Oak Harbor Mayor Ronnie Wright’s lack of transparency shows a lack of understanding of government, democracy and the value of citizen input.

Perhaps it’s because he’s relatively new at the job or comes from a business background. Business people who run for office often think that they can bring their business acumen to government without realizing that democracies do not run with one figurehead making unilateral decisions.

His secrecy has reached alarming levels recently as his administration has sought to prevent council members — especially one in particular — from commenting on city business on social media, which shows a profound lack of understanding and respect for his role within government. The mayor and his supporters have made vague, unsubstantiated criticism of this newspaper’s accurate reporting; we hope he doesn’t become just another politician to scream “fake news” every time someone tries to shine a light on his actions.

Early on in his term, Wright announced during a meeting that he had an open door policy and in the same breath said people should contact his assistant if they wanted to talk to him. The irony was lost on him.

This summer, Wright faced criticism for asking the city’s volunteer Salary Commission to more than double his salary without telling the council or the community. This is a Salary Commission made up of people he appointed.

The Salary Commission voted to give him the increase at the July 2 meeting. The administration still didn’t tell the council until over a month later when it was slipped into a budget amendment. By then, the period was past for the citizens to petition to change his salary.

Wright later apologized and admitted he should have been more forthright. In the mayor’s defense, the point of a salary commission is independence, and he may not see it as the administration’s place to let the community know what it does. But he could have disclosed that he was asking for a raise and claiming, against many decades of tradition, that the mayor is a full-time position.

Wright then announced that he had spoken separately with all the council members, except Councilmember Shane Hoffmire, about the issue. He seemed critical of Hoffmire for not responding. The mayor had no awareness about how such political discussions outside of the public eye feed concerns about secrecy.

Perhaps the most shocking misunderstanding of democracy and transparency is Wright’s continued effort to prevent council members from communicating with their constituents, or control their message. Earlier this year, Councilmember Bryan Stucky posted factual information on Facebook about a proposed B&O tax. As a result, many residents provided their input and the idea was scuttled.

Wright, however, apparently didn’t like the notion of residents interfering with their own government. He said during the meeting that his administration had talked to a council member about staying off of social media. Fortunately for the citizens, Stucky has ignored this.

Wright and some of the council members more recently criticized Hoffmire for posting newspaper stories and his own thoughts on the mayor’s salary and lack of transparency on social media.

Bizarrely, the administration posted a letter to the editor from a member of the Salary Commission on its website under “press releases.” The letter was scathing toward Hoffmire and the newspaper and referred to some citizens who posted comments as “cowards.”

Even worse, a member of the administration also posted the letter on Hoffmire’s Facebook page with a headline suggesting that the council member had spread misinformation. For the record, we perused his site and saw angry posts, but no misinformation.

Wright also told the council members that they should check with his administration — specifically his public relations person — before posting anything online.

Here’s a quick civics lesson. A strong mayor form of government is set up like the state or federal government. There are three branches of government that are independent. Checks and balances. The Founding Fathers set up an adversarial system for a reason. The mayor is the executive but does not and absolutely should not tell the elected members of the council what to do or say. He is not their boss. The council should be asking tough questions, have strong opinions and feel free to disagree.

It’s unclear whether the administration is behind the city’s serious problems with providing public records in a lawful manner or if it was a staffing issue.

Here’s a stark example: On May 9, a Whidbey News-Times reporter requested a copy of former City Administrator Blaine Oborn’s separation letter and/or severance agreement. The city originally said it would provide the documents by May 17, then extended it to May 24 and then extended it to June 7. But then on June 7, the city said the document didn’t exist.

The News-Times also requested copies of any torts or demands from Oborn. After two months, the city provided the reporter with a demand letter from Oborn. But lo and behold, the letter listed other attached documents (which were not provided), including a separation agreement. The News-Times asked for those documents and was told the city did not have them.

After a story ran about the problem, Wright defended the city’s actions during a meeting, saying that the city cannot provide documents “we have not received.”

Excuse us mayor, but these are documents you have. Theses are documents you signed.

After going back and forth with the city and more delays, the city finally provided the documents at the end of July.

The News-Times could have filed a lawsuit over the city’s failure to follow the state’s Public Records Act and may have been awarded many thousands of dollars. But if we had, perhaps the city wouldn’t have been able to afford to double the mayor’s salary.