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Residents urge continued support for Ukraine refugees; Okanagan Avenue neighbors complain of demonstrator noise and unaddressed complaints
Summary
Multiple speakers during public comment delivered a petition supporting Ukraine refugees and asked elected officials to preserve refugee protections; nearby residents of Okanagan Avenue complained of months‑long noise, demonstrators and perceived inaction by the city related to activities near 609 Okanagan Avenue.
Several residents used the council’s citizen comment period to press the City of Wenatchee and other elected officials to support legal protections and services for people fleeing the war in Ukraine, and to raise neighborhood concerns about continuing demonstrator activity and noise on Okanagan Avenue.
Maria Hanson told the council she represents a local charitable organization formed shortly after the February 2022 Russian invasion and said the group organized a March 9 rally at Memorial Park that drew “hundreds” of attendees. Hanson said the group is submitting a petition signed by “99 Washingtonians” and represents hundreds of private citizens in Chelan, Douglas and Grant counties who have donated and volunteered to support Ukrainian refugee families. She said approximately 50 Ukrainian families have resettled in Central Washington with help from local volunteers.
Suzanne Pitts read the petition into the record and said the petition asks elected officials to continue local, state and national support for Ukraine, including continued temporary protected status and employment authorization for refugees, continued economic aid, and maintenance of sanctions against Russia. Pitts said copies of the petition were sent to city, county, state and federal representatives.
Joshua James spoke on behalf of residents on Okanagan Avenue, identifying his address and saying he and neighbors have endured ongoing adverse impacts tied to “the proposal by the city of Wenatchee and associated activities at or near 609 Okanagan Avenue.” James said his neighborhood has logged over 1,600 public demonstrators as of February 2024 and “now close to over 5,000” incidents characterized as noise nuisances, often occurring 12 or more hours a day. He said the residents have documented safety concerns, effects on neighborhood character, health and welfare impacts, and potential property value loss, and that after more than nine months the city had issued a letter saying it would take no action to address their concerns. James urged the city to provide a solution.
Other commenters included Jerry Lisowich, who offered a letter from a mayor in Zolochiv, Ukraine and asked the council to consider a sister‑city relationship with that community and to reconsider any sister‑city ties with a city in Russia; and Keith Madsen, who described teaching English to Ukrainian refugees and urged the council to support refugees in keeping with the country’s historical commitments to asylum and refuge.
Council did not take formal action on these public comments during the meeting; speakers submitted petitions and letters for the record and asked the council and mayor to respond outside the meeting.
Speakers asked the council to uphold federal refugee legal pathways and to support refugees’ employment authorization and family‑reunification petitioning; the petition text as read by Pitts includes requests for continued sanctions and for federal protections to be maintained.
