Poulsbo and Bainbridge sharing a courthouse?
When I polled the three newly-sworn in Bainbridge City Council members yesterday about their immediate goals on the council, there was strong agreement that the city must first focus on financial matters.
They said the city needs to save more money and find better sources for acquiring more of it. You can read the story here.
Councilman Bob Scales made the interesting suggestion of rolling Bainbridge’s municipal court into Poulsbo’s. Scales, an attorney who served a previous council term, considered applying for the Bainbridge judge job when Steve Holman left the position in 2006. The job went to the Kate Carruthers, who was recently reappointed by the council to another four-year term.
Considered a two-thirds time job, the judge’s annual salary last year was $94,946. But, according to Scales, the job’s workload amounts to a .45 position, meaning it should be paid at a less-than-half-time level.
Carruthers disagrees with Scales’ estimates.
Contacted this morning, she said her two-thirds time position is largely based on the number of case filings that come before her. While the recent number of case filings may appear somewhat lower (due to the fact, she said, that the police department’s parking enforcement has been scaled back due to staff cuts), Carruthers said her case load remains at or close to a two-thirds level.
Scales also suggested that the combined Poulsbo-Bainbridge court could save the city money on rent.
Carruthers said she has learned of no cost savings when cities contract court services out to other jurisdictions.
“The city is still obligated to pay for its court services,” she said. “Moving to Poulsbo won’t necessarily result in cost savings.”
Bainbridge would likely still have to pay for two-thirds of a judge’s fulltime salary and contribute to the rent in a shared facility, she said.
Scales’ suggestion about a combined court also elicited a (slightly more impassioned) response from a reader:
“Oh God, please don’t let Poulsbo join forces with Bainbridge Island on ANYTHING, and especially don’t let get BI get a foot in the door of Poulsbo’s new City Hall. Poulsbo is already going to be providing space for the County court, they don’t need to also play host for a contentious, mismanaged, broke city that is a constant headache for any agency or local government that has to deal with it.”
Scales’ idea for a combined court is just that – an idea – at this point. But both he and Carruthers are curious to see what the Bainbridge and Poulsbo communities think about it.
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January 7th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
The court is by far the smallest percentage budget of any of the city departments. And by all indications is one of the more efficient departments. I am curious why Scales would look first to one of the smallest essential government services to try and cut? Why not cut the IT director position completely or lower it to a simple supervisor position? I still don’t know why we are paying a six-digit salary to someone to be in charge of 4 people. I can see several issues to moving the court to Poulsbo.
1) Commutes for employees, jurors, witnesses & police.
2) What is going to happen when someone needs to be taken to jail from court? Are they going to have to wait for an officer to drive from the island to show up?
3) Loss of local control & input in island legal issues. There is a lot to be said for having a local court and staff.
4) The current rent for the current sub-standard court facility is over $14,000 a year. A waste of money but not sure you would even make up that amount by moving to Poulsbo. Likely not.
IF Scales is dead set on moving the court to Poulsbo, why not just go for it and contract all court services to Kitsap District Court North? The city already contracts out all prosecution of criminal cases to the Kitsap Prosecutor’s Office. By the time you add up all the items & costs that would have to be in the contract, I suspect that it would cost perhaps more than what the city is currently paying. Except we lose all the convenience and local control.
I think Scales & the rest of the council would realize an immediate financial boon if they simply drastically reduce non-essential spending. Fully fund the essential services and projects, then tally up what is left (if any) for the non-essential requests. That will never happen because the council could never take the heat for making those hard financial decisions. Its much easier to pick at the courts, the cops, the roads, infrastructure, etc, than it is for the darlings of arts, social services and a senior center.
January 7th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Hey new and old Council, peaking of ridding COBI of fat pork, here are two items work $450K a year in savings:
COBI Interim Manager Lee Walton confirmed COBI is spending $256K =/- per year for live airing of COBI Council. Walton also directed his IT guy to check into how Port Orchard used internet streaming as a low-cost alternative. It now appears Mr. Walton is letting the possibility of using this cost-saving option fall dead because “BITV has a 5-year contract.” At $5K per Council meeting, COBI must go back to BITV and get the contract rescinded. $5K per session are a lot of filled pot holes.
Also COBI just sent another $48K to BIAHC. Again, the total given to BIAHC (over $200K plus the hidden give aways) is something COBI does not have the money for. COBI is not the Medici family with untold riches to support artists. BIAHC must go private and earn their way the hard way by hard work.