​Name of Observer: Diana M Conners
Observed Meeting:   So Whidbey School District Directors Meeting
Date of Meeting: April 26, 2023
Members present: Andrea Downs, Joe Greenheron, Marnie Jackson, Ann Johnson, Brook Willeford, Supt. Jo Moccia, Student members: Audrey Gmerek and Katya Schiavone
Members absent:
Others present (staff, media, public):  Principals: John Patton, Kayla Phillips, Dr. Jeff Frankhauser, Asst Supt Dan Poolman, Communications Director, Kristina Macarro and approximately 30 members of the community.

Summarize the main issues discussed at the meeting:
Presentation of spending over past year…A preliminary budget for 2023/24 was presented. Enrollment/ Down 46 for next year…
Program reductions–many that will affect students, no district funding for Running Start Program…
About 11 community members, coaches, parents, and students spoke to the new decision that forbids buses returning from athletic events from stopping on the way home for food/snacks/drinks.

List any issues on the agenda relevant to any LWV state or local positions or programs:
  

Do you recommend local League action or study on any of these issues? 
Learn more about budget cuts/program reductions—Watch discussions on the new budget.
Possibly conduct meetings with individual members of the school board or have them speak at an event.

Was the meeting conducted in an open, business-like, and civil manner?  Yes

Consider the following questions and respond if relevant:
Was the agenda made available prior to and at the meeting? Yes
Did members adhere to the provided agenda? Yes
Were any non-agenda items discussed?  No
Was there adequate discussion of issues?  There could have been more discussion, but there may not have been the time. 
Were any “Executive Sessions” called? Yes. There was an Executive Session following the Board Meeting.
Was there adequate opportunity for public input? Yes
Was background material available to the public? Yes
Did any member recuse themselves during the meeting? No
If yes, for what reason?

List any other concerns or observations: There was a great deal of public protest against new budget cut regarding stops for athletic buses returning from sporting events. Quite a lot of protest regarding the quality of school programs… Comments on ration of district management to budget problems and need for cuts… One person stated that this Supt earns more than the Governor of WA.
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Observer E-mail:    conners@whidbey.com               Date submitted:  05/01/2023

Name of Observer: Becky Bolte
Observed Meeting: Oak Harbor School District Board
Date of Meeting: 4-24-2023

Members present: Lynn Goebel, Bob Hallahan, Nicole Tesch, Jessica Aws, Thinalyn Ramier, student: Josiah Villano.
Members absent: Sharon Jensen
Others present (staff, media, public): Superintendent Michelle Kuss-Cybula, Asst. Superintendent Dwight Lundstrom.

