The Citizens Park Task Force is an informal group of community volunteers who have come together for a single purpose — to convert the ugly vacant lot on the corner of Highway 305 and Winslow Way into an attractive and welcoming gateway to Bainbridge Island.  Our vision is to make this former Unocal gas station site into a source of pride for our entire community.

In connection with this campaign, we are committed to four key principals:

(A) No public funds will be spent to create this park;

(B) Every step of the project will be subject to the approval of the City and Kitsap Transit (the current owners of the parcel), and the Parks and Recreation District (the future managers of the park);

(C) the design of the park will integrate broad public input and ideas; and

(D) the park will be environmentally safe and responsible.

To help Island residents understand more about the environmental circumstances at the site, here are some key facts that we have learned after discussion with environmental consultants and the State Department of Ecology:

1.  Even after the initial clean up of the site by Unocal in the 1990s, some gasoline products remain below the surface of the site — but the top 6-12 feet of soil are clean and safe.

2.  The City and Kitsap Transit purchased this property from Unocal with full knowledge of the subsurface conditions, and a below-market price was paid for the property because of the environmental condition.

3.  The City and Kitsap Transit are contractually obligated to indemnify Unocal for all environmental liabilities relating to the site, and conversion of the site into a park will not in any way change the nature of the City’s current liability.

4.  The State Department of Ecology has no objection to use of the site as a park so long as there are no deep soil park improvements.

5.  Placement of a park on the site will not hinder future environmental remediation efforts at the site (whenever that should happen).  All existing testing wells located on the site will be protected and remain accessible for future sampling of groundwater.

6.  Many former gas station sites in Washington — with residual sub-surface contamination — have been converted into safe and attractive public parks. The former Unocal site can easily become one of these.

If you have any questions, or if you want to get involved, please contact one of the undersigned members of the Task Force Steering Committee.  We would love to hear from you.

Help us convert an eye-sore into a beautiful Island gateway.

Sincerely,

Task Force Steering Committee: James Chapel, Steve Davis, Kimberly Gawlik, Jill Johnston, Chris Snow and Bruce Weiland

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — As lawmakers held their first public hearing on gay marriage, a Democratic senator on Monday announced her support for the measure, all but ensuring that Washington will become the seventh state to legalize same-sex marriage.

The announcement by Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, that she would cast the 25th and deciding vote in favor of the issue came has hundreds of people filled the Capitol to advocate for and against gay marriage.

“I know this announcement makes me the so-called 25th vote, the vote that ensures passage,” Haugen said in a statement. She said she took her time making up her mind to “to reconcile my religious beliefs with my beliefs as an American, as a legislator, and as a wife and mother who cannot deny to others the joys and benefits I enjoy. This is the right vote and it is the vote I will cast when this measure comes to the floor.”

The state House is widely expected to have enough support to pass gay marriage, and Gov. Chris Gregoire publicly endorsed the proposal earlier this month. However opponents have already said they would challenge any new law with a public referendum.

Read the entire article here.

Yesterday Council member Dave Ward and incoming Mayor Debbi Lester delivered a document to City Hall, signed by both of them, directing that an item be added to the agenda in Executive Session at Wednesday’s Council meeting: “Review Employee Performance.” The closed session is scheduled to last 2 hours at the conclusion of the meeting (at approximately 7:50 p.m.), and already included two other matters, “Current and potential litigation” and “Collective bargaining negotiations.”

Under the Council/Manager form of government, the only employee whose performance may be reviewed by the Council is the City Manager.

The Ward-Lester action occurred less than 24 hours after the Council retreat on Sunday where the new Council committed to conducting themselves under the collaborative and transparent principles of the Governance Manual.

“Creepy” is how Council member Sarah Blossom characterized the missive, saying she didn’t know who “Mrs. Johnson” is. Anne Blair called it “abhorrent…a zero” and worried that discussing it would give it unwarranted credibility. Dave Ward said it was in poor taste but Council members can’t control the inappropriate behavior of 25,000 people.

Steven Bonkowski focused his concern on the forwarding and copying of the email, saying it “needs to stop” because such emails have no bearing on “what we’re doing.” He admitted that one of the issues in his campaign was whether current City government is the government that people wanted, and said he saw the Governance Manual as the vehicle to address that, rather than the sending of letters.

