Bainbridge Conversation

Bainbridge City Councilwoman Debbi Lester will not seek reelection, the Central Ward representative announced Wednesday.

Lester’s announcement leaves three positions on the council up for grabs this year. Kirsten Hytopoulos and Bob Scales also have terms expiring at the end of the year and have said they will not seek reelection. Candidate filing week is May 13-17.

Lester joined the council in 2010. She served as mayor last year.

In an email Wednesday, Lester said she decided to step aside to encourage new voices on the council. She said the city has reached “an incredible moment,” with the hiring of Manager Doug Schulze, new police chief Matthew Hamner, and a number of projects and policy revisions coming to fruition.

You can read Lester’s full letter below: (more…)

Update: The city passed the resolution Wednesday with a vote of 5-1. David Ward voted against. Steve Bonkowski was absent. 

The City Council will decide Wednesday whether to add its voice to the national conversation on gun control.

The council is set to consider a resolution advocating the reinstatement of a federal ban on assault weapons, a federal ban of high-capacity ammunition clips, and state and federal legislation requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales. You can read the full resolution here.

If approved, the resolution will be sent to the island’s state and congressional representatives. It would not change any regulations within the city.

Councilwoman Kirsten Hytopoulos introduced the resolution after hearing from islanders about a need to take action on gun violence issues in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. school shooting. A number of cities have passed similar resolutions, she said.

“I feel pretty confident in the values of the community and what I’ve heard,” Hytopoulos said at a Jan. 9 council meeting. “I feel pretty comfortable bringing this forward, I think it’s not considered controversial by most in this community.”

The council will also consider a resolution supporting a countywide tax to pay for mental health and chemical dependency treatment programs, and a resolution endorsing a letter by regional mayors advocating increased transportation funding at the state level.

The council will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall.

Bainbridge Sportsmen’s Club President Alan Kasper distributed an open letter to the council detailing his stance on the issue. You can read Kasper’s letter here (PDF), and feel free to offer your own thoughts in the comment section.

Photo: Sharla Musabih of North Kitsap holds a candle at a prayer vigil organized at Battle Point Park Dec. 15, in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. shooting. (Tad Sooter photo)

The island’s ban on plastic shopping bags begins Thursday. We’ve posted some of the basics below. Let us know what you think of the bag ban by taking our poll below or leaving a comment.

Why a bag ban?

The City Council unanimously approved the bag ban this spring as a way of reducing litter and unnecessary waste, while promoting reusable bags. Bainbridge is the fifth Washington city to ban plastic bags and the first in Kitsap County. Seattle banned plastic shopping bags in July.

What are the rules?

Starting Thursday, retailers are no longer allowed to provide those thin, single-use plastic bags at checkout. Paper bags will still be available, but the ordinance requires retailers to charge 5 cents for larger paper bags (this doesn’t apply to qualifying low income shoppers).

There are a few exceptions to the ban. Plastic bags are allowed for restaurant take-out food, produce, greeting cards, small hardware items, newspapers, dry cleaning and waste.

What stores does this apply to?

Short answer: All of them. This ban applies to all retailers across the island, not just supermarkets. It also applies to farmers markets and vendors  at festivals. Food banks can still use plastic bags.

Where can I get reusable bags?

Reusable bags are available at island grocery stores and some other retailers. The city is handing out a cloth “Bainbridge Bag” tonight during the Winslow trick-or-treat event from 4-6 p.m, and at the library and City Hall starting Thursday.

Where can I get more information?

The city has more details and links on its Sustainable Practices page. If you’re interested in the nitty gritty, you can read the ordinance here. Watch for a full bag ban story Thursday in the Kitsap Sun.

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Photo credit: Larry Steagall/Staff Photo

The Bainbridge High mountain bike team pedals through the Grand Forest on Mar. 21. Photo: Larry Steagall.

A few weeks ago, when I looked into doing a story on Bainbridge High School’s newly-formed mountain bike team, its coach, Gordon Black, was quick to suggest I come to a Wednesday practice and bring my bike along.

