Oak Harbor Mayor Patricia Cohen has submitted a letter of resignation for her position on the Island County Board of Health.

Island County Health Department Director Tim McDonald made the announcement during Monday’s board meeting. The board did not make a decision to accept her resignation.

“There are so many demands on (the mayor’s) position,” Cohen said. “It has turned out that I, often times, have a conflict in my schedule. It’s not fair to the rest of the board.”

According to a 1999 ordinance and Island County Code, the mayor of Oak Harbor is required to sit on the Board of Health. But Dave Jamieson, Island County’s chief civil deputy, said that Cohen is not obligated to sit on the board.

“Only with the continued willingness of the mayor of Oak Harbor to continue to serve, is she required to be there,” Jamieson said.

According to the ordinance, all three county commissioners, the mayor of Oak Harbor and a representative of the Whidbey General Hospital Board of Commissioners sit on the Board of Health. The commanding officer of Naval Hospital Oak Harbor also sits on the board as a non-voting member.

They receive no pay for their duties, which include the monthly board meeting, a monthly meeting with county officials, an annual meeting with the Community Health Advisory Board and various functions and events.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t have any interest, it was becoming difficult to find the time,” Cohen said.

Cohen has missed the last two board meetings, effectively leaving a vacant seat. If the Board of Health wishes to fill that seat with anyone other than Cohen, the Island County Code will need to be amended, Jamieson said.

McDonald said Cohen is resigning due to having too much on her plate.

“It’s my understanding that she simply has too much to do and she has to prioritize,” he said. “I think the Board of Health will have to come to grips with the resignation.”

McDonald said the board will likely find another mayor or other elected official to fill the vacancy.

For Cohen, she said that the decision was based on her priority of serving the city.

“My obligation first and foremost is to Oak Harbor and the citizens here,” she said. “We’re not the same city that we were five years ago.”

She said that it was not one specific duty that led to her resignation, rather it was the accumulation of local projects that were occupying her time. Issues such as the city’s growth and economic development are among the new challenges she said she faces.

She said that according to city code, the mayor’s office is technically a part-time position, but the proliferation of ad-hoc committees have created an increasing burden.

According to her letter of resignation, Cohen said that part of her decision was based on the complexity of the decisions the Board of Health makes.

“They’re difficult calls to make,” she said. “They are hard decisions that require plenty of time to research. If you are going to do it right, then you need to devote the time.”

McDonald said he agreed that the job’s responsibilities are cumbersome.

“It’s a large job,” McDonald said. “It’s so big that it’s very difficult for a person to get their hands around it.”

You can reach News-Times reporter Eric Berto at eberto@whidbeynewstimes.com