Tag Archives: resignations

Bainbridge schools: a design, a resignation and two levies

As expected, the Bainbridge school board gave the green light to two ballot measures aimed at bolstering the district’s technology and operations funds.

The board on Thursday unanimously approved resolutions for a $5.275 million technology levy and a $825,000 operations levy lid lift.

Read more about the November ballot measures HERE.

Also on Thursday, longtime school board member Dave Pollock announced he’d be resigning as of Aug. 26.

Pollock, who was first elected in 2003, said work demands and the fact that he no longer has school-age children factored in to his decision.

The district is asking for applicants to replace Pollock until the next election.

For more information, see my story HERE.

And in the final bit of school news, the district unveiled a design for the new Wilkes Elementary School, which should break ground during the spring of next year.

Design illustrations and models by Mahlum Architects showed a one-story building with a lot of windows and four courtyards.

One of the overall aims of the building is “transparency and links to the outdoors,” said the project’s lead designer.

That’s a model of the school above. See another image and read more info about the design HERE.

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UPDATED: City loses key shoreline planner

City shoreline planner Peter Namtvedt Best has resigned just as the city prepares for the daunting task of updating its shoreline master plan.

Best, who joined the city in 2001, turned in his resignation late last week. He will continue on a part-time basis until mid-September.

“This is a big loss to me and the department,” Planning Director Kathy Cook said. “We’re working on a transition plan now because he was working on so many big projects. We want to keep him on a part-time basis as long as we can.”

Best said he’s leaving the city to be a stay-at-home dad for his twin toddlers.

“It’s with a lot of mixed emotions that I’m leaving, and I have a lot of hope and pride for the projects I’m working on, but my kids will only be this age once,” he said, noting that he might be open to returning once his children are older.

Best’s position is an important one for a city that boasts 53 miles of shoreline.

He lead shoreline research, reviewed shoreline permits and was successful in obtaining shoreline restoration grants worth millions of dollars.

As founder and coordinator of the city’s Shoreline Stewardship Program, Best led a corps of volunteers and professionals on hands-on conservation and environmental education projects. The program’s 2005 salmon study startled marine biologists with data that debunked old notions about regional salmon migrations and revealed that some federal and state protections were falling short for the most sensitive salmon species.
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Bainbridge public works director resigns

UPDATED: Bainbridge Public Works Director Randy Witt will resign later this month to take a position with King County Metro Transit.

His last day with the city is January 23.

Witt, a Bainbridge resident since the early 1990s, took the helm of the city public works department in 2000 after serving eight years as Bremerton’s city engineer.

In his new position as King County Transit’s design and construction manager, Witt will lead a planned $385 million capital design and construction program.

“This is an exciting opportunity that will allow me to return to the activity that drew me to engineering – designing and constructing improvements that serve communities,” Witt said in a statement.

City Engineer Bob Earl and Deputy Director of Operations and Maintenance Lance Newkirk will jointly manage the department until Witt’s replacement is selected, City Administrator Mark Dombroski said.

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Another of the city’s senior managers resigns

The city’s deputy finance director resigned this week after just over a year on the job.

Carol Badzik’s resignation is the latest in a series of recent senior management departures from the city.

While Badzik declined to say why she is leaving, her boss, Finance Director Elray Konkel, hinted that Badzik has been frustrated with the long, drawn-out processes that have become a distinguishing feature of Bainbridge city government.

“When you put in 60 or 70 hours a week, you want to see it produce something,” Konkel said. “The good people…the really hard working people are finding it difficult to stay.”

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