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.
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, February 2, 2012 – Working together during the last year and a half, the City Council and City Manager Brenda Bauer have successfully accomplished the City’s 2010 and 2011 work plans and goals. Ms. Bauer’s tenure as City Manager began in June 2010, with the city in financial crisis and with labor agreements for both unions expiring. “Today,” Councilmember Bob Scales states, “the city is in the best financial shape it has been in for years. Recurring costs are less than recurring revenues, the workforce is organized to deliver core services at a time of limited resources and Moody’s restored the City’s credit worthiness rating.”
Now, the city is looking to the future. Speaking on behalf of the City Council, Mayor Debbi Lester says, “While we acknowledge and appreciate City Manager Bauer’s accomplishments leading the City through daunting financial and pressing infrastructure problems, the 2012 Council is committed to working with the community to develop a post-crisis vision for the city. We would like to choose a city manager to lead Bainbridge Island toward that vision.”
City Manager Bauer comments, “Any time you go into an organization in crisis, many issues surface that need to be addressed immediately. Indeed, they have surfaced and the city is making progress in resolving many longstanding problems. I understand a newly constituted Council’s wish to set a new direction for the coming years and to have a City Manager of their choosing as the city moves forward. I will assist the Council with this transition.”
Ms. Bauer will stay for a period of time while the Council conducts a search for her successor.
