Question #1: What would be my top priorities as a Candidate?

I want to implement the City’s Climate Action Plan, create affordable housing, and protect our free and open society. 

I have championed since its onset the City’s ambitious Climate Action Plan. I serve as a Council Liaison to the Climate Change Advisory Committee. To ensure that the Plan does not get shelved, the community needs a Councilmember like me with direct leadership experience on climate action and the necessary political will.

The majority of people who work on the Island do not live here, which is unsustainable, puts our community at risk, and diminishes our community’s diversity. I am a stalwart supporter of the creation of housing for workers, families, and seniors.

I defy the capitulation taking place to authoritarianism at the federal level and even regionally. I have spoken out about not backing down on the hard-won progress we have made on matters of equity. I will not bend the knee to this assault.

Question #2: Why should voters choose me over my opponent?

In our current society we like to think that experience equals entrenchment, and we glibly reject “establishment politics.” But experience is wisdom. My first two years as councilmember were largely focused on learning the ropes. But now, looking ahead to my third term, I can once again hit the ground running. I have built solid working relationships with the people involved in our community and our government partners. I know intimately how our government works and who to talk to when I have a question. I understand council procedures and am deeply familiar with complex issues like affordable housing and comprehensive plan updates. I know what the people of Bainbridge Island want because I listen to them.

Throughout my two previous terms, I have demonstrated level-headed leadership on the Council and the ability to get things done, things that matter to the people who live here, like bike lanes, protecting our aquifers, hiring a full-time Climate and Sustainability Manager, increasing the Island’s clean energy production with the 150 kW photovoltaic system at Woodward Middle School, and reducing our reliance on single occupancy vehicles with the completion of the Madison Avenue bundled project and the incomequalified E-Bike Voucher Purchase Pilot Program.

I don’t  just talk about affordable housing or focus exclusively on the drawbacks of every suggested site. I take action, improving permitting for ADUs, supporting Eagle Harbor liveaboard tenants, championing providing millions of dollars to Housing Resources Bainbridge, voting to pass Ordinance 2023-27 which