City Council

Oak Harbor City Council Special Meeting Minutes – Mayor and Council Retreat March 31, 2022 This was both a physical meeting location and a virtual meeting per WA Proclamation 20- 28. Meeting was viewable live via YouTube at www,youtube.com/cityofoakharbor and on Cable Channel 10/HD 1090 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Severns called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. ROLL CALL City Council Present: Staff Present: Mayor Robert Severns City Administrator Blaine Oborn Mayor Pro Tem Beth Munns Finance Director David Goldman Councilmember Tara Hizon Development Services Director David Kuhl Councilmember Dan Evans Public Works Director Steve Schuller Councilmember Shane Hoffmire City Engineer Alex Warner Councilmember Jim Woessner Fire Chief Ray Merrill Councilmember Bryan Stucky Police Chief Kevin Dresker Councilmember Eric Marshall Human Resources Director Emma House Harbormaster Chris Sublet Communications & IT Manager Sabrina Combs Executive Assistant Macalle Finkle City Clerk Julie Lindsey Also in attendance: City Interim Attorney Hillary Evans of Kenyon Disend, PLLC 1. CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST 2. WELCOME – MAYOR’S OPENING REMARKS Mayor Severns noted this was a special meeting for the purpose of holding the annual Mayor and Coun- cil Retreat. He thanked Council and staff for their attendance and noted the retreat objectives as listed on the agenda: • Connect and Get to Know One Another • Develop Guidelines for Council and Staff Communications • Review and Confirm Citywide Priorities • Identify Council Goals Mayor Severns voiced his appreciation for Council and staff taking the time to meet and discuss these items, the outcome of which will carry the City forward throughout the year and aid in successful lead- ership. He noted the City of Oak Harbor is a premium naval community, committed to delivering the highest level of customer service, with goals of improving economic opportunity and fostering community Special Meeting – Mayor & Council Retreat Minutes March 31, 2022 Page 1 of 4 partnerships. He introduced retreat facilitator: Julie Underwood, Public Works Director for the City of Kirkland, whose more than 20 years of local government management experience has included leader- ship facilitation. Ms. Underwood's career includes serving as City Manager, Assistant City Manager, and Assistant to the City Manager for the Cities of Mercer Island and Shoreline, Washington, Daly City, California, and the City of Rockville, Maryland. She currently serves as Public Works Director for the City of Kirkland. Ms. Underwood has a MA in Public Administration from Virginia Tech and a BA from George Mason University. She has had the privilege of being the first woman and person of color to serve in her two City Manager roles. An advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Ms. Underwood has spear-headed the Washington City/County Management Association's Northwest Women's Lead- ership Academy, designed to prepare, and promote more women into local government leadership roles. Ms. Underwood thanked Mayor Severns and the City for inviting her to facilitate the Retreat. She re- viewed the goals of the retreat, ground rules and provided an overview of the retreat agenda, which is provided here. As there were no actions taken by Council, no formal minutes were taken of discussion beyond this outline. The meeting was filmed live and is available on YouTube and Cable Channel 10/HD. 3. ICEBREAKER ACTIVITY • Write a Headline – In Five Years… Ms. Underwood asked all to write a news headline regarding what they would like to see occur within the next five years. 4. MAYOR’S ROLE, COUNCIL’S ROLE, STAFF’S ROLE Ms. Underwood noted that as a newly forming governing body, it is helpful to take a moment to discuss and clarify roles and expectations with each other. What expectations does the Mayor and Council have of staff? What expectations does Staff have of the Mayor and Council? What expectations does the Mayor and Council have of one another? 5. BREAK 6. MAYOR’S ROLE, COUNCIL’S ROLE, STAFF’S ROLE Ms. Underwood noted as a newly forming governing body, it was helpful to take a moment to discuss and clarify roles and expectations with each other. She led a discussion of: • What expectations does the Mayor and Council have of staff? • What expectations does Staff have of the Mayor and Council? • What expectations does the Mayor and Council have of one another? 7. CITYWIDE PRIORITIES Ms. Underwood observed that unavoidably, there are priorities and goals already on the City’s workplan, as some can take years to achieve. She noted this part of the program was to learn and understand these priorities and confirm if they should continue to move forward. Administrator Oborn introduced each department head, who contributed their departmental priorities. • Presentation of Departmental Priorities  Human Resources  Marina  Senior Services Special Meeting – Mayor & Council Retreat Minutes March 31, 2022 Page 2 of 4   Parks  Engineering  Public Works: o Facilities/Equipment Rental o Solid Waste o Streets o Wastewater Collection/Storm Drain o Water o Sewer  Development Services  Finance  Police  Fire  Communications  Information Technology  Administration • Employee Morale & Setting the Culture • Other Priorities • Council Questions & Answers 8. WORKING LUNCH - TRAINING • Council Questions & Answers 9. CITYWIDE PRIORITIES - CONTINUED 10. COUNCIL’S GOALS Ms. Underwood explained this was an opportunity for the Council to identify what it believes is im- portant for the City to accomplish; notably: • What goals would the Council like to see the City pursue? • Are there workplan items already on the list that Council believes needs to be completed and/or accelerated? • For newly identified goals, is there a consensus or majority to add them to the workplan? 11. BREAK 12. GOOD OF THE ORDER • Review Budget Schedule – Finance Director David Goldman provided a primer on the biennial budget process • Council Agenda & Meeting Management - This item spoke largely to length of meetings and agendas. Discussion included defining matters of urgency, the amount of background infor- mation necessary, re-presentations of information already presented to Council in the past, and whether new Councilmembers could familiarize themselves of the information from past Council meetings and decisions, Special Meeting – Mayor & Council Retreat Minutes March 31, 2022 Page 3 of 4 13. CLOSING – CLOSING REMARKS Mayor Pro Tem Munns on behalf of Mayor Severns and Council expressed their thanks to Ms. Under- wood for facilitation and to staff for their organization and participation. ADJOURN Mayor Pro Tem Munns adjourned the Council Retreat meeting at 4:33 p.m. Certified by Julie Lindsey, City Clerk Special Meeting – Mayor & Council Retreat Minutes March 31, 2022 Page 4 of 4