3 vie for council seat ahead of primary

Three Oak Harbor residents who have thrown their hats into the ring to serve in Position 2 of the Oak Harbor City Council will be winnowed down to two in the upcoming primary election.

Candidates Patrick Harman, Chris Wiegenstein and Andy Plumlee identified the state of the city’s infrastructure, affordable housing and government transparency as some of the issues most greatly impacting the city.

Harman’s top priority centers on improving city infrastructure. Roads, water and sewer lines and buildings throughout the city are in a “severe state of decay,” city staff recently warned council members, and Harman said the need to address this issue was what prompted him to run for city council.

Harman, who unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Mayor Bob Severns for the mayoral seat in 2019, said the city’s “Band-Aid approach” to critical infrastructure deterioration shows a “lack of commitment to dealing with the issue.”

Harman said sewer and surface runoff should be processed separately and that surface runoff does not need to pass through the sewer treatment plant. He added that it is important to manage paving properly and address necessary infrastructure repairs in a timely manner.

“We cannot continue with our present deferred maintenance policy,” he said.

Besides failing infrastructure, homelessness and fund management are issues Harman would like to see addressed. The candidate said he would work personally with private agencies to provide resources to individuals experiencing homelessness but that ultimately housing people is not a public responsibility.

“I have empathy for those less fortunate than myself,” he said. “However, it is not the city’s responsibility to make sure its citizens are provided adequate food and shelter.”

Harman pointed out that he is the only candidate with past legislative experience. He worked as a legislative aide for the state of Alaska, where he developed skills in public finance, which differs greatly from personal or business finance, he said.

Harman said he would like to see the council include preambles to all funding-related ordinances or resolutions that state up front the cost of the proposed measure, any recurring or additional costs and where the funding will come from.

Wiegenstein currently holds Position 4 on the council, a seat he was appointed to in May of this year, but will be running for Position 2.

The council member said he filed for the position before the appointment process was complete because it is a four-year term, as opposed to Position 4, which will be a two-year term to complete the previous council member’s original term.

“I believe that for me to truly make a lasting impact and serve our city to the best of my abilities, a full-term of four years is essential,” he said.

Wiegenstein said his highest priority if elected would be to foster a sense of unity in the city. One of his ideas to achieve this end is to establish a community and sports complex with a wide range of activities and programming.

As a former commissioner for the North Whidbey Pool, Park, and Recreation District, Wiegenstein said that public spaces are essential for strengthening community bonds and creating a sense of belonging.

He also identified mental health and housing as areas of great importance in his agenda.

“I passionately believe in prioritizing the well-being of our residents and will actively advocate for resources and programs that improve mental health services in our community,” Wiegenstein said.

He added that he will seek to foster collaborations that will make it possible for workforce and military personnel to afford to live in the city.

“Encouraging the development of affordable single-family and single-occupancy housing options will play a pivotal role in supporting our workforce and ensuring that they can comfortably live within the community they serve,” he said.

His time as an elected commissioner for the Pool, Park and Recreation District, as well as his experience on the boards of various nonprofit organizations, offered experience that qualifies him for the council position, he said. As a recreation district commissioner, he helped manage funds to revitalize the John Vanderzicht Memorial Pool.

Like Wiegenstein, Plumlee said workforce housing is a priority in his campaign, as well as ensuring there are plentiful opportunities for employment on the island. He identified a lack of skilled tradespeople, a lack of alternatives to college and disparities between college degrees and comparable employment opportunities as some key issues the city is facing.

Plumlee said he would like to establish partnerships with remote employers in the Seattle area that would incentivize them to train and hire Whidbey residents, as well as partnerships with local colleges and organizations to help Whidbey residents cultivate skills desirable to remote employers.

Plumlee said he also envisions ways to improve the local government. He sees a “lack of diverse backgrounds, professions and associations on our council” as a problem. Plumlee said he would like to see the city move to a ranked choice voting system in which all candidates run for all open seats to allow Oak Harbor residents greater flexibility to select who they want on the council.

“Right now, two of the seats up for reelection have no challengers and this happens in nearly every election,” he said.

The candidate added that he would like to increase transparency in local government by requiring candidates to disclose all organizations and groups they have been a member of in the five years prior to their candidacy, and by providing Oak Harbor residents with an annual report showing how council members voted on key issues throughout the year and how tax dollars were spent.

Plumlee also said he feels the city lacks vision for the future. With 23 years of leadership and management experience and two masters degrees in sustainability, he said, he can offer “valuable insight to the future cities, including ours, face,” and knows “when green initiatives are really green and when they are simply green washed cash-grabs.”

The primary election will take place Aug. 1.