Whidbey News-Times, June 27, 2012

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News-Times Whidbey

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012 | Vol. 113, No. 51 | www.whidbeynewstimes.com | 75¢

Girl, 8, describes abduction attempt

Hizon allowed to ‘phone it in’ for council meeting By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter

Members of the Oak Harbor City Council decided to suspend their own rules to allow Councilwoman Tara Hizon to participate in the next meeting over the phone from another state. The council members touted the temporary rule change as a move toward modernity, but the issue isn’t without concerns over open and transparent governance. Hizon announced at the city council meeting last week that she will be in the Appalachian Mountains during the July 3 council meeting. She asked her fellow council members to suspend a council policy that states council members must be present at meetings to participate so she can, in essence, phone it in. The other council members voiced support for the idea, though Joel Servatius said he had some

concerns about possible glitches. In fact, the members indicated that the rule should be permanently amended to allow remote and electronic participation of elected officials. “It’s about time we come out of the Stone Age,” Councilman Rick Almberg said. “It only makes sense that we try to accommodate decision makers electronically,” he added. While none of the council members considered open government issues aloud, interim City Attorney Grant Weed broached the subject. He said the state’s Open Public Meetings Act doesn’t address teleconferencing, probably because it was adopted back in 1971. He said the Supreme Court hasn’t ruled on the issue. Weed pointed out that the Municipal Research and Service Center has published an opinion that it’s probably OK. Attorney Greg Overstreet, an

By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter

File photo

Oak Harbor Councilwoman Tara Hizon received permission from fellow council members to participate in a meeting over the phone. expert in open government laws, said he likely wouldn’t have concerns about elected officials participating over the phone or other

technology as long as it occurs “as a very occasional exception.” See council, A7

New rules may slice dancing pizza people By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter

See pizza, A7

Deputies are searching for a man who tried to abduct an 8-year-old girl in the front yard of her Oak Harbor home Sunday night. Lt. Mike Hawley with the Island County Sheriff’s Office said he has no doubt that the alarming incident occurred and that, based on the profile of child abductors, it’s likely that the man will try again someday. “The details from the victim were so specific, clear and unchanging,” he said, describing the girl as very bright and articulate. The Sheriff’s Office will be releasing a sketch of the suspect within the next 24 hours. Check the NewsTimes website for updates. Hawley explained that the entire family was in the backyard of the Hemenway Place home Sunday. The girl was playing with other kids when a ball flew over the fence and into the front yard. As the girl went to the front of the house to retrieve the ball, a man driving a red car stopped in the street. He walked into the yard, touched the girl’s hair and told her to get into his car. The frightened girl bolted to the backyard and told her parents. “She was trembling and had trouble speaking at first,” Hawley said. See abduct, A7

File photo

“Dancing pizza people” and others who stand on sidewalks and hold advertising signs may be banned under a proposed Oak Harbor sign code.

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Oak Harbor’s dancing pizza people may have to hang up their dancing shoes if a proposed sign ordinance is adopted. The Oak Harbor Planning Commission has been working on a rewrite of the city’s sign code since the council adopted an interim ordinance last year to address concerns about the legality of rules related to campaign signs. The planning commission voted at their last meeting to forward the

sign code draft recommendations to the City Council. It will first go to a committee before coming to the full council. The draft lists four types of signs that can be placed in the public right-of-way, but missing from the list are signs held by individuals --- whether dancing pizzas or folks dressed like the Statue of Liberty. Senior Planner Ethan Spoo said the planning commission discussed the sign wavers, who they dubbed the “dancing pizza people.” Under

LIVING: Garden tour offers inspiration. A10


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