An already strained relationship between the Oak Harbor City Council and Mayor Scott Dudley is further deteriorating in the final months of the mayor’s term — just as the council is poised to make crucial decisions on a multi-million dollar sewage treatment plant.

Members of the City Council say the mayor doesn’t talk with them and seems increasingly uninvolved in city business. They also say it’s been difficult at times to get the information they need from city staff, whom the mayor directs.

“We are frustrated with what’s happening with the mayor,” said Councilman Danny Paggao. “He is not communicating with us.”

THE MAYOR took a medical leave of absence May 4 to heal a ruptured disc in his back. Dudley said he takes phone calls and emails from city staff at home, but he’s not able to go to the office or attend city meetings and functions.

It’s not clear when Dudley will be back full time, if ever. His term runs out at the end of the year, and he’s not running again.

Dudley said his health is “week-to-week” and he has no sense when or if he’ll feel well enough to resume all his duties.

He said he’d like to return.

“I’m out on medical leave, but that shouldn’t worry the City Council,” Dudley said. “They’ve never listened to me anyway.”

PAGGAO IS acting in Dudley’s stead as mayor protem. He leads council meetings, signs documents and appears at community events in place of the mayor.

But he’s not at city hall overseeing the day-to-day running of the city.

The issue came to a head during Tuesday’s council meeting. The council wanted more information about temporarily moving a city-owned RV park to the marina. The city is considering using the area for staging heavy equipment and other materials for the treatment plant project.

The park brings in about $80,000 a year and draws RVers who spend dollars downtown.

Councilman Joel Servat-ius previously asked city staff for the basics on what it would take to temporarily move the RV park to the marina. The issue was on the council’s agenda, but when it came time to talk about the matter, city staff didn’t have any answers.

WHAT FOLLOWED was a 45-minute exchange with council members pressing City Administrator Larry Cort for answers.

“I guess I’m confused as to where the presentation is,” Councilwoman Tara Hizon said. “We haven’t heard a peep since it was brought up. What is going on?”

Cort told the council he didn’t have the information and would talk to the mayor about providing it. Cort suggested the council call the mayor at home.

Councilman Rick Almberg tried to make a motion directing the mayor to have city staff prepare information about an RV park at the marina. The city attorney said that’s not legal because the City Council “can’t direct the mayor” and it’s the mayor’s job to direct city staff.

City Council instead unanimously passed a motion stating the council has a “strong preference” for the city to prepare more information about moving the RV park to the marina.

“I want the public to know this council is making every effort to minimize the cost on this plant and to reduce negative impacts,” Almberg said. “And this would be a negative impact.”

City administrator Cort didn’t return calls from the Whidbey News-Times.

PART OF the problem may be that city staffers are afraid of losing their jobs, Councilman Bob Severns said Wednesday.

Dudley fired multiple city administrators, including the police chief when he took office.

“Staff may be afraid to tell us,” Severns said.

During a phone interview Thursday, the mayor contended it’s the City Council members who are the ones not “hungry for information” and out of touch with taxpayers.

“(The Council is) going to push this down the citizens’ throats whether they want it or not,” he said.

The mayor called a temporary RV park at the marina “insane” and a “terrible idea” because it may cost too much to run utilities to the site. He also said most RVers don’t want to stay in a parking lot next to a fence.

He added he disagrees with another council decision Tuesday to tear down the former Whidbey Island Bank building. The building will be razed after the new sewage treatment plant is built adjacent to it.

THE CITY will eventually need a larger library and the bank building might have been an option, he said, adding it doesn’t make any sense to replace a property that generates tax dollars for the city with a parking lot.

The city previously announced that the RV park would likely close in early July, but the closing date is now sometime in the fall.

That and other details about temporarily relocating the park need to be decided soon so people can make reservations, Almberg said.

The RV decision is important but it’s also a distraction from larger decisions about the sewage treatment plant that need to be made in coming months, Almberg added.

The mayor’s lack of leadership is harming that process, he said.

The mayor has the authority to delegate his responsibilities to the city administrator or other department heads so “normal business can continue without further delay,” Almberg said.

“Right now is the most important time to manage this facility,” Almberg said.

“There has to be leadership.”