Each mayor’s personality and expertise shined through in their city and town-specific presentations at the first-ever State of the Cities address, hosted by the Whidbey Island League of Women Voters.

Oak Harbor Mayor Jim Slowik, owner of Slowik Motors, approached the audience Thursday night in Coupeville with a business-wise look at the state of Oak Harbor.

With the help of executive assistant Renee Recker, Slowik explained the state of Oak Harbor with a PowerPoint presentation with an overview of the city’s $80 million budget and major departments.

The budget supports 130 employees including the police department, which responded to 12,500 calls and the fire department, which received 1,183 service calls in 2008, he said.

Slowik announced the official completion of the boardwalk-style section of the waterfront trail, a project from 2009 that he’s “most proud of,” which will be celebrated on April 23 at 3:30 p.m. at Flintstone Park.

During this celebration, Slowik anticipates the official announcement of an agreement between Oak Harbor and the Navy to extend the waterfront trail to Maylor’s Point. The Navy barred access to Maylor’s Point, which is part of the Seaplane Base, after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Improvements to Pioneer Way, the hub of downtown, are also an important project for 2009, he said.

“I think our community has always been the merchant of the island, not a tourist destination,” Slowik said. “If we improve downtown, maybe we can improve tourism in Oak Harbor.”

Another major potential project may take place if an agreement between the Navy and Oak Harbor goes through. As part of the stimulus package, the Navy received $20 million for the installation of a water line that will run between the Seaplane Base and Ault Field. The city of Oak Harbor hopes to “piggyback” on the project, which will benefit both the city and the Navy, Slowik said. Details on the possible agreement will be available next week.

Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard was a little disappointed with the turnout.

“Frankly, I thought the room would be packed, and so when you go home you can tell all your friends what they missed,” she told the audience of about 30 Whidbey Island residents.

Conard outlined a brief regional history lesson ranging from Captain George Vancouver’s exploration of the straight of San Juan de Fuca in the 1790s to the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 that brought an influx of settlers.

The first census on record logged a population of 310 in 1910. This year, Coupeville is home to an estimated population of 1,915, she said.

The challenges today, Conard said, come with a doubling or tripling of the population every day because of the daily influx of county, school and hospital employees.

“It’s kind of an interesting challenge to provide services for more people than pay taxes.”

Conard used an overhead projector to compare the three major tax revenue sources for Coupeville with Langley and Oak Harbor.

Retail trade (24 percent), construction (40 percent), and arts, recreation and entertainment (11 percent) make up 75 percent of Coupeville’s tax revenue.

In comparison, Langley received 36 percent from retail, 27 percent from construction and 18 percent from the arts.

Oak Harbor receives 55 percent from retail, 14 percent from construction and 11 percent from arts and entertainment.

These numbers show that the moral of the story is “shop local,” Conard said, adding a reminder to organizations to take local business spending to island markets instead of making a Costco run.

The strengths of the town are like a three-legged stool, she said, listing history and sense of place, environmental conservation, and Coupeville’s sense of community as the three support pillars.

Langley Mayor Paul Samuleson illustrated his address through stories, without the use of technology or visual aids.

Samuelson sees an aging population on the south end. Twenty percent of adults are under 45, he said, and 80 percent are 46 years old and up.

“How do we get younger people to come here?” he said, adding that when he arrived on the island while in his 20s, the age demographic was much different.

“I got involved because I felt disenfranchised,” he said of the former city government. “I wanted to change that culture.”

Since assuming his role as mayor, Samuelson said he’s trying to create an open line of communication between the community and government.

He described the transition by sharing stories of talks between Langley’s government and downtown business owners to preserve the waterfront, the ongoing challenge of the loss of Linds Langley Drug and a community project that resulted in an edible garden on city hall property.

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain,” he said. “We will get past these times and we might as well have fun doing it.”