Summarize the main issues discussed at the meeting:
3.01 Recognition of Erica Schulle by Principal Salisbury - PBS/KCTS one of top educators of the year in the state - Golden Apple Moments Award.
3.02 Recognition of Oak Harbor High School staff: Chris Whiteman – CTE. Choices program staff:  Nelson Rusche, David Thompson, Margo Lanier, Angiey Ward, Les Richardson, Dorothy Rotter, Vanessa Showalter, Kelley Evans.
4.02 Visitors: President Goebel announced that visitors are heard at board meetings (3 minutes) but board does not respond, they take notes and listen at the meeting. Two visitors signed up but did not attend.
5.01 Superintendent’s report:
“Legislation Matters” – Hand-in-Hand, Crescent Harbor Elementary, Home Connection were funded in capital budget, $13.5 million for Crescent Harbor. Support from Ron Muzzall, Dave Paul, and Clyde Shavers.
Budget overview – maintain people and programs, condense services. Finalizing classified staffing.
Kindergarten registration – 45% increased registration from last year, have online enrollment, developing an Early Learning Task Force.
7.01 Oak Harbor High School Annual Report:
School Improvement Plan – Goal #1 – Improve supportive relationships from 78% to 82% by spring. Goal #2 – claim/evidence/reasoning. Goal #3 math passing rate – still have a lot of work to do. Goal #4 graduation passing rate from 93.2% to 94 % - state average is 82%.
Supportive relationships –sense of belonging in 4 areas
· Student to student
· Student to staff
· Student to career
· Students to community
Next steps: implementing AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination), restarting Character Strong, roll out MTSS (muti-tiered system of support) ingredients.
7.02 CAPE Club:
Presented by Zoe. Community Awareness Peer Educators. Spreading awareness about substance use prevention, peer pressure, social norms, and media literacy.
9.01 Board policy updates: Dwight Lundstrom.
Change from student board member invited to attend board meetings to expected.
Student privacy – 18 year olds and up have control of their records, 14 and older have confidentially rights related to STDs, 13 and older have confidentiality rights related to drugs, alcohol and mental health treatment, all students have rights to family planning records.
Student searches – establish reasonable suspicion grounds, search done by principal or designee (dean). Can conduct search of car or backpack or container if there is reasonable suspicion. Lockers and desks can be searched anytime.
Staff continue to be mandatory reporters – for negligence, injury, sexual abuse. Training for staff included.
Non-discrimination statement for use of facilities.
Covid vaccination requirement removed.
14.01 Upcoming meetings. Board Meetings: Monday, May 8 at 5 p.m - study session, May 22 Board Meeting at 6 p.m. Student Voice Roundtables: May 18 at 11 a.m. and May 23.

Do you recommend local League action or study on any of these issues? NO
If ‘yes’ what action do you recommend?
Was the meeting conducted in an open, business-like, and civil manner? YES

Consider the following questions and respond if relevant:

Was the agenda made available prior to and at the meeting? Yes
Did members adhere to the provided agenda? Yes
Were any non-agenda items discussed? No
Was there adequate discussion of issues? Yes
Were any “Executive Sessions” called? No
Was there adequate opportunity for public input? Yes
Was background material available to the public? Yes, agenda, past meeting minutes, board member names, and livestream link.
Did any member recuse themselves during the meeting? No


List any other concerns or observations:
Slides are very easy to see online, but the video is small and difficult to view.
Some acronyms used that are not always spelled out e.g. MTSS, AVID.
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Observer E-mail: bbolte@comcast.net  Date submitted: 4-25-2023

​Name of Observer: Judy Hucka
Observed Meeting:   WbidbeyHealth Board of Commissioners
Date of Meeting: 04/20/2023
Members present: All five commissioners were present: President Ron Wallin, Gregory Richardson, James Golder, Morgan Cooper, Eric Anderson.
Members absent: 0
Others present (staff, media, public):  Staff members present: Dr. David Lemme (Chief of Staff), John Freeman (Associate Vice President of HealthTech Management Services), Shanna Harney-Bates (Quality), Dr. Garth Miller (COO), Paul Rogers (Finance), Tim Waldner (IT/Ancillary Services), Curtis Shumate (Nursing), LaJolla Peters (HR). New CEO Nathan Staggs attended remotely via Zoom but had a poor connection.
Member of the public: Vicki McFarland.

Summarize the main issues discussed at the meeting:
Electronic health records consulting contract. This is a $2.455 million 16-month contract with the consulting firm Tegria to provide consulting for the implementation of a new electronic health records system. The hospital district is migrating from two disparate EHR systems to a single integrated platform (Meditech) and upgrading from Meditech 6.08 to Meditech Expanse. 

Commissioner Gregory Richardson raised concerns that he had not been given adequate time to review the proposed contract, which had been reviewed and recommended by the Finance Committee. He noted that he did not intend to be a “rubber stamp” for staff recommendations and that the commissioners’ job is governance and oversight. He asked that in the future commissioners be given at least two days before a meeting to review complicated and high-cost contracts and other proposals before being asked to vote on them.
CEO Staggs agreed that information should be provided earlier. However, he said that multiple people with multiple areas of expertise were involved in recommending the contract. After some
discussion, Richardson said he supported the contract and it was approved unanimously.