Debbi Lester said she didn’t know who Mrs. Johnson is or what the letter-writer’s intent was, but noted that she gets many emails from citizens offering guidance, including some who were in the room at the retreat. “Are we going to parade every one of those out?” she asked.

Bob Scales said his concern with both the Johnson letter and the Knobloch memo is that they indicate activity going on “behind the scenes” in disregard for the Governance Manual as well as laws on transparency and open decision-making in the public sector. He said the Johnson letter purported to speak with access to the power that can only come from the Council.

Hytopoulos added that the Johnson letter should be put into context, coming only a few weeks after the Knobloch memo made headlines. The memo, which was discovered in December on a City Hall copier immediately after outgoing Council member Bill Knobloch had used the same copier, declared that the new Council members had “four out of seven votes lined up” and could “announce a management policy change, perhaps a shake-up in the CM or CA offices.”

Scales suggested that the string-pullers behind both communications may well be connected to the Ratepayers lawsuit, a significant piece of litigation against the City. He said that a Kitsap Superior Court calendar on which the Ratepayers lawsuit was listed was found in the copier along with the Knobloch memo.

After affirming their independence and intent to adhere to the Governance Manual, members of Council seemed to reach a consensus that they won’t let questions fester in the future, and will work on better communication with each other, City staff and the community. Later in the day, there was a brief discussion about the process by which the City Manager’s performance should be reviewed, when people seemed to agree that they would develop standards and criteria for the evaluation. But there was no suggestion at the retreat that any discussion about her performance was in the offing.

Under state law, a discussion to craft performance standards cannot be held in a closed session, so it seems that either the Council will discuss the City Manager’s performance in Executive Session or participating Council members will be violating state law.

The addition of the Performance Review item came as a surprise to Hytopoulos, Scales and Blair. (I also sent emails seeking comment to Blossom and Lester, but neither one has responded.) Update 1/11: Sarah Blossom replied, saying she was surprised a performance review abruptly appeared on the agenda this week, but added, “As far as the topic goes, I don’t think it’s any surprise that the council should, and wants to, have a discussion.”

Reached by email on Tuesday, Blair had this to say:

“Last night I spoke with newly-elected Mayor Lester and expressed my surprise, disappointment, frustration and profound sadness that this important topic was part of our agenda when less than 24-hours before, I believe we all had agreed to honor the both the Principles and the ‘operating procedures’ set forth in the COBI Governance Manual.  With our affirmation of the Governance Manual I anticipated that we would work collaboratively, without surprises and in a manner than respected the community and our own sense of fairness and openness in government. I also have asked Dave and Debbi to meet with me so I can better understand the rationale for this addition to the agenda.”

Members of the public are concerned as well. One long-time islander, James Quitslund, has already sent an email to the Council wondering “when the door closes at 7:50 tomorrow night, who, in addition to yourselves, is stalking in the room.”

“I find ‘Review Performance’ of the City Manager (or any other member of the Executive) in a secret session only ten days into 2012, with no agreed-upon and publicly understood processes and policies to govern that Performance Review, patently improper and invalid.  I cannot imagine how you have maneuvered yourselves, or allowed yourselves to be maneuvered, into this situation,” Quitslund wrote. “…[i]f you feel the time has already come for the campaigners’ masks to fall and the gloves to come off, please understand your obligation to show your true colors to the community.  Then the populace which elected you can see what its choices in the last two Council elections have wrought. We will then have an opportunity, within the process, consistent with the concept of representative government, to let you know to what extent we believe that your actions are in the community’s best interests.”

If you want to air your views on this dramatic start to 2012, you can email Lester at dlester@bainbridgewa.gov and Ward at dward@bainbridgewa.gov. Or come to Wednesday’s Council meeting at City Hall, 7 p.m. (public comment is at 7:10). Make your voice count. Use it.

So wrote the pseudonymous “Mrs. Johnson” in an email to Bainbridge City Manager Brenda Bauer yesterday, telling her that she can resign from her City position in exchange for assistance finding a new position, or wait to be fired and “not have our our support.” Claiming that Bauer’s time with the City is “coming to a close”, Mrs. J told her she has no choice on whether to leave her City employment, but still has time to choose the terms—voluntarily or involuntarily.

