To start 2026, Woodland Mayor Todd Dinehart received a bombardment of criticism by two public commenters at the Monday, Jan. 5, city council meeting.
After a public comment was finished, Dinehart responded on record to the statements made for all to hear. Since becoming the mayor of Woodland in 2023, Dinehart has championed an open dialogue during council meetings.
Rick Pettit, owner of Remnant Farms Feed and Supply store, faced major clientele loss during nearby road construction that ultimately left him unable to recover from the 50% cut in customers. Pettit previously told The Reflector the experience wasn’t a sudden halt to business, but an extended road closure and “poor signage by the city of Woodland” spawned a major financial setback for Pettit and his business.
Pettit said both lanes of Guild Road were closed in front of his business, along with many others from August 2023 through November 2023. His business has since closed down in Woodland, but Pettit continues to operate with his Facebook page, often selling personal items.
Pettit approached city council for possibly the final time, according to his public comment on Jan. 5.
“My name is Rick Pettit, and I’m here to express my opinions and express my First Amendment rights,” he addressed the council members. “June 1st, 2005, Remnant Farms Feed and Supply is born. October 31st, 2025, Remnant Farms Feed and Supply breathes its last after a well-coordinated, brutal and unprovoked attack by the City of Woodland Public Works Department. The empty building at the intersection of Schurman Way and Guild Road stands as a stark reminder of how effective and destructive an unqualified, inept and arrogant public employee, an apathetic city council, a mayor that doesn’t have his word as his bond and an obstructionist legal council can be.”
Pettit continued under the style of famed comedian Jeff Foxworthy, “If this happens, you might be in trouble,” Pettit said.
“When a city government won’t admit an error and make right an employee’s, especially a program manager’s, mistake, when a city council can’t stay awake and attentive long enough to hear our constituents’ issues, when a mayor promises anything you want to hear because his word is not his bond,” Pettit said, “You might be in trouble.”
Pettit added that he was there to urge the new faces on city council to change the way Woodland city government treats and views small local businesses.
After hearing these words, Mayor Dinehart responded. Dinehart said, “We gave you the information to work with the insurance company of the city of Woodland. Again, the city of Woodland doesn’t pay these claims out. … That’s why we carry, you know, insurance. We spend about half a million dollars a year on insurance for various things. You had a conversation with our insurance company. They sent you a letter back. You thought it was a denial letter.”
Ultimately, Dinehart said the liability was put on the construction company.
“I just find it ironic that the city can beat the daylights out of a small business with their mishandling of something and then just say, ‘Well, you’ve got to go talk to the construction company’s insurance.’” Pettit said. “That seems like a pretty easy way to put your hand on my forehead and let me just swing away and tell me to go along and then laugh while I’m running clear down the football field while you play with your buddies. That’s all I’m saying, and don’t worry, I’m not coming back after this. This was my last time.”
Another public comment by Cowlitz County resident Bentley Freville put Dinehart on blast for the handling of City Councilor Gabe Huston, who was slated to resign from his position on Friday, Jan. 16, but he has since pushed that date to possibly Monday, Feb. 2.
“I was not able to attend this meeting in person. I went back and watched, and this has been like the second or third interaction between you, Mr. Mayor and council member Huston, and I understand that there’s some tension there,” Freville said, referring to the ending of the Dec. 8 special meeting. “But I think berating him during a council meeting is, like, wholly inappropriate, and we should be solely focused on city business, and that should be more like a private matter. I also want to point out that councilmember Huston has went through, some, like, a lot of personal issues, and I understand that he was trying to move back into city limits after struggling with a lot of personal issues, and I feel like he has been given, like, no sympathy and grace at all. I think you have treated him very poorly, Mr. Mayor. So I thought your behavior was very inappropriate. That’s all I have to say.”
Dinehart instantly responded, “Hold on one second, sir.”
Dinehart explained that he asked Huston to enter into the record an email he sent to him, adding that any email from the community is welcomed to go into the record so that it is out there for the public to see there is nothing being hidden.
“And then after it was in the record, it was my right to have a comment about it,” Dinehart told all. “And if you go back and look at the 30 seconds I was spoken over the top of. I did not comment anything about that. I was explaining my situation so I appreciate your comments here.”
Freville spoke into the mic once more.
“With all due respect Mr. Mayor, you have given him no grace, like at all, no sympathy at all,” Freville said. “I think that’s very blatantly obvious. You can spin it however you’d like.”
Dinehart said he will take the high road on the matter, and spoke to Freville in private after the meeting as other members of the public who attended the meeting crowded Freville and Dinehart.
Dinehart mentioned that he made a $500 donation to Huston’s GoFundMe to support Huston’s journey battling cancer in 2023. A $500 donation was made to the GoFundMe by John Greene, and an anonymous donation, too.
After the meeting, Dinehart asked that a Reflector reporter send an email to schedule a requested phone call interview by press time. Dinehart did not respond to two emails, but did respond to a text message requesting a quick phone call to discuss the importance of an open dialogue style in council meetings, as well as an extended response to the public comments made regarding the city and himself.
Dinehart replied via a text message, “Thanks for reaching out. As it relates to Councilmember Huston and his opinion regarding the level of respect he receives from me in my official capacity as mayor, I do not agree with the characterization and feel the record supports my point of view.”
By press time, Dinehart did not respond to the reporter's follow up text to clarify if the $500 donation to Huston’s GoFundMe was made anonymously.