I immediately cast that idea to the side. I’d have a City Council meeting at around the same time, and I couldn’t show up muddy and sweaty to a place as decorous and dignified as Bainbridge City Hall. But then a fight broke out during a recent council meeting, and I figured ‘what the heck. If the politicians can practice hand-to-hand combat, why can’t the reporters show up covered in mud?’

I mountain bike fairly regularly, but not at this team’s pace. I’m also not accustomed to the rollicking, narrow pathways they take in Grand Forest Park. There were plenty of sharp turns, steep slopes, crisscrossing tree roots and muddy patches that can instantly rob a bike of all its hard-fought momentum.

I showed up to the practice with a mountain bike a guy at an island bike shop once playfully ridiculed as a “Mad Max” bike. It’s made from mostly scavenged, bartered and donated bits and pieces. Its best part – the front shocks – were yanked from some ivy behind a church in Bremerton. Nothing really syncs up well thanks to the mismatched components and my own happy-go-lucky approach to bike assembly.

Black yelled for me to shift to an easier gear on our first hill. “You’ve got to shift, Tristan! You’re going to kill yourself!” Little did he know that steep-slope shifting on the Mad Max leads only to chain derailment.

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Here’s editorial cartoonist Milt Priggee‘s take on City Manager Brenda Bauer’s sudden firing this week.

Knobloch

Dashiell

Former city councilman Bill Knobloch obtained a restraining order against former council candidate Robert Dashiell after the pair scuffled at last night’s emotionally-charged council meeting.

Knobloch is considering filing formal assault charges against Dashiell, who has twice run for council. The pair have never run against each other but say they dislike each other passionately. They are sharply divided over City Manager Brenda Bauer, who was fired just before the fight broke out.

Dashiell said he was served with Knobloch’s restraining order at around 11 a.m. today. He vowed to file his own restraining order against Knobloch tomorrow.

“We’re both former Navy commanders; we both have egos; we don’t like each other,” Dashiell said. “That’s what it comes down to.”

Knobloch, who declined to discuss the fight on Wednesday, said today that Dashiell blocked his exit from the council chamber and then punched him in the jaw.

“He sucker punched me,” Knobloch said. “I said ‘don’t try that again,’ and then he went at me with both hands up and pushed me.”

Dashiell denies punching Knobloch. He said it was Knobloch who made the first move.

“I said to Bill Knobloch ‘you finally got what you wanted,’ and he said something like ‘I almost got what I wanted, a**hole’ and pushed his finger under my chin,” Dashiell said on Wednesday night, shortly after police were called to City Hall. Dashiell says Knobloch pushed his finger upward, forcing Dashiell’s head back. In response, he shoved Knobloch, who fell over a table near the chamber’s exit.

Former councilwoman Debbie Vann was knocked to the floor during the scuffle.

Police made no arrests on Wednesday and advised the men to stay at least five feet apart.

Knobloch and Dashiell said they made a “gentleman’s agreement” not to make a big deal of the fight.

But Knobloch says Dashiell broke the agreement when he detailed the fight to me last night. After reading Dashiell’s account in the Bainbridge Conversation, Knobloch decided to seek a restraining order.

“He’s always been after me,” he said, referring to Dashiell’s frequent criticisms of him in online newspaper and blog comment sections.

The restraining order means Dashiell must stay 500 feet away from Knobloch.

“That means we can’t be at (city) meetings together, and if I’m at the grocery store and he comes in, then I have to leave,” Dashiell said.

Dashiell said he won’t seek charges against Knobloch. That is, unless Knobloch seeks charges against him.

“It’s tit for tat,” he said.

Update: Click here for my expanded coverage of the meeting.

In a surprise move, the City Council decided to immediately fire City Manager Brenda Bauer, sending her home in the middle of Wednesday night’s council meeting.

Deputy City Manager Morgan Smith was appointed acting city manager. The council estimates it may take six months before a new city manager is hired.

The city had decided in late January to terminate Bauer’s contract, but had planned to keep her on for a few months while the council looked for her replacement.

Bauer’s sudden exit means she’ll get a bigger payout from the city. Her severance package had included $75,000 plus six months worth of benefits. Having her leave before the 90-day transition period ends means she’ll get an additional $37,500.

“The council felt this was in the best interest of the city,” Councilman David Ward said when asked about the decision to have Bauer leave early. He and other council members declined to say anything more specific.

Ward made the motion for Bauer’s immediate firing. Council members Sarah Blossom, Debbi Lester and Steve Bonkowski supported the motion. Council members Anne Blair, Kirsten Hytopoulos and Bob Scales voted against.

Hytopoulos said the move to fire Bauer was “shocking and embarrassing.” She added that the council has become “negative, paranoid and broken.”

A scuffle broke out in the council chamber shortly after the vote was taken. Former city council candidate Robert Dashiell exchanged angry words with former councilman Bill Knobloch over Bauer’s firing. Dashiell said Knobloch pushed his chin with a finger and that he responded with a shove. Knobloch said Dashiell did more than shove him, but would not say more. Police were called but no arrests were made.

The City Council is hosting public input meetings tomorrow (Tuesday) in each of the three island wards.

Council members want to hear feedback about proposed policies and other city matters.

Here are the meeting locations:

Central Ward: City Hall, 280 Madison Avenue.
South Ward: Lynwood Commons meeting room, 4779 Lynwood Center Road.
North Ward: Bainbridge Island Grange Hall, 10340 Madison Avenue.

All meetings start at 7 p.m.

You can email questions and proposed topics to council@bainbridgewa.gov before the meetings.

If you’re not sure which ward you’re in, download the ward map found on the city’s website. It’s listed in the middle of the page under “Ward Map.”

Last night, the City Council voted to end Brenda Bauer’s short tenure as city manager. It was an emotional meeting, with one council member leaving in protest after he was cut off from discussing the recruitment process for the next manager.

You can read the story here.

The city issued a press release this morning. You can read it below.

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The Kitsap County Auditor released the official results from the Nov. 8 election today.

None of the Bainbridge races were close, so there are no surprises here.

At Large City Council
Steven Bonkowski: 4,873, 53.12%
Barry Peters: 4,267, 46.52%
Write-In: 33, 0.36%
Total: 9,173

North Ward City Council
Anne Blair: 5,015, 57.90%
Melanie Keenan: 3,626, 41.86%
Write-In: 21, 0.24%
Total: 8,662

Central Ward City Council
David Ward: 4,714, 55.39%
Joe Levan: 3,773, 44.33%
Write-In: 24 0.28%
Total: 8,511

South Ward City Council
Sarah Blossom: 4,549, 53.42%
Robert Dashiell: 3,924, 46.08%
Write-In: 43, 0.50%
Total: 8,516

Port of Bainbridge Island
NO: 7,138, 73.95%
YES: 2,515, 26.05%
Total: 9,653

For results from all Kitsap races, head over here.

After sitting on the $2 million Washington State Ferries settlement for the better part of a year, the City Council recently announced it was time to spend the money (or at least begin to talk about spending the money).

The council consensus was that the money would be spent on one or more construction projects that didn’t necessarily have to be on the waterfront (as WSF had initially required). Other than that, the sky’s the limit.

Two public meetings were held this month to gather ideas, and the council got ideas aplenty. Boaters, bikers, woodworkers, road-enders, little leaguers and others came forward with spending plans. You can read more about the range of ideas here.

The Kitsap Sun weighed in with its spending ideas here.

The council will take up the issue at a not-yet-determined date in December.

So, what do you think? Over in the poll to the right are ideas reflecting the proposals presented to the council during the two meetings. Pick one that reflects your top choice and then cross your fingers.

As for the Bainbridge Conversation’s last poll, the vast majority of votes were cast against a road-improvement bond the council is considering for next November’s ballot. Seventy-four percent said ‘no’; 26 percent said ‘yes.’

Here’s the Kitsap Sun editorial board’s discussion with South Ward City Council candidates Sarah Blossom and Robert Dashiell.

For more information about the eight council candidates, head over to our most recent story on the races.

Also, check out the Sun’s election guide here.