The emailer, who writes as if s/he is in-the-know with a majority of Council and can offer assurance as to the actions the City will take, is apparently hoping the City can avoid the terms of Bauer’s employment contract. That contract requires the City to pay severance of six months’ salary if she is fired without cause (“cause” is defined by the contract). If she could be induced to resign, she would get nothing. 

On top of the obvious moral issues with this vaguely menacing email–cowardly, bullying, with an ultimatum and an unspecified threat—it is a work of selfishness and stupidity. Selfish, because in trying to conceal his/her own identity, Mrs. J has cast suspicion on everyone in the so-called “change candidate” circle that worked so hard last fall to elect a slate of candidates that would shake up City Hall. Mrs. Johnson first made an email appearance a few months ago, during the controversy about whether the City should divest its water utility. S/he has now resurfaced with another topic favored by the “change” group.

Most City Hall watchers, including me, can think of at least a half-dozen people who might be the vicious Mrs. Johnson. The real author behind Mrs. J has tarred his or her own allies with this email, because no one can be sure who wrote it and there are a handful of vocal activists who might have.

The stupidity comes from a strategic blunder. Several Council members, both new and continuing, have publicly expressed serious displeasure with Bauer (e.g. here and here). It is well within reason to guess that these Councilors and their supporters have discussed, and perhaps planned, the termination of Bauer’s employment. Under our Council-Manager form of government, all it takes is four out of the seven votes to do that. She can be fired at will, as long as the City pays severance.

With this email in circulation, this action will be much harder to undertake. Every Council member who advances that idea will have to contend with public suspicion that he or she was involved in a coercive effort to extract a resignation in lieu of firing, as evidenced by the email. Mrs. J, quite simply, jumped the gun in a nasty, non-transparent, non-collaborative and gutless way. Nothing any reputable City Council member wants to be part of…let’s hope (though I’m still waiting for a single one of the “Change-Four” Councilors to disavow the principles set forth in the Knobloch memo).

Here’s a copy of Mrs. Johnson’s poison pen letter. It was circulated yesterday to all members of council and from there, has been making the email rounds. Maybe we should all write her back.

From: Mrs Johnson [mailto:mrsjohnson123456789@gmail.com]

Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2012 04:45 PM

To: Brenda Bauer

Subject: What’s your next step

Dear Ms. Bauer

The recent article in our local paper has encouraged me to write you.  We are a very small and quaint community.     We wanted you to be a part of our community.  We had great hopes for you.  We hired you to fix our broken city government.  That did not happen, rather you created more drama than we can handle and made thing worse.    Blaming others for your mistakes is not acceptable.  Also, your ability to manage projects, such as Winslow Way, has been a big disappointment.  You have chosen to surround yourself by incompetent people, such as Mr. Newkirk.  That was your first mistake.  You have chosen to ignore unethical and illegal activities at city hall.  You never acknowledged the citizens are your customers.

During the recent election we had candidates that represented the status quo and candidates that represented change.   We chose the candidates for change.  The change does not include you.

While your employment is coming to a close on Bainbridge Island you do have a choice on how you leave.   You can choose to resign and have support for your next job search.   Or you can choose to fired and not have our support.

I encourage you to take control of the situation and leave on your terms.  Time is not your friend.  If you wait too long, you will lose one of your options.

I hope you use these past few years as a learning experience and obtain success in your next job.  Maybe next time you will identify your customers, their needs and how you will meet their needs.  When thing go wrong, don’t blame others, rather take responsibility tell them what you learned and what you will do differently in the future.    Keep in mind we all make mistakes.

Brenda we wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

As reports on the proposal have surfaced, the emails are flying. Just this morning I learned from an email listerv that plastic bags are actually a symbol of freedom and a handy way to clean up after your dog. The Hytopoulos plan is another example of Big Brother interfering with our happiness and Freedom of Choice (that’s a quote, boldface included). Plus it’s a waste of time to make any laws about responsible choices we can make for ourselves (inconvenient fact: we don’t. See e.g. the Great Pacific Garbage Patch). Also, in a shocking development, readers of the Kitsap Sun, most of whom hate Bainbridge Island and don’t live here, are voting against the ban in a highly scientific online poll. That does it. Hytopoulos, forget it.

