Woodland City Council member Jennifer De Luz told The Reflector she planned to resign due to health issues, unstable housing and tensions with Mayor Todd Dinehart. She announced her intention in an April 30 interview and submitted her resignation letter to the city council on Friday, May 1.
Her resignation marks the second time in recent months that a Woodland council member has announced their intent to resign, citing concerns about Dinehart’s behavior alongside personal health and housing issues.
Council member Gabe Huston previously submitted a resignation letter in December, citing intimidation and disrespect from the mayor, though he later rescinded it. Huston previously stated he had housing issues following prolonged cancer treatments and an inability to return to work, having to stay at an associate’s house within city limits. Dinehart and Huston have publicly disagreed over whether he has a legitimate legal address within city limits.
De Luz described a prolonged medical situation that includes daily fevers and a diagnosis she said has affected her ability to serve. De Luz said she has been diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension, a disorder involving high blood pressure in the skull, causing headaches among other symptoms.
“The migraines and headaches I experience daily are insane,” De Luz said. “On top of that, every day since June … of 2024, I get 15 to 20 fevers a day.”
Alongside her health concerns, De Luz said she lost her permanent residence, having lived at Woodland Shores RV Park for about seven years before receiving a notice to vacate on Sept. 11, 2025, with 30 days to move out.
She said she was caught up on rent at the time and described the notice as a wrongful eviction. According to De Luz, she contacted the Washington Attorney General’s Office and the Northwest Justice Project, which she said indicated the eviction may not have been lawful, given her long-term residency.
“The attorney general and the Northwest Justice Center both said … even though it’s an RV park, you can’t evict people,” she alleged. “You’re caught up on rent. Nothing has happened. You can’t just evict people based on a bad mood.”
She said the eviction notice was withdrawn after the Washington Attorney General’s Office intervened. Her husband continued with their wrongful eviction claim in small claims court, which she said was ongoing.
De Luz added that the situation heightened again in February, when she said the property issued a pay-or-vacate notice. De Luz said she and her husband disagreed on how to proceed at that time, and she chose to leave the property while he continued legal action.
“I thought we should just leave,” she said. “Let’s just get out of here. He didn’t want to, so that’s where our … disagreement came in, and I left.”
De Luz said she has stayed in hotels and with friends while looking for permanent housing in Woodland. The Reflector could not independently verify the alleged eviction, the attorney general’s involvement or the legal case status before press time.
De Luz showed The Reflector screenshots of hotel confirmations but said she does not currently have a permanent mailing address.
Alleged disputes with Mayor Dinehart
De Luz said her housing situation later became a point of scrutiny by the mayor, whom she believes raised it only after she publicly challenged him during a Feb. 17 council workshop about the possible increase of impact fees.
During that meeting, De Luz suggested that "key players" had tried to push through a higher fee in prior school board discussions, implicating Dinehart. Dinehart replied that, as a property owner considering development, he would not benefit from increased impact fees.
“I don’t have a vote in this whole thing,” Dinehart said.
“I know, but you have a lot of pull, don’t you?” De Luz responded.
“Not a bit at all. If you guys don't want to raise it, don't raise it. I'm OK with that,” Dinehart said.
“You have other people saying other things, Mr. Mayor,” De Luz replied.
“I'm OK with people saying other things. I mean, that's not what this is about here. I mean, all I'm trying to do is do what you all want. If you guys don't want to raise it, don't raise it,” Dinehart said.
Dinehart said his only involvement in the process is in conversations with city staff.
“But not behind closed doors and at school board meetings,” De Luz replied.
Dinehard denied De Luz’s assertion, during the workshop, including attending school board meetings.
Speaking with The Reflector on Thursday, De Luz alleged the mayor tried to influence her vote on the proposed fee increases and made similar efforts behind the scenes. She did not respond to The Reflector's request for specific details or to confirm her allegations against the mayor in February.
She similarly declined to specify her allegations last week, saying she did not want to include other private individuals.
“I think we’re probably just gonna have to leave that in the gray area,” she said.
The city council has not approved an impact fee increase as of press time.
Following the Feb. 17 meeting, De Luz said she was brought into a private conversation with Dinehart, who referenced bringing in the city attorney over her residency. De Luz maintains he already knew about her housing situation and views that response as retaliatory.
“He called me into the room, just me and him, and threatened me with the city attorney,” she said. “None of this mattered until I called him out at that meeting.”
In an April 26 email to council members and the mayor, De Luz reiterated that claim, writing that Dinehart had “threatened to send the city attorney after me.”
Dinehart responded in the same email conversation, stating he stood by his actions.
“It is my responsibility as mayor to confirm your residency when community members provide documents, pictures and other evidence that shows you, as a council member, are not in compliance with RCW,” he wrote.
In the email, Dinehart said he was aware of De Luz’s housing issue, including an alleged dispute with a postmaster over a package being withheld.
“Re: 'threaten me with an attorney,’ I stand by my actual comment,” Dinehart wrote. “I said, ‘I will have the city attorney deal with it,’ which is why I have copied Emily on this email. I also stand by my comment that your living arrangements at Woodland Shores, and your issue with the Woodland Postmaster, is a ‘personal matter; however, when community members, and multiple council members question your residency, Jennifer, I will address them. I PRIVATELY, in a conference room (to avoid ‘petty, middle school drama’), asked about your residency, which you came out in a public forum, called me a ‘bully,’ and discussed it with others. In public you stated you stay at local motels during the week and ‘couch surf’ on weekends. The local motels have not been able to confirm that you stay there; hence I will have Emily deal with your residency.”
In De Luz’s email, she said Dinehart’s sister-in-law, Whitney, had been spreading rumors of her living in Castle Rock on Facebook posts. Dinehart’s response indicated he was not involved, but he also separately disputes her residency in Woodland.
“Since you bring up my 'sister-in-law' and ‘Castle Rock’ … Whitney speaks for herself and talks to many community members other than me because if she asked me where I thought you were living, I would respond ‘520 Ostrander Rd. in Kelso, WA’ not Castle Rock,” he wrote. “It is my responsibility as mayor to confirm your residency when community members provide documents, pictures, and other evidence that shows you, as a council member, is not in compliance with RCW; it is one of the most unfulfilling and dissatisfying roles as mayor, but comes with the oath I took!“
The email thread also drew a response from Councilmember Gabe Huston, who urged De Luz to adopt a more professional tone.
“You cannot call out bullying while engaging in the same type of behavior yourself,” Huston wrote.
De Luz said she was standing up for herself in a reply to Huston.
De Luz told The Reflector that she could handle her housing and health situation, but said Dinehart’s intimidation would hinder her ability to serve effectively.
“Maybe I’m not able to 100% devote time to Woodland,” she said.
De Luz, who took the oath of office on Dec. 15, 2025, expressed little concern about the council filling her vacant seat, but said she will remain involved in the city.
De Luz said she does not define herself by holding elected office and is at peace with stepping away from it.
“I don’t need a title to feel good about myself or feel like I’m doing good,” she said.
