Though the City of Oak Harbor owns the Whidbey Island Marathon, the event may not receive any of the city’s lodging tax funds for 2015.

After a complicated and politically tinged series of events, the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, known as the LTAC, declined to reconsider a funding request from the new race director during a tense meeting Wednesday afternoon.

Committee members Michelle Curry, Lee Ann Mozes and Ron Apgar voted not to listen to a second-chance presentation by Melissa Riker, the new race director.

“If you are not prepared for your presentation, we should not award that,” said Mozes, who represents the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce on the committee.

Mozes said afterward that neither she nor the chamber are anti-marathon.

“I just didn’t want the LTAC to be in a position to have to reconsider applicants over and over again,” she said, “or put into a position to show favoritism.”

Mozes pointed out that the City Council can still decide to send the marathon request back to the committee for reconsideration, which she said would be an appropriate process.

In added wrinkles to the contentious issue, four city council members attended the meeting, creating a quorum, a possible violation of the Open Public Meetings Act. No notice of a quorum was issued by the city prior to the meeting.

The meeting was also the scene of questionable parliamentary procedure.

Though Mayor Scott Dudley is in another country and couldn’t attend, his shadow loomed large during the meeting. He drew attention to marathon changes earlier this year after he replaced longtime race coordinator Tamra Sipes. Dudley said that the city lost money on the event while Sipes earned a big payout.

Dudley ousted Sipes as director and selected the Oak Harbor Elks Lodge to run the marathon; Elks member Riker is race director.

The LTAC is composed of appointed volunteers representing the lodging community and groups that receive the money for tourism-related purposes. The committee reviewed the applications for “hotel-motel tax” funds, listened to presentations and made recommendations to City Council.

The council can no longer change the amounts of the recommendations, other than to zero them out, because of changes in state law.

Riker asked for $50,000 for the marathon, but the committee recommended the event receive nothing. The committee members said her application and presentation were incomplete.

This week, Dudley said he asked Councilman Jim Campbell, the chairman, to reconvene the committee so that funding for the marathon could be reconsidered and the committee members’ questions answered.

During the meeting, however, Campbell said it was actually the city’s finance director who advised him “it would be a good idea” to reconvene the meeting.

In addition to Campbell, council members Danny Paggao, Bob Severns and Beth Munns attended the meeting.

The Whidbey News-Times raised a question about the lack of legal notice of a quorum, but City Administrator Larry Cort said the meeting was properly advertised.

The notice, which was posted on the city’s website, wasn’t for a “special council meeting,” which the state Attorney General’s Office says is required for quorums outside of regular meetings; the official opinion was written specifically for the Oak Harbor City Council several years ago after the News-Times raised questions about proper notice of committee meetings.

The News-Times has no record of a proper notice of the special meeting being sent to the newspaper.

On Thursday, Dudley said the city wasn’t able to properly advertise the meeting if staff wasn’t aware a quorum would develop. He said one of the council members should have left the meeting.

Campbell said he was surprised when the three other council members walked in; he said one or more of them should have left.

Cort did not respond to multiple calls for comment.

Mozes and Curry, owner of the new hydroplane event, were clearly displeased with being asked to reconsider their earlier decision. They questioned whether it was proper to give one applicant another shot at the money; Curry asked what the point of the applicant deadline is if it isn’t enforced.

“There was a deadline,” Curry said. “The deadline was missed.”

Mozes agreed.

“I feel like it’s important to follow procedure,” Mozes said. “I feel like it’s playing favorite to one or the other if we open this back up.”

Campbell said the committee is allowed to reconsider applicants as many times as the members want until the council takes action.

At least one member of the audience said she would like a chance to be reconsidered.

Don Devode of the Candlewood Suites argued that the other members were losing sight of the purpose of the committee, which is to award funds to bring more tourists to the city.

“We’re getting hung up on small details,” he said.

Mozes made a motion to “follow procedure” and send the recommendations to the council without reconsideration. It failed in a 3-3 vote, with Mozes, Curry and Apgar voting in favor; Campbell, Devode and Dana Beckman, of the Coachman Inn, voted against the motion.

Campbell then opened up the meeting to attendees.

Christine Cribb, Oak Harbor Chamber director, asked whether the committee was employing Robert’s Rules of Order, claiming that the chairman shouldn’t be allowed to vote.

Cort responded that it is appropriate and it is the common practice of the committee.

In fact, a check of multiple websites about Robert’s Rules of Order and the Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure, which the council adopted, shows that the chair is allowed to vote, especially on committees and small boards.

Munns said she was the chairwoman of the committee for years and she never voted unless to break a tie.

After the meeting, Dudley claimed Munns’ statement was incorrect; he said minutes of past meetings showed that she voted regularly.

Campbell suggested the committee settle the issue with a vote. Its members, with several abstaining, decided that Campbell could no longer vote.

Mozes then made the same motion — to not reconsider the marathon funding. That motion was approved.

According to Robert’s Rules of Order, Mozes should have phrased it as “a motion to reconsider.” In addition, only someone who is on the prevailing side of a vote may ask for reconsideration.

In the event of a tie, there is no prevailing side.

All the wrangling, however, was ultimately a moot point. It was clear at the meeting that Riker, who sat quietly at the table, wouldn’t receive funds for the marathon, at least not at this point.

Dudley said he was disappointed by the outcome.

The marathon is the city’s top event when it comes to filling up hotels — which is the whole purpose of the lodging tax, he said.

“The marathon is going to be great no matter what,” Dudley said.

“The question is whether it could have been better with more support.”