But wait. Let’s take a look at this happy plastics lifestyle. Don’t bother with the Sun’s poll. Let your Council member know what you think.

Here’s a copy of the letter I sent today to Anstine and his reporter Richard Oxley, with a cc to his bosses at Sound Publishing (including, ironically, Mr. Crist).

Dear Richard and Dennis:

I’ve had my disagreements with the Review over the years, particularly with the previous editor. But even as I disagreed with his editorial positions and the Review’s advertising decisions, I acknowledged and appreciated the editor’s skill as a writer and journalist. I am writing today over issues with the Review’s professionalism and journalistic standards.

Dennis, you’ve made no secret of your biases and loyalties in local politics, and you have every right to your opinions. Readers expect and want to see the views of the local newspaper on the opinion pages. Increasingly, though, you have let those opinions bleed into the news, which is quite apparent in your decisions about coverage, placement and quotes, among other reporting techniques. In the past month alone the Review has quoted Councilman Knobloch extensively in a report on a Council meeting discussion, even though Mr. Knobloch was not at the meeting.

You also posted an article about the “Knobloch memo” on your website, but did not include it in your print edition only a day or two later (I can’t pinpoint how long because your website has re-dated the article to 12/23.) Although you did not include the potentially unfavorable article about Mr. Knobloch, you ran a front page story about the public record request made by Councilman Bob Scales, with the lede, “Council member Bob Scales has filed a public records request involving fellow council member Bill Knobloch that targets his personal email accounts and private communications with various members of the Bainbridge Island community.”

This sentence reveals a jarringly ill-informed understanding of the Washington Public Records Act. I believe a good grasp of the principles of the PRA, which is used so often these days, is a fundamental requirement for any news organization, especially if it is writing about a records request.

In a nutshell, there is no such thing as “private communications” between community members and government officials involving the performance of a government function (unless they fall within one of the narrow exemptions of the Act). Even a records request itself is a public record. The Act covers all writings in any form, including public or private email, recordings, Facebook accounts, notes, etc. You can imagine the reason: open government would not be served if officials could circumvent the Act by hiding communications in personal accounts.

For easy reference, our state Attorney General’s office has an online guide to the Act here:

I notice that you have changed the lede in your online version of the story. Even this is an odd way to treat your mistake. I was under the impression that the customary and professional way to correct a story is to call out the mistake and the reason for the correction or retraction. The Sun recently did just that when, in an opinion piece, it mis-characterized another action by Council member Scales. I truly hope you will consider identifying your error in the next print edition, so the public is better informed.

I care much more about the integrity of our media, fair reporting, and ethics in government than I do about the outcome of any given political decision. I have watched in dismay as members of the public becomes angry over issues they do not accurately understand, due at least in part to slanted or inadequate reporting. As we move into a New Year which has all the signs of becoming a highly charged political year on the island, I am pleading with you. Opine all you want on the editorial pages, but make every effort to be accurate, complete and fair in your news stories.

Very truly yours,
Althea Paulson

At last week’s City Council meeting, four new Council members–Sarah Blossom, Dave Ward, Steven Bonkowski and Anne Blair–were sworn in, and four others–Hilary Franz, Barry Peters, Bill Knobloch and Kim Brackett–were bid warm good-byes. Sadly, the occasion was marred by some good old-fashioned political hackery. A memo (posted below) surfaced at the meeting, purporting to give advice to an unnamed voting bloc of four on the incoming Council, on such statesmanlike topics as the lying habits of City employees, how to force a management shake-up at City Hall, and how to sandbag Council opposition. 

According to information obtained by Inside Bainbridge, outgoing Council member Bill Knobloch was behind the memo. Inside Bainbridge quotes City Manager Brenda Bauer as saying Knobloch used the copier at City Hall and “immediately after he left, [a] staff person who walked past him into the room to use the copier found the document in the originals tray. They shared it with another staff person or two who came into the copier room, and then it was given to me.”

When contacted by Inside Bainbridge, Knobloch denied responsibility, saying, “I am not the author of that document.” Knobloch added that “we should not be conjecturing about something that we had no way of knowing,” and repeated that the accusation was “totally false.” Inside Bainbridge reported that he “questioned the reasoning behind sharing the document at the Council meeting: ‘What good is that especially since it was a festive evening?’” I’m willing to entertain the idea that he didn’t write it, or wasn’t the only author, but at the very least it seems clear he was involved with crafting and conveying the message.

