The City of Oak Harbor City Council has apparently scheduled a public hearing Tuesday, Sept. 18, for final approval of the latecomers’ agreement funding the Dillard’s Addition Sewer Project.

I urge all residents of the city to attend this meeting to protest the city’s failure to uphold the right of affected property owners to be notified when an action taken by the city will directly impact those property owners.

It happened with the Dillard’s Addition sewer project, for which each property owner will be required to pay thousands of dollars for a highly unusual and inadequate sewer system, instead of being scheduled for future hookup to regular city sewer. It appears the “committee” set up by the council to study the issue (after the deal was done, no less) was just a placating and delaying tactic. It played well in the press and kept the affected homeowners busy for a few more weeks.

It happened again, this time to the residents of the Waterloo Road/Scenic Heights area (“Council rejects annexation proposal,” Whidbey News-Times, Sept. 8) when City Development Director Steve Powers called the non-notification of those affected residents a “simple oversight.”

What neighborhood will be next?

City staff failing to notify residents of impacts to them is one thing, but city council members who vote on these proposals without verifying that notification has been made is outrageous. I can think of nothing as disrespectful to the residents of this city. We voted these people into office, yet they have failed to ensure that one of our most fundamental rights is being honored.

I urge you to attend the city council meeting on Sept. 18. I also urge you to question each candidate for council and mayor about this issue before you vote this November.

Patti Daniel

Oak Harbor