Severns retires after years of public service

Oak Harbor Mayor Bob Severns has had an eventful eight years at the head of the city.

Severns, who is retiring from public office, inherited the sewage treatment plant project, with its ever-escalating costs, and a leadership crisis in the police department when he came into office. He oversaw controversies over a giant sculpture, the removal of the windmill and low staff morale. He led the city through an unprecedented flooding event and a little thing called COVID.

In the midst of his time in office, Severns suffered serious health problems, including breaking his leg in a boating accident and undergoing open heart surgery.

Despite the challenges during “Mayor Bob’s” tenure as mayor, his folksy, often jocular style and the trust he’s built with five decades of involvement in government and the business community led to his everlasting popularity among residents.

At his last council meeting in December, a group of admirers wearing “Bob” shirts surprised the mayor with a flash mob, dancing and singing “Bob Bob Bob” to the song “Feeling Hot Hot Hot.”

Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson spoke at the meeting, saying that people not in public office would not understand the weight of “the late night feeling” of wanting to help people who are hurting. She said the community was lucky to have effective advocates in Severns and Councilmember Beth Munns, who is also retiring.

Councilmember Tara Hizon presented a plaque from city staff in recognition of the mayor’s guidance, leadership and service.

“We all appreciate the time that you put in,” she said. “You said you were going to be a one-term mayor. You ended up putting in eight that I’m sure seemed like very long years.”

Severns retired at the end of December, leaving Mayor-elect Ronnie Wright to fill his Bob-sized shoes.

Severns’ wife, Rhonda, said that she could see the job taking a toll on him over the years. She said he always felt responsible for helping people who reach out and he’s the kind of person who brings work with him wherever he goes.

“I’m looking forward to him being less crabby around home,” she joked.

As one side of the “first couple” of Oak Harbor, Rhonda is indispensable to her husband’s story. They are well known for being very close, exemplified by the image of them sometimes holding hands on their walks. As the mayor has explained many times, she is his biggest supporter, confidant, sounding board and best friend.

Although he worked as a turkey inseminator as a teenager in Chehalis, Severns’ career has been in the title business. He started in college and moved to Whidbey Island for a job opportunity in 1974. He’s been on the island since then, eventually becoming part owner and president of Chicago Title. He was also a director on the board for Whidbey Island Bank and remained on the board after it merged with Heritage Bank.

Severns was on the Oak Harbor Chamber board three different times, leading as chairman of the panel of local business people once. He has been a mainstay at the Oak Harbor Rotary Club for decades.

Sixteen years ago, Rhonda suggested that he throw his hat into the ring as a member of the city council. He was first appointed to the council, filling the seat left by Sheilah Crider, and then successfully ran twice.

Severns said his years on the council while Scott Dudley was mayor were “interesting.” Dudley made waves by firing most of the city’s department heads and butting heads with members of the council, among other people in the community.

Severns said people had asked him to run for mayor over the years and he decided it was time in 2015.

“I just wasn’t happy with the direction of the city,” he said.

When Dudley did not run for reelection, Severns faced fellow Councilmember Jim Campbell and was elected. He was reelected four years later.

Severns immediately went to work trying to get to the bottom of strife at the police department, which had led to the union taking “no confidence” votes on leaders within the department. He ended up replacing the police chief with an outsider, Kevin Dresker, and problems were eventually resolved.

Severns was on the council when the decision was made to build the state-of-the-art sewage treatment facility on the edge of the city’s popular waterfront park. But as the mayor, it was his responsibility to oversee the construction of the project, which was by far the biggest in the city’s history.

Things did not always go well. The cost of the project continually increased, eventually reaching about $150 million. The last big jump in the cost came as a surprise to the mayor and council members, leading Severns to send out a press release expressing his concern about the escalation and the lack of communication from the staff, saying he was going to hire an outside consultant to look into the issue.

Severns acknowledges that mistakes were made. He said he trusted the “wrong person” to lead the project and that the choice to use a General Contractor/Construction Manager process, which was new at the time, only contributed to the cost uncertainty.

Today, however, the city has one of the most advanced and award-winning treatment plants in the state which produces water clean enough to drink. Many people feel that the controversies over the project will fade as the rest of the state struggles and spends to reach Oak Harbor’s sewage treatment standards.

Yet it wasn’t the big projects, trips to the Pentagon or meetings with important people that Severns said he enjoyed most about the job; it was the smaller joys of office. He and Rhonda were especially fond of visiting elementary schools and meeting children who are excited about being in the presence of the mayor.

They remember one child who stopped in the hallway to ask if he was the president of the United States. At another event with people of different professions, thrilled students ran from tables with an astronaut and firefighter when it was announced that the mayor had arrived.

“Rhonda and I giggled about it later,” he said.