“The true test of will for the council majority will be to continue to do the right thing and withstand the eminent onslaught of the arts & ‘cultural element’ that will surely descend on the council like a biblical plague. I am told that Kim Brackett went straight to Bill Knobloch’s house after the council meeting. No doubt to commiserate and plan the attack to try & sway or undo the council decisions.”

The Notice of Discipline noted that Weiss’s actions were directed at leaders of his employing agency, and cited numerous violations of the Bainbridge Island Police Department Canon of Ethics and General Orders Manual.

The investigation disclosed that Weiss, who admitted to blogging under the alias, posted comments on local media sites about police matters as well as City issues over a several year period.

The City initiated the investigation after Brackett made a complaint that she had seen Weiss following her and read the subsequent blog comment, and felt unsafe.

The suspension is in effect from November 9 through December 3. Weiss has the right to appeal or file a grievance.

Here are the investigation and disciplinary documents, which I obtained through a public records request to the City.

Weiss Investigation Part 1
Weiss Investigation Part 2 
Weiss Investigation Part 3 BI Review
]]> http://bainbridgenotes.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/police-guild-president-suspended-for-tailing-council-member/feed/ 3 bainbridge http://bainbridgenotes.wordpress.com/2009/05/28/sad-end-for-serenity-house-told-in-pictures/ http://bainbridgenotes.wordpress.com/2009/05/28/sad-end-for-serenity-house-told-in-pictures/#comments Thu, 28 May 2009 15:39:17 +0000 Althea Paulson http://bainbridgenotes.wordpress.com/?p=1753 ]]> One of the island’s (and the state and county’s) greatest failures in tending to its humanitarian safety net was the closure of Serenity House at Lynwood Center which, until this year, was home to 18 developmentally disabled adults. In March, Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority closed the facility because of financial problems and relocated all but two residents off island.

Photo of Serenity House by Jay Trinidad.

South-end islanders know that a couple of the former residents still frequent the neighborhood. Recently, I saw Jerome (I don’t know his last name) who used to do odd jobs at Walt’s. According to Walt, Jerome is a cousin of guitar great Jimi Hendrix, and suffered traumatic brain injury after a stint as a boxer. When Serenity House closed, he was placed in a nursing home in Bremerton, and now takes a bus to the island a couple of times a week just to visit. I asked how he was doing in his new home.

“I don’t like it,” he replied, shaking his head forlornly.

Island photographer and artist Jay Trinidad has posted a photo essay of the empty Serenity House on his blog. His pictures are full of absence and abandonment, as well as the humanity of those who lived there.  Take a look. Take a moment to consider the sorrow of some of our most vulnerable (and beloved) former neighbors, as their lives were up-ended through no fault of their own.

Although the new owners of the property plan to build a new, much smaller facility for developmentally disabled adults some time in the future, the trauma to former Serenity House residents can’t be undone.

The problems at Serenity House were brewing for years. Our many state, county and local social service agencies have their explanations for the painful results. But the fact remains that we failed to meet our responsibilities, as a civilized society, to 18 human beings who depend on us. Is anyone in our social services groups and city government asking the hard questions about how this happened, and what can be done to prevent something like this from happening again?

For more info, visit the Soup Kitchen’s blog here.

I’ll be on cornbread-making detail, along with a horde of other volunteers, so come on down. There’ll be a full menu of music too, the better to feed both body and soul. With a couple of lemonades on board, we might even sing the Mock Turtle’s soup song, if anyone can remember the words.

Fans of Alice In Wonderland can sing along after the jump.

Beautful Soup, so rich and green,
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
   Beau—ootiful Soo–oop!
   Beau—ootiful Soo–oop!
Soo–oop of the e–e–evening,
   Beautiful, beautiful Soup!

Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish,
    Game or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for to p
ennyworth only of beautiful Soup?
Pennyworth only of beautfiul Soup?
     Beau—ootiful Soo–oop!
     Beau—ootiful Soo–oop!
Soo–oop of te e–e–evening,
     Beautiful, beauti—FUL SOUP!

Chorus again!

—Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll