move into executive session. Before we enter executive session, I have a statement from the mayor to read. Yeah, you're welcome to stick around or vacate. But the purpose of this executive session is to discuss with legal counsel litigation or potential litigation. Anticipated duration is 15 minutes. Action may or may not be taken upon return to open session. Executive sessions are not open to the public. And before we go in there, I have a statement from Mayor Wright that he has asked me to read preceding Executive session, it says, I'm asking Mayor Pro Tem Heisen to read this statement on my behalf because I'm on vacation. My city administrator, Sabrina Combs, has been keeping me updated on city business, including the recent comments made by Council Member Marshall and others relating to the Hillside Development Project. She explained the time being spent to respond to council members' concerns in a thoughtful and accurate way. With that said, I am proud to serve as your mayor. Oak Harbor is my home. One thing I've learned from going from being a local business owner to local politician is that the mayor and the city council and even all council members amongst themselves do not agree all the time. And that is the beauty of our government. It is a system of representation, checks and balances, and community. However, we as elected leaders also have a duty to do what is best for the community without bias or influence. It is important that we support our staff who come in here every day to do the work that makes our city thrive. They do this work with unfunded mandates or funding limitations, delays, while addressing requirements from laws, policies, and adjusting to requests from the mayor, council, or the community we serve. I was shocked by the accusations made towards my staff and lack of respect by council. I feel council owes staff an apology because one thing that staff shares is how our comments from those sitting at the dais impact staff physically and emotionally. Our word choices matter, which is why the impression that staff sent communications in a certain way over a holiday weekend is inaccurate. These types of attacks on staff at a meeting without provocation is part of the reason staff has expressed fear regarding errors and updates to council. They don't know how you will react or what you will say about them in this public forum. This can cause distress for staff and it can take its toll. They are simply doing their job with the resources they have. We are all human beings. I hope that we can all work harder together to treat each other and our staff with respect. In response to the accusations made against me doing something illegal, I want to clarify that I did not issue stop work order notices, and those letters were reviewed by legal before they were sent out. I am really looking forward to seeing you at the next meeting, refreshed and ready to get back to work, as well as looking forward to the upcoming State of Our City presentation on October 29th, where we can show the community all of the great things we are doing. So let's get together and keep getting work done for Oak Harbor because this is Oak Harbor and it is our home. And before we move into executive session, I understand that our city attorney, Hillary Evans, might have some guidance for us. Or will that happen...

I was told there would be a slide and this is really just actually this is useful for public facing but as we recall there are very limited reasons that we exit into executive session so staff made this slide both for the public and for those of us in the room before every executive session there's a little spiel identifying why it is that today we're going into an executive session there are very few reasons under statute why we can do this so I think The intent here is to, moving forward, to offer this slide as an explanation to the public as to what is going, to give them the best idea of what it is an executive session is, what we're going to do, understanding that everything said in executive session is confidential and that our council members are bound by that confidentiality. I know it's frustrating to the public. We heard that at the last meeting, but they are not allowed to speak outside of the executive session about the topic. or anything mentioned in that executive session. So hopefully this slide provides a little more light for our public. We try and be as transparent as possible when it comes to an executive session. There are a few areas where we get to, as a council and staff, enforce this confidentiality. As questions arise, we will answer them as we go, but hopefully this will be useful moving forward.

Okay.

Thank you. Sabrina, did you have something to add?

I just wanted to share that we built this slide also to start displaying it when we go into executive session to help the public as well as our audience members know what we're doing and the topics that are covered and what RCW to refer to. Perfect.

And remind us. Okay, so it is 6.34 about to be, and at this time we will adjourn into executive session. Anticipated duration is 15 minutes, but we will send someone out to extend that if we need more time. This will not be open to the public, and if you're still here when we re-adjourn, then we will see you then.

The Council has announced that they will extend the executive session for an additional 21 minutes to 7.10 p.m. Thank you. for an additional 20 minutes to 7.30 p.m. Thank you. The council has announced that they will extend the executive session for an additional three minutes to 7.33 p.m. Thank you.

It would help if my microphone was on.

Council has returned from executive session. It is 735. And at this time, we will move on to agenda item eight, reports and discussion items. We have a staff follow-up report. I'm seeing confused faces over there.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

Does that follow up report from September 8th?

Just wanted to let you know, the city clerk just advised me that Council Member Peterson has not rejoined the meeting, so just for note, we don't see her on there. Oh, yeah, we don't.

Council Member Peterson was having a hard time connecting with us in executive session as well. Well, it's my understanding that we...

We have one slide and then our business is concluded. Sorry, sorry. Okay. I will let her join and then Tim will put up my slide.

Council Member Peterson, can you hear us?

Yes, I can now. Thank you. All right.

And next slide. Okay, so staff did review at council's request all of the materials and have confirmed that they did not receive the construction schedule or the engineer's estimate, and all permits are expired. So that is the update. So we do have an action to have our community development director. She is going to be communicating with the developer.

Thank you, Sabrina. You can move. We'll be in contact with the developers and work group. I've been in contact as well with Solid Ground Engineering, who is acting, I believe, as their engineer consultant to offer to meet with them and to see how they would like to move forward. Happy to answer the questions.

OK. Thank you, Stacy. All right, so the status of our questions for September 8 are on the slide. At this time, I would call for public comment. Have we received any submitted public comment on this item? No, Mayor Patem. No comments were received. Thank you. And is there anyone present tonight who wishes to speak to this agenda item? If so, please step up to the microphone, state your name and address, and you have three minutes. OK. Seeing none, I will turn to council. What is council's pleasure? Councilmember Wittgenstein.

I move that we adjourn. Second.

We have a motion from Council Member Wiggenstein and a second from Council Member Marrow to adjourn. Any discussion, comments, questions? Okay. All those in favor, raise your hand. Any opposed? Council Member Peterson, I just want to confirm, was that an aye or an nay? An aye. Okay. That motion to adjourn passes unanimously. We are adjourned at 7.38.