By Scott D. Johnston

For The Daily World

Ocean Shores Mayor Crystal Dingler wasn’t fooling on Wednesday, April 1, when she issued executive orders extending through April 30 the closure of hotels and other commercial lodging, the closing of beach access roads and the imposition of a 12 midnight to 5 a.m. curfew. The next day, she issued another order, imposing a moratorium on small business and nonprofit tenant evictions for up to 60 days.

The orders are immediately in force, and all three are on the agenda for ratification at the next Ocean Shores City Council meeting on April 13. That meeting will be conducted via Zoom, with details to be announced soon.

The mayor told The Daily World that she will wait a few weeks before considering whether to bring those orders into line with Gov. Jay Inslee’s order that extended the statewide shutdown through May 4, or extend them even further.

With regard to the business and nonprofit tenant eviction moratorium, she said, “there was not a particular case, or business (involved) but it stands to reason that, with the shutdown coming right after winter, businesses are going to have difficulty.”

In a March 27 emergency meeting, the council approved Dingler’s March 13 Proclamation of a Civil Emergency and her subsequent March 23 order that closed all of the city’s beach access roads, public restrooms, public and private recreational facilities and gathering areas at city parks and established the curfew — and her March 25 order closing almost all commercial lodging.