A mayoral election decided by three votes, a teachers strike, and a city’s handling of a divisive homeless situation in 2019 point toward more big decisions, and questions, coming in the New Year. Here’s an update on some of the major stories from the last year and what we might expect from them as we enter a new decade.

Elections

An incumbent mayor narrowly hanging on to office after a hand count of ballots, and losses by two young, one-term incumbent mayors in the two largest cities in the county topped the elections headlines in 2019 and will have local political observers watching closely in 2020.

A hotly contested race in Ocean Shores between challenger and City Councilwoman Susan Conniry and incumbent Mayor Crystal Dingler ended in a hand count Dec. 3, nearly a month after the general election. Dingler came out on top, by three votes, 1,607-1,604. The Ocean Shores mayoral race drew more than 62% voter turnout.

Conniry’s supporters could be generalized as strongly distrustful of the city government and say it lacks transparency and overspends. She retains her seat on the council and has often challenged the administration. Political observers will be watching to see how the two candidates work together. Conniry has already shown indications that she’ll run again in four years.

After the election was made official, both Dingler and Conniry said the election showed not so much a divide within the city, but the fact the majority of Ocean Shores citizens are actively participating in their city’s government. Conniry summed up, “We must create a positive atmosphere in which our community can thrive. No matter who you supported, we need to work together, collaborate and create a vision for the future of Ocean Shores that we all support.”

Incumbent one-term mayors in Aberdeen and Hoquiam were defeated by challengers in 2019. Aberdeen’s Erik Larson, only 24 when he took office in January 2016, was defeated by longtime City Councilman Pete Schave. During the campaign, Larson took vocal criticism about his handling of the homeless situation in the city, and was accused of not working closely enough with his community and the City Council. Schave was viewed as more of a team player by his supporters. Either way, the city will have some major decisions on how to respond to homelessness, including what to do after March when current funding and authority for a homeless camp behind City Hall sunsets.

Along with a new mayor, the Aberdeen City Council will see five new members in 2020, occupying seats left open with five incumbent councilmembers decided not to run for re-election. All have said they will work with the new mayor and city department heads to find workable solutions to the city’s complex issues.

Hoquiam’s Jasmine Dickhoff, who spent eight years on the City Council before she defeated Jack Durney in the 2015 election, was defeated by City Councilman Ben Winkelman.

Aberdeen homeless

With a new mayor, whose supporters stumped heavily on Larson’s handling of the homeless issue, and five new City Council members, the city will have more tough choices to make in 2020.

The creation of a temporary homeless encampment next to City Hall around the time the longtime homeless camp on the Chehalis River was cleared in July allowed the city to comply with recent federal court decisions when it came to enforcing regulations against camping on public property.

Property on South Michigan Street recently purchased by the city for a longer term camp sits vacant as the City Council, which had approved the purchase, voted in October to deny a permit for its use as a camp. To comply with federal mandates, saying the city must have a place for the homeless to go to enforce its public camping laws, the City Hall camp was extended through mid-March 2020.

When mid-March comes, the new mayor and council members will either have to extend the permit for the City Hall camp again or find another location for a camp. That need was hammered home in mid-December when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal on the Martin vs Boise case, leaving in place the requirement that a city provides a place for its homeless population to camp if it wants to enforce regulations on camping in public spaces. The cost of operating the City Hall camp since it opened in July will approach $260,000.

Teachers

A new state school funding model made for some tense negotiations between local school districts and teachers unions ahead of the 2018-19 school year. And in late 2019 one school, Willapa Valley, went on strike while negotiating for an additional raise over the 23.7% raise its teachers received prior to the school year.

If school administrators thought the large raises at the start of the year would make for less tense negotiations the next time contracts were bargained, the Willapa negotiations no doubt caught their attention.

Negotiations in Willapa Valley broke down in December and a state mediator was brought in. Teachers were calling for an additional 6.25% raise, while the district was sticking to the state funded 2% raise. Teachers went on strike and classes were closed the week of Dec. 9 before the district and the union agreed on a 3-year contract with a 3.25% raise the first year.

Aberdeen teachers began negotiations before the 2018-19 school year asking for a 35% raise. The district countered with 15. After a very public and sometimes tense negotiation period, the teachers wound up with an 18% raise. Soon after the contract was ratified in April, the Aberdeen school board, faced with a $3.5 million budget shortfall, reduced 46 district staff members.

Talks in Hoquiam were not as public as those in Aberdeen, and did not require the assistance of a mediator. When an agreement was reached in October 2018, Hoquiam teachers wound up getting anywhere from around 17-21% raises, with the higher raises going to the teachers with the most experience.

Facing its own budget shortfall of about $500,000, the Hoquiam school board in April approved its own staff reduction plan, 19 positions overall.

DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Multiple agencies investigated an officer-involved shooting on West State Street near the Chehalis River Bridge onramp in early September.

Louis Krauss | Grays Harbor news group Teachers, union and community members listen to Aberdeen Education Association President Michelle Reed during a boycott and rally at Aberdeen High School during school district contract negotiations.