Regarding the “tumultuous” meeting where Mayor Jim Slowik had to urge the audience to maintain order: My eyes and ears witnessed quite professional and proper passion displayed by concerned citizens who participated in the process in an orderly manner. It was the noticeable irritation of several council members in having to readdress their previous decision that unnecessarily and negatively raised the emotional level of the evening.

Councilman Rick Almberg declares on the city’s Web site that he wants a “politically active community” where citizens “become an influential voice in this community.” Contrary to these goals, he personified the attitude of many of the council members before and during the Jan. 19 meeting when his annoyance and anger toward those very citizens he claims to want active simmered and surfaced repeatedly.

Time and again several council members insinuated that “we the people” were somehow behaving undemocratically for desiring to participate in the process at this point in time; and yet the city attorney clarified for everyone that a motion to rescind the previous vote was procedurally and legally quite proper.

I appreciate Mayor Slowik’s willingness to let everyone who so desired speak during public comments, the vast majority (nine-to-one) maturely voicing their desire to keep a two-way street. But the less-open attitude of several council members was clearly manifest in their own comments prior to the vote, when they implied that small business owners are simply an undemocratic special interest group afraid of change, who don’t care about the safety of the elderly and don’t understand “Business 101.”

Conversely, my hat is off to Councilman Scott Dudley who stuck his neck out for the majority voice of downtown merchants by simply asking if the correct decision had been made in December with regards to compliance with economic development goals stated in the American Planning Association award-winning Windjammer Plan. He was not attacking any council member’s intelligence or integrity regarding their previous votes, but rather responding suitably and courageously to the valid concerns of the true experts of downtown business — the shop owners themselves.

Tim Geist

Oak Harbor