In the longest Town Council meeting in at least a couple of years, democracy was both patient and in action Sept. 25. Mayor Ramon Hayes laid out a firmer 2019 budget that included significant reductions in hotel-motel tax grants. The Town will use $40,000 from that fund to repair the Maple Hall elevator, estimated at $155,000. Funds are also budgeted for shoreline restoration at the waterfront park.

The La Conner Chamber of Commerce’s allocation was reduced to $43,000 from 2017’s $74,000. By the meeting’s end, $17,000 was restored.

Hayes acknowledged that paying for the elevator would “put pre...