Editor,

I feel compelled to tell the citizens of Oak Harbor a little more about what I’ve done, what I am doing and why I deserve your vote to serve another term as your mayor. I know I don’t tell my story often enough.

I have spent most of my last 45 years serving Oak Harbor. I was involved in a for-profit business during much of that time, and that connected me to our city. I joined the local chamber of commerce, Rotary Club, golf club and yacht club. I served on committees and boards to help and support our military, our state, our county, our city, our school district, our pool, our domestic abuse victims and others I won’t continue to list. I have been involved in our city in many ways during the last 45 years.

As your mayor, I made our citizen safety my highest priority. The records for quick fire response and decreased police calls for major crimes have earned awards for Oak Harbor as one of the safest cities in Washington. I have formed a city safety committee that strengthened our park rules, cleaned up encampment sites, added police officers and put officers on bicycles to better patrol our streets.

I’m proud to help re-open our beautiful Windjammer Park complete with its brand-new splash park. And I’m proud to say I helped get our swimming pool re-opened.

I continue to work on opportunities for housing that started with the formation of the Affordable Housing Task Force. I closely follow our projects in process and communicate with applicants and staff to help bring these opportunities to completion.

I am involved in communications with Navy NW to treat the Seaplane base wastewater that could benefit all city rate payers. I am also negotiating opportunities to expand our marina.

Lately a very high priority is my support for Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in their legal challenge from our state attorney general. I am chairman of the NAS Whidbey Task Force and giving my full support to our military friends and partners is a top priority.

Lastly, I ask that you compare my history of involvement in our city with my opponent’s and then ask us both about what we have planned for the future of Oak Harbor. I plan to serve my next full term if re-elected to continue to keep Oak Harbor safe and moving forward.

Bob Severns

Oak Harbor