Mayor issues statement regarding last night’s council meeting

The regular meeting of the Ferndale City Council last night was packed to overflowing as citizens were drawn in over two contentious agenda items, a request for health benefits by Ferndale Mayor Jon Mutchler and changes to retail marijuana regulations.

City Council heard from the citizens gathered and voted to deny the Mayor’s request. Later in the meeting the council voted 4 to 3 to approve licensing a second marijuana retailer in Ferndale. The Mayor said he would veto that ordinance. Later during the meeting, the Mayor conceded he had changed his mind and would not be vetoing the ordinance.

Today, the Mayor issued the following statement which also appeared on the city website:

Last night, our council did the hard but necessary work of democracy. I had asked the Council to consider providing health insurance for the role of the mayor. This struck a chord with the public, who showed up at council last night to share their thoughts. The council discussed the issue and in the end voted to deny the request.

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I truly appreciate all the feedback we received. Our community is stronger for the conversation and as we continue to grow, the issues of compensation and time commitment for elected officials will continue to surface.

Last night, Councilmember Taylor suggested a citizen’s commission to examine this issue, similar to what Whatcom County did in 2015 and Washington State did in 2013. This would be a committee of members of the public and appointed by the council. This would be a good way to address this in the future.

The other issue discussed last night was the decision to expand the number of retail marijuana stores in our City from one to two. This is a serious issue and Police Chief Knapp spoke at length about his reservations.

When the council voted 4-3, I saw that there was not clear and strong support for allowing more access to this drug, so I sought to exercise my mayoral veto to protect the safety of our community. When it comes to the damage that marijuana can do to the children of Ferndale, I wanted to do what I could to keep us safe.

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However, the council objected to my use of the veto and was ready to vote to override my action. Rather than go through the procedural process, I decided to withdraw my veto. I still feel strongly about this issue but that’s one of the things about democracy, you don’t always get your way.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this community discussion, who wrote, commented, posted or called about these issues. I can only hope we continue to have civil discussions about the issues and concerns that shape our city.

Sincerely,

Mayor Jon Mutchler