When James Marrow stepped to the table to be interviewed by the Oak Harbor City Council Tuesday evening, he was the only candidate who unloaded a grocery bag full of binders, notebooks and packets.

He held the thickest of the binders up to the council and the mayor.

“This is a huge book,” he said, “and in it are five dividers and they correspond more or less with the five questions the council has for me, along with many other questions they may have, and I want to use this as an illustration about why I want to be on the city council.”

Certain decisions are black and white, he said, flipping over the black divider. Then there’s the gray area.

The remaining sections were red, white and blue, the colors of the flag. Marrow has hands-on experience in each of these areas, he said.

In a 4-2 vote, Marrow was sworn in as the newest council member after Shane Hoffmire, who held Position 5 since January 2022, announced his resignation last month. The position runs through December of next year.

Marrow earned the seat over three other finalists and after a 30-minute executive session.

James Croft, a local business owner, Tiffany Scribner, program manager for Leadership Whidbey and Sandi Peterson, founder of a bipartisan political organization, did not get a motion.

Marrow, who served in the Navy and worked in law enforcement for nearly 40 years, said serving the city is his calling.

“There are those people who are called to make huge empires of business, and there are those who are called to any number of professional activities, but I’ve found my greatest satisfaction is really from serving the people,” he said. “Now, isn’t that odd?”

Marrow served on the North Whidbey Pool Park and Recreation board, the planning commission, the Main Street board and the Chamber of Commerce board. He holds master’s degrees in public information, organizational leadership, management and business and administration.

“On the city council, you can expect me to ramp it up a notch,” he said. “In fact, on retirement I pledged that.”

While Marrow said he focuses on a long list including economic development, parks and recreation and more, he has a little “ax to grind” with crime and homelessness.

Both crime and homelessness are exacerbated by substance abuse, he said, and he will encourage the council to address the causes.

Resources that are used to support homeless people are ones that are not used to “build up” industry, he said, and homeless people add a cost to the businesses around them.

The short-term solution is strengthening first responders, he said. Longer term means addressing the supply line, which takes judges willing to make tough calls.

“The issues that have taken decades to appear can easily take years to resolve,” he said, “but the idea of just ignoring them is not really a plausible solution.”

Marrow said he has first-hand experience as the issue has worsened in Oak Harbor.

“How many decades have you been here, Councilor Woessner? Five? Six?” he asked, “so you know this is a different world than it was so many years ago.”

When asked if he would run for city council when the seat expires in 2025, he said, “Yes, yes, heavens yes.”

Marrow loves the campaign trail, he said, inspired by meeting the community in person and walking door to door.

“I look forward to losing another 30 pounds,” he said.