Reflecting on 20 years of leadership and accomplishments, Nancy Conard finds it difficult to pick any particular thing she’s most proud of.

Conard, who is retiring as the Town of Coupeville’s mayor after two decades, is strong and authoritative, yet humble almost to a fault.

One thing she will say is her favorite thing about being mayor has been working with people.

“I love working with people to make things happen,” she said.

Luckily for her, there was a room of several hundred of those people Friday evening who were willing to toot her horn for her over her many accomplishments.

During a community retirement party at Coupeville High School, friends, colleagues and community members rallied to celebrate and thank Conard for her service and investment in Central Whidbey.

The early years

The daughter in a Navy family, Conard moved to Whidbey Island as an infant and to Coupeville at age 3.

“I’ve lived in Coupeville virtually my entire life,” she said.

With a high school diploma and some junior-college classes under her belt, Conard got hired by the Coupeville School District and for more than 30 years worked her way up, learning various jobs until she was named business manager.

“People took a chance on me,” she said.

In the early 1990s, Conard decided to run for Coupeville Town Council.

“There was turnover happening,” Conard said. “A couple friends said I should run.”

So Conard ran for council against Bob Lappin and won after what she says was a very tight race.

“After serving one term on council, I was getting kind of itchy,” Conard said. At the time, the current mayor had resigned and Town Councilman Will Jones had been interim mayor but was not seeking election.

Conard had experience managing budgets and those processes through the school district.

“I decided I knew how things should be run at Town Hall so I decided to run for mayor,” she said.

Balancing act

The Coupeville School District, which fostered and invested in Conard’s career, was  supportive of her endeavors to be mayor.

“It was a challenge for her,” said Janet Wodjensksi, who worked with Conard for 12 years at the school district. “She was wearing two hats.

“We had a great superintendent at the time who understood Nancy’s connection to the town.”

The school district worked with Conard’s schedule to accommodate her duties as mayor. And when the town’s administrator resigned, Conard stepped up and covered those duties, eventually being named with that title in addition to mayor.

For eight years, she served as mayor and worked at the school.

“Near the end I was working two full-time jobs,” Conard said.

During her time at the district, Wodjenski said one of Conard’s big accomplishments was helping start the Washington Association of School Business Officials and a training program for new school employees.

Creating stability

During her years as mayor, Conard led the town with a strong and financially conservative fist.

“I feel good the town is in a good financial position,” she said. “When I came on, the town was pretty strapped for cash. We’ve weathered storms.”

Each year when presenting the town budget, Conard is reminded of her conservative nature.

“I don’t mind spending money, I just don’t want to be surprised,” she said.

The town has also seen stability in terms of its water system.

At one time, there were concerns the town’s aquifer was inadequate to serve future growth in the area and all building was put on hold.

The town worked with the state Department of Ecology to test the aquifers, study growth potential and deemed the town’s water supply secure.

“I’m happy we’ve gotten stability with our water system,” she said. “That was a big issue and people had legitimate concerns.”

Other concerns that have popped up over the years include whether Conard would allow Coupeville to grow beyond its small town charm.

During that uncertain time, Conard was up for reelection, as were several council seats. In the four terms Conard ran for mayor, this was the only time she ever had a challenger.

“In the early years there were some people who accused me of being pro-growth and said I was going to ruin the small town feel,” Conard recollected. “But I think I’ve proven otherwise with my actions over the years.”

Creating unity

During her two decades as mayor, Conard helped the community get through several obstacles by creating programs and organizations that have helped unify Whidbey Island as a community and streamline processes.

“I love the whole connection between people and government, where there’s a problem that you need to fix,” Conard said. “People have come to expect they can come to Town Hall.

“I’m happy with the basic service we’ve been able to provide.”

Conard was instrumental in forming the Council of Governments, a committee formed with representatives from municipalities and government entities from all over the island.

“One of the things she’s really good at is working together with people,” said retiring Councilman Bob Clay. “Everything we do affects someone else.

“That’s a good example of how she can get people to work together. I think she should be really proud of that achievement.”

Conard also worked to create one review group for projects within the historic reserve.

“It works well and provides consistency throughout the reserve,” Clay said.

While Coupeville may be only one square mile, Conard’s leadership reached far beyond town boundaries.

During her retirement celebration Friday, elected officials praised Conard for her leadership, service and heart.

Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson created a list of 10 things she loves about the retiring mayor.

No. 1 was her heart.

“If Coupeville is the heart of Ebey’s Reserve, Nancy has been the heart of Coupeville,” Price Johnson said.

This is also something former state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen cemented during her praise of Conard. Over the years, the pair have worked closely together on projects, including saving the Coupeville-Port Townsend Ferry route, and have since become close friends.

“Nancy has made Coupeville the heart of Whidbey,” Haugen said.

Creating community

Community members Lyla Snover and Janice Vaughan spoke to Conard’s community involvement and dedication to nonprofits and activities.

Among Conard’s accomplishments are the creation of Soroptimist International of Coupeville, the Greening of Coupeville parade, the wooden snowmen cutouts put up each winter and her longtime dedication to the Coupeville Lions.

“I’m really proud that we’re a community that works together,” Conard said. “It’s been really fun.

“It’s those volunteers that really put the icing on the cake.”

And while Conard may be retiring from her job as mayor, her retirement may be in name only.

She said she’s not sure what she’ll be doing but does plan on spending more time with friends, raising her granddaughter and maybe traveling.

But she has no intentions of living anywhere else.

“This is where I plan to live and this is where I plan to die,” she said.