Candidates for Oak Harbor mayor and city council seats had few disagreements about policy during an Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce candidate forum Wednesday night.

Instead, the debates were more about personality and biographies.

Members of the forum audience filled up much of Orlando’s Bar + Southern BBQ and many munched on delectable-smelling meats. Steve Bristow, former president of the Oak Harbor Navy League, served as the moderator and asked some unusual questions, such as candidates’ plans for 5G expansion, which past mayor would candidates emulate and where the “buck stops” in the city.

A link to a recording of the entire forum is on the chamber’s Facebook page.

Three sets of candidates took the stage during the event. Christopher Wiegenstein and Andy Plumlee are running against each other for a council seat, as are John Chaszar and Barbara Armes.

The highlight of the forum was the contest between the two men running for mayor. Oak Harbor Councilmember Shane Hoffmire and Ronnie Wright, a business owner, are vying to replace Mayor Bob Severns, who is retiring. The strain between the two candidates was apparent in their posture and words.

When asked what distinguished the candidates from one another, Wright said the “clear difference” was in education and experience. He has an undergraduate degree in accounting and finance and a masters degree in international taxation. He is a former manager at the IRS and the owner of an accounting firm.

“I have 25 years of financial management experience and working with numbers and people and moving everyone in an organization forward to a common goal,” he said.

In a small dig, Wright said he couldn’t corroborate all of Hoffmire’s claims to leadership experience.

Hoffmire, who does not have a degree, positioned himself as a self-made man who learned to be a leader by working with others. He has 20 years of experience in construction and works as a maintenance manager for North Whidbey Parks and Recreation. He served as an elected member of the North Whidbey Pool, Parks and Recreation board before being elected to the council.

“Whether in Olympia or Washington D.C., we’ve been electing highly educated people for a long time and I don’t think it’s worked out well for any of us. That’s something we can probably all agree about,” he said. “My education, you know, has been learned on the ground. It’s been working with and for the government for the last 15 years.”

The candidates sparred over endorsements. Hoffmire said he was “assailed and brutalized online” by Wright’s campaign people over his endorsement from an international firefighting organization; he said he clearly did not claim it was from local firefighters. He pointed out that some of Wright’s endorsements come from Hawaii or Idaho but they aren’t marked as such. In addition, he disputed Wright’s claim to have the support of most of the business community.

“I was told coming in here that one of your endorsements is your dog,” Hoffmire said as he handed the microphone to Wright. “If that’s true, good for you. I love dogs.”

In his rebuttal, Wright pointed out that the endorsement from Hawaii is the former director of the chamber of commerce.

“So that’s completely ridiculous for him to say that,” Wright said, referring to Hoffmire. “I mean he knows that. I hope he knows who the former chamber of commerce director is.”

Wright went on to say he never claimed he has endorsements from all of the businesses, just the majority of businesses.

“Every business leader in the community supports us and backs us,” he said.

In a council race, Bristow explained that Armes has 30 years experience as a licensed practical nurse as well as experience with running local Republican campaigns, while Chaszar has 30 years in the hospitality, hotel and casino industry.

Bristow pointed out that the city council members picked 32 top priorities for the city and asked the candidates what their priorities would be.

Armes said infrastructure was her top priority. She spoke about how she took a tour of the city sewer plant and spoke to city officials about the problems with crumbling infrastructure and the need to repair.

“To me, that’s vital because it affects our sewer plant, it affects our water rate, it affects everything in the community,” she said.

Chaszar started out by saying the council members never should have such a large number of priorities because that makes it impossible to hold anyone accountable. He said the council members should have been smart and had five realistic priorities.

Chaszar said his top three priorities are repairing infrastructure, affordable housing and downtown revitalization.

“We gotta address housing or we’re never ever going to grow this economy,” he said.

In the other council race, Popsies candy store owner Plumlee, former manager at a local pharmacy, is facing Wiegenstein, an appointed council member and local counselor.

When it came to the question of priorities, Wiegenstein said he wasn’t going to rehash the infrastructure problem because everybody knows it’s something that needs to be worked on. He said the priorities of morale and parks and recreation go together. He said he’s a big advocate of mental health awareness and suicide prevention and that things like sports and other programs for children and young adults are valuable.

Wiegenstein said both the city’s parks and recreation department and the North Whidbey Parks, Pool and Recreation District should be supported.

“With parks and rec, we lift these things that help bring community together,” he said.

Plumlee was also critical of the council’s long list of priorities and argued that the city doesn’t really have any priorities right now. He pointed out that some things on the 32-point list are not even under the purview of the council and that creating such a list was ultimately a waste of time.

“The only two priorities that any community has, that any government has or should have, is the preservation of public resources and facilitation of development in the community,” he said. “Those are the two priorities.”