Medical staffing. Both Chief Operating Officer Dr. Garth Miller and Executive Director of Nursing Curtis Shumate noted some progress in hiring doctors, physician’s assistants and nurses to address what is a nationwide shortage of medical providers. Shumate noted that he is continuing to work to reduce the need to use expensive traveling nurses. There was mention of increased workplace violence and behavioral problems; staff is monitoring this situation and implementing training to deal with it.

Financial status. John Freeman and Paul Rogers noted continuing improvement in financial status, with several key indicators favorable over the same time last year. A report from state auditors is to be given tomorrow (April 21) and the commissioners plan to attend. It was determined this was not a public meeting.

Commissioners Comments: Commissioners noted that it has been one year since the hospital contracted with HealthTech to provide management services. They agreed this has brought the hospital to a much better position, but they would like a report on the total costs of this arrangement.

Several times during the meeting, commissioners noted that the hospital is in much better shape than a year ago and that most of the serious problems (financial, management,
staffing) are behind it.

Executive Session. The Board clearly advertised an executive session for “education” with legal adviser Brad Berg. No more specific topic for the executive session was stated. When the board came out of executive session, Board President Wallin stated that no votes had been taken or decisions made.

List any issues on the agenda relevant to any LWV state or local positions or programs: NONE

Do you recommend local League action or study on any of these issues? NO  

Was the meeting conducted in an open, business-like, and civil manner?  YES

Consider the following questions and respond if relevant:

Was the agenda made available prior to and at the meeting? Yes, but no supporting documentation.

Did members adhere to the provided agenda? Were any non-agenda
items discussed?  
Tegria contract was not listed on the agenda.

Was there adequate discussion of issues?   Yes, there was a bit more discussion than the previous
meeting I attended.

Were any “Executive Sessions” called? Yes. For “education” with legal adviser Brad Berg.

Was there adequate opportunity for public input? Yes
Was background material available to the public? Not that I could find.
Did any member recuse themselves during the meeting? No

List any other concerns or observations:
The Board of Commissioners, with leadership team and staff, meets in person at WH’s Health
Education Center. I attended online via Zoom. Because of the way the camera was set up, it was
difficult to see who was speaking and was also difficult to hear at times. Members of the Board
of Commissioners were not introduced and did not appear to have nameplates so it is difficult to
identify who was who. It would probably be better to attend these meetings in person.

The most important item discussed at the meeting, the $2.4 million contract with Tegria, was not
listed on the agenda made available to the public.
I intend to follow up to get a copy of the state auditors’ report.
Board President Ron Wallin made it clear that public input was welcome and appreciated.
Several other commissioners also mentioned they valued public comment.
Several staff members gave reports and shared various documents on the screen, but copies of
reports were not readily provided on the website, so it was difficult to see the details. Most likely
I could ask for copies of these reports.
​
Observer E-mail: judy.hucka@gmail.com                                     Date submitted: 04/21/2023

Name of Observer: Jane Ficalora
Observed Meeting: Langley City Council
Date of Meeting: 4/17/2023
Members present: Harolynne Bobis, Rhonda Salerno, Thomas Gill, Craig Cyr, Gail Fleming
Members absent: none
Others present (staff, media, public): Mayor: Scott Chaplin, Interim Clerk: Darlene Baldwin, Finance Director: Wanda Grone, Planning Director: Meredith Penny, Director of Public Works: Randi Perry, Chief of Police: Tavier Wasser, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director and Commissioner Port of South Whidbey
There were also members of public on zoom - they are not shown unless they make a comment.

Summarize the main issues discussed at the meeting:
-Chamber of Commerce Inge Morascini provided update on local business.
-Planning Director Penny presented interim zoning amendments for automobile detailing and Multi-Family performance standards for mixed-use development. Both amendments passed.
-Public Works Director Perry presented information on Water Use Efficiency Goal Resolution.
-Greg Easton, Commissioner for Port of South Whidbey was present to follow up on application that was submitted August of 2022. There is funding available for proposal of housing on fairgrounds but need zoning changes in timely manner or will lose money. Planning Director Perry explained the
application process was slowed because of tax issues with company processing application. It was decided as long as the Port has evidence of the proceedings in process that would suffice for near term. If tax issue continues longer, Penny will take up work on application until the tax matter is solved.
-Chief Wasser announced the police department was awarded a grant for training program. The department is developing recruiting effort to fill openings in the civil service commission that by law need to be filled. The department is searching for a new vehicle and pros and cons of using EV automobiles were discussed.
-Finance director Grone mentioned there is need to have a different person other than herself for accounts payable because it opens city to potential for fraud charges. Grone is currently working to close year-end balance as well and that is a time-consuming task. The director also mentioned that the city uses a lot of volunteers and there is a need for these hours to be recorded quarterly.

Do you recommend local League action or study on any of these issues? No
Was the meeting conducted in an open, business-like, and civil manner? Yes – All in attendance were polite and the motions were discussed and voted on in an orderly manner.

Consider the following questions and respond if relevant:

Was the agenda made available prior to and at the meeting? Yes -
https://cms4files1.revize.com/langleywashington/Updated%202023%2004%2017%20Council%20Packet.pdf

Did members adhere to the provided agenda? Yes
Were any non-agenda items discussed? No
Was there adequate discussion of issues? Yes
Were any “Executive Sessions” called? No
Was there adequate opportunity for public input? Yes
Was background material available to the public? Yes – see council packet linked above.
Did any member recuse themselves during the meeting? No

List any other concerns or observations:

Observer E-mail: jrfic@yahoo.com Date submitted: 4/20/23

Name of Observer: Jane Ficalora
Observed Meeting: Langley City Council
Date of Meeting: 4/10/2023
Members present: Harolynne Bobis, Rhonda Salerno, Thomas Gill, Craig Cyr, Gail Fleming
Members absent: none
Others present (staff, media, public): Mayor: Scott Chaplin, Interim Clerk: Darlene Baldwin, Planning Director: Meredith Penny, Chief of Police: Tavier Wasser, and members of Climate Crisis Action Commission
There were also members of public on zoom - they are not shown unless they make a comment.

Summarize the main issues discussed at the meeting:

Speakers for Climate Crisis Action Commission presented power point slides on current and future work that city is doing to be good stewards of the environment. There was mention of available federal funding for green projects and that the creation of a climate action plan would be needed to be eligible for this funding. Also, an invitation was extended to an upcoming seminar to be held 6/10 on Whidbey's Water Future.

Community Planning Director Penny proposed two interim zoning amendments. One amendment regarding regulations for automobile detailing land use and the second regarding performance standards multi-family. Both amendments were passed.

Council member Salerno opened follow up discussion on Holiday Recognition. Council member Cyr suggested the following of recommendations outlined by Dismantling Systemic Racisim Commission.

Council member Bobis referenced Kirkland's city council ethic rules as a model for Langley to look for updating current code. Council member Gill suggested he and Bobis review the ethics code together to see what needs to be addressed.

Do you recommend local League action or study on any of these issues? No

Was the meeting conducted in an open, business-like, and civil manner? Yes – All in attendance were polite and the motions were discussed and voted on in an orderly manner.

Consider the following questions and respond if relevant.

Was the agenda made available prior to and at the meeting?
Yes: https://cms4files1.revize.com/langleywashington/2023-04-10%20Council%20Packet.pdf

Did members adhere to the provided agenda? Yes
Were any non-agenda items discussed? No
Was there adequate discussion of issues? Yes
Were any “Executive Sessions” called? No
Was there adequate opportunity for public input? Yes
Was background material available to the public? Yes – see council packet linked above.
Did any member recuse themselves during the meeting? No

List any other concerns or observations:

Observer E-mail: jrfic@yahoo.com Date submitted: 4/12/23