Ferndale City Council invites you to join them for a townhall meeting, After Headlee: A Community Conversation. 

This meeting will be a chance for residents to come together and discuss a path forward following the November 5 General Election, in which the City’s Headlee Override General Operating Proposals—Proposals 1 and 2—were voted down.

In a message to the community on November, 6, Mayor Raylon Leaks May said that she and Council respected the community’s voice on such important issues, but that the City’s financial challenges remained.

“Unfortunately, the City’s issues won’t disappear because the election is behind us,” Leaks May said. “In fact, they become even more urgent as we move into union contract negotiations, facility repair requests, and our final year of the 2015 Headlee override funding.”

With that in mind, Leaks May and City Councilmembers Laura Mikulski, Donnie Johnson, Greg Pawlica, and Rolanda Kelley committed to holding a series of community townhalls and listening sessions ahead of a planned May 2025 reattempt at seeing proposal support.

“These proposals didn’t work for the majority of our residents,” Leaks May said. “Now it’s our job to find out why.”

The first of these meetings is set to be held on Monday, November 18, between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m. at Ferndale City Hall. City Council will answer questions in a moderated, roundtable discussion, with active engagement encouraged by residents. For those who aren’t able to attend in person, the meeting will be live-streamed on the City’s YouTube channel , with audience questions monitored and answered.

City leaders heard a variety of questions and concerns surrounding the proposals, including the desire for lower-cost proposals that retain current services but don’t fund facilities, standalone proposals for public safety and recreation facilities, and limited-term versus in-perpetuity proposals.

City Council hopes to hear from a wide range of voices. What did you support about the recent proposals? What didn’t you support? What was confusing or challenging to understand? We want to hear from you! All residents are invited and encouraged to participate.