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Pigfest draws serious BBQ competion A10
SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 2014 | Vol. 124, No. 64 | WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75¢
Council nixes mayor’s appointment Questions of procedure, decorum dominate the discussion Wednesday By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
An appointment that’s normally routine turned into a battle over parliamentary procedure during Oak Harbor City Council’s Wednesday meeting.
The next day Councilwoman Tara Hizon said she was “horrified” by Oak Harbor Mayor Scott Dudley’s handling of the meeting. “It was the most unprofessional thing I have ever seen,” she said. Councilman Joel Servatius said he had the same concerns. Dudley doesn’t understand his role at the meetings is one of impartial presider, he said. “Clearly, his judgment was clouded by his emotions and personal agenda,” Servatius wrote in an email. “He then
continues to talk over several council members who make a point of order and identify why he is incorrect. “One of the fundamental laws of parliamentary procedure is the presider is the servant of the group.” DUDLEY, HOWEVER, said he plans to schedule a workshop on parliamentary procedure because he believes council members just don’t get it. The trouble started after Dudley appointed
Oak Harbor City Council rejected the mayor’s choice for planning commission, blogger Cliff Howard, shown here in 2008.
SEE DROP, A20
SEE MISSING, A20
Staff reporter
SEE ELKS, A20
Photo by Ron Newberry/Whidbery News-Times
A counselor from Kiwanis Camp Casey catches a glimpse of parashooters with Oak Harbor’s Jet City Skydiving that dropped in to surprise attendees and deliver camp T-shirts at the camp for physically disabled children last week in Coupeville.
Gifts from the sky Staff reporter
B
arb Williams won’t argue that Camp Casey is a magical place. In 1971 as a high school student, she met a fellow
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counselor from Seattle at Kiwanis Camp Casey. She married him. “We would have never met if it wasn’t for camp,” Williams said, referring to her husband Paul Williams.
SEE APPOINTMENT, A5
By JESSIE STENSLAND
By RON NEWBERRY
By JUSTIN BURNETT
Pending Island Transit service cuts will hit the community hard, and residents let IT officials know it this week. About 20 people Thursday afternoon showed up to the Freeland Library to voice concerns about route cuts and modifications going into effect Sept. 1. The meeting was one of a series the transportation agency is holding on the upcoming service changes. Many attending said they want more details about the financial crisis but didn’t get any answers. The meeting was run by operational staff only. IT Director Martha Rose was not present. The magnitude of the problem wasn’t made clear to staff until June, they said. Gordon Labuhn, a Langley man, said he’d held leadership roles at small corporations for 30 years and is “astounded” by the claims of being blind to the problem until it was too late. “No matter what position I had, I always knew the budgets of every other department,” he said. Last month, Island Transit leaders announced the transportation service was in the grips of a financial crisis and that the board of directors approved taking an $800,000 bank loan to pay bills. To stay afloat, the agency is laying off 20 percent of its work force — 24 workers — ending Saturday bus service, cutting a number of routes and modifying several others. Rose blamed former financial manager Barbara Savary saying she failed to run monthly cash flow analysis
Elks will take over Whidbey Marathon Members of the Oak Harbor Elks Lodge may have to sprint to organize the next Whidbey Island Marathon after getting off to a late start. Oak Harbor City Council approved Oak Harbor Mayor Scott Dudley’s decision to contract with the group. Only Councilman Danny Paggao voted against the motion. Elks member Melissa Riker will serve as director of the city-owned marathon. Ed Sem, an officer of the lodge, noted the charitable work the group does nationally and locally. Only the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gives more in scholarships nationally, he said. “When this race is successful, the Elks can then turn around and give more back to the community,” Riker told the council. Tamra Sipes, former director of the marathon, warned council that coordinating the
Transit boss a no-show for second public forum
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