Two council meetings after his reappointment, Ridgefield Mayor Ron Onslow received both outcry and support from locals regarding the surprise 4-3 council vote that removed previous Mayor Jennifer Lindsay.
Onslow had served as mayor from 2008-18, remaining on the city council up to his recent appointment. Lindsay served a two-year term from 2022-24 before her removal in January.
During a Thursday, Feb. 8 City Council meeting, some residents called for Onslow’s resignation, while others pushed for unity. One local told the council that the surprise change in leadership was not representative of the city’s interests.
“During a recent vote in mid-January, curiously timed during blood donor month, who would have thought that the council would tap into the former mayor’s veins first?” he said. “...The chauvinism displayed in showering one’s male colleagues with exuberant praise while tossing a female colleague a single backhanded compliment is astounding.”
Ridgefield native Roy Garrison, on the other hand, voiced his support of Onslow and worried that the friction growing in the community could cause the April school bond vote to fail.
“..I hope, Mr. Onslow, that you stand fast,” Garrison said. “Jen, I think you [were] a very good mayor, but apparently there were things that didn’t function the way they’re [supposed to].”
Ridgefield resident Patrick Flynn said that he was accepting of Onslow’s appointment as mayor, saying he had done a great job and will continue to do so. Flynn did express disappointment that some councilors did not explain their votes.
“There’s no reason to have a surprise candidacy,” Flynn said. “If the surprise was unplanned, then I think the move was unprofessional and discourteous. And if it was planned, then it was mean.”
Sean Guard, who served as Washougal’s mayor from 2010-17, said that Ridgefield’s community is starting to get torn apart and needs to unite ahead of an important special ballot for school bonds in April.
“I’ve heard the words ‘clandestine, secret ballot, behind the scenes’ and more, when, in reality, what you did on Jan. 11 is a normal course of business for this city, every two years, like clockwork,” Guard said. “... Some folks want to blame the old guys. Well, ironically, it’s the old guys that have brought so much of Ridgefield’s prosperity into good things that are happening.”
Onslow said council members conducted no discussions behind closed doors, and Councilor Rob Aichele’s nomination of Onslow came as a surprise. Onslow said he heard from Aichele two years prior that he would support Lindsay in the next mayoral vote, which changed on Jan. 25 mayoral appointment.
“Well, in this last vote I was nominated, and my mother always told me, if somebody has guts enough to nominate you, then you should vote for yourself, so I did,” Onslow said. “I didn’t know what the vote was going to be, and I did not expect it … I only planned to be mayor for my term, and I did not expect that I would be [appointed]. It just happened.”
Addressing concerns about a lack of transparency, Aichele said he did not vote for the former mayor due to a lack of communication during her two-year term. Aichele said that when he served as mayor pro-tem during Lindsay’s term, she only held five council briefings and never provided any written reports.
“Regarding leadership, I believe that the mayor should take the lead with the entire council,” Aichele said. “... I nominated and voted for Ron Onslow because he has demonstrated this kind of leadership for many years. And I think what I said may upset some, and that’s why I didn’t want to say it, but that was my thought process.”
Onslow shared a similar experience, citing a lack of transparency from Lindsay as his reason for not supporting the former mayor.
“Well, one of the reasons would be a lack of communication with several people [and] with me a lot,” Onslow said. “I think I met with Jennifer two times over the past two years, other than a couple of briefings, but that doesn’t mean she’s bad. Jennifer is really good. She’s done a great job. She’s really good in front of people, and she’s very reliable.”
Lindsay thanked her fellow councilors for stating their reasons during the council meeting. She said that because the change in leadership was so unexpected, people wanted clarity from their city councilors.
“Right now is a really interesting time in the history of our city that we love. There is a segment of our community that is asking for, [and] we’ve heard this word a lot, ‘transparency and accountability,’ Lindsay said. “ … That’s not division. That is our constituents paying attention to their local government and asking questions … And whether or not they’re a majority or minority, I believe that they deserve to have their concerns heard and addressed.”
