Former Bainbridge city councilman Chris Snow sent in a guest column warning that islanders must consider more than money when deciding whether to move the municipal off-island.

We must avoid the temptation to decide whether or not to relocate our Municipal Court based entirely on dollar savings. Even if the savings indicated in Table 1 of the exhaustive eleven-page study the City Council will consider this Wednesday are accurate and complete, and that is open to question, we must also consider the non-monetary costs (and benefits, if any).

The difference in incremental annual costs between keeping our municipal court at home and sending it off island would be only $1,142 dollars in 2011! By the fifth year it may grow to about $19,000, which happens to be less than the difference in security officer costs (about $25,000). The cost to lease the Bainbridge Island property will still be $3,636 less than the Poulsbo option.
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City Councilman Chris Snow is the city’s new ceremonial mayor.

The City Council elected Snow to the position at a meeting on Wednesday night

The job comes with little to no authority beyond that of a council member, but Snow will replace former mayor Darlene Kordonowy on several of the regional boards she serves on.

The ceremonial mayor position is part of the the city’s new council-manager form of government. Island voters decided last month to do away with the city’s traditional mayor position and transfer its authority to the council.

City Adminstrator Mark Dombroski was recently named to the new position of city manager.

Snow’s council and mayoral term end Dec. 31. Snow has declined to seek reelection, leaving his South Ward position to three candidates.

City Councilman announced yesterday that he will not seek reelection to his South Ward position.

His decision puts the South Ward race spotlight the South Ward on the three candidates who filed this week: Kirsten Hytopoulos, Tim Jacobsen and Curt Winston.

When discussing his reelection prospects late last month, Snow said he may not run, in part, because of the council’s divisiveness.