Business leaders on North Whidbey Island had a chance to hear from candidates running for office.

Candidates were on hand Thursday at the Greater Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce luncheon to answer how they would encourage, attract and retain business in Oak Harbor.

Residents heard from candidates running for the Oak Harbor School Board and Oak Harbor City Council.

There are three candidates running for Kathy Chalfant’s seat on the Oak Harbor School Board. Ace James, Corey Johnson and Brien Lillquist are squaring off in a Sept. 20 mail-in primary election to narrow the field to two candidates. Chalfant decided not to run again.

Johnson and Lillquist attended the luncheon, while James was absent. He was also absent from the League of Women’s candidate’s forum and he didn’t submit any information for the Island County Voter’s Pamphlet.

Johnson said he wants to provide quality schools which will help develop a workforce for the community.

“My goal is for every student to graduate on time and be a productive member of society,” Johnson told the chamber crowd.

He said some building systems at the high school are at the end of their useful life, and he was saddened to see the poor condition of the vocational facilities at the high school. He would like to see a quality high school for students.

Lillquist said the United States once had the best high school graduation rate in the world and now it’s number seven.

He said WASL scores need improving and that there will be unhappy parents if their children doesn’t pass the test. Passing the assessment is a graduation requirement beginning with the class of 2008.

He recalled a time when he overheard a conversation between three teenagers. One talked about dropping out to become a commercial fisherman in Alaska, the other talked about dropping out to be a builder and the third talked about dropping out to sell drugs.

“One of things I’d like to see is to bring a reality check into the school district,” Lillquist said.

The candidates didn’t take any questions during the luncheon.

While people had a last look of some of the candidates participating in the mail-in primary, they also had a chance to see some of the candidates vying for seats in the November election.

Gary Wallin is up for re-election this year and Bill Burnett filed to unseat him.

Wallin thanked the chamber members for their support for the bond passed in 1996, the levy passed last spring, and for providing mentors for the career technical program.

He said he is a supporter of the career technical program, school learning programs, and remediation programs.

He pointed out that the Oak Harbor School District is one of the largest employers on North Whidbey and that good schools will help encourage families to come to Oak Harbor.

“I ask for your support and I want you to consider me for re-election,” Wallin said.

Bill Burnett said there needs to be a change in leadership in the Oak Harbor School District.

He accused the school district of exaggerating bond numbers and WASL results. He said the district needs to be straight about the tax proposal.

He advocated running a $25 million high school renovation bond next spring. That amount is $11 million less than the lowest amount the school district is currently considering.

“We need a common sense approach,” Burnett said.

Three of the candidates running for Oak Harbor City Council also spoke at the chamber luncheon.

Jim Campbell, who is running to fill the seat being vacated by Richard Davis, said government should strike a reasonable balance with fulfilling its duties without causing citizens too much grief. He wants the city’s infrastructure expanded to the Urban Growth Area boundaries. That will help attract a wider variety of businesses.

Jeffrey Kelly is running for Sheilah Crider’s seat on the council. He advocated doing more to help the youth in the area, but also complimented Crider’s, and the city council’s, performance.

“I pretty much did the eeny-meeny-miney-moe thing,” Kelly said when commenting about why he chose to run against Crider.

Crider said the business area along Midway Boulevard needs revitalizing. She added the permit process needs simplifying, city services need installing in the growth area and the air park needs to re-open.