City of Oak Harbor parts way with two department heads

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Two department heads were recently separated from their positions with the city of Oak Harbor.

Brian Smith is no longer employed as director of Parks and Recreation, the city announced Monday. A release states that he and the city “mutually agreed to conclude the employment relationship,” and that Sabrina Combs, the city administrator, will act as director in the meantime.

City council created the director position in 2022 ahead of Smith’s hiring the same year.

Separately, Emma House is out as the city’s human resources director, Communications Officer Magi Aguilar confirmed.

Documents included in the packet for a March 24 council workshop state that the city is working with principal strategist Amber Richards of Indiana-based High Ground Strategic Services “to provide interim leadership and support to the HR team and staff.”

Public records requests submitted by the News-Times on March 17 and March 30 for documents related to Smith’s and House’s separations, respectively, are currently unfulfilled. In the past, firings of city administrators have been expensive for the city because of severance agreements.

Regarding Smith’s departure, the release states that the city “has made significant progress in establishing and developing its Parks and Recreation Department” and is shifting its focus to “long-term planning and aligning programs and services with community needs and expectations.”

Oak Harbor Mayor Ronnie Wright emphasized the need for and importance of transparency in the release.

“I am continually working with my executive team, leadership and City Council to maintain open communication about projects and transitions like this at the City,” he added. “My goal is to listen to the community and offer meaningful opportunities for input.”

Wright alluded to Smith’s departure during a presentation, reminding the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission of its role, duties and relationship to other city governing bodies at a March 9 meeting.

Responding to a question from commission chair Eric Dipzinski about whether subcommittees should be used to shorten commission meetings, Wright addressed what he called the “elephant in the room.”

“We’ve made a change in the leadership at the city in this specific department because we need to be handling how we’re addressing things differently and taking this department in a different direction,” Wright said.

Wright stressed the importance of communication and admitted the city needs to improve in transparency, “which is why we made a change,” he added. Wright said he and Combs will collaborate with Parks Supervisor Brandon Cable, Recreation Manager Liz Lange and Recreation Coordinator Craig Lamas-Cole while the city finds another director.

“The idea is that communication comes from the director down to them, and then comes out to you all. So I’m hoping that there would be less of a need for those subcommittee meetings because that direction is already coming to you from the city staff,” Wright explained. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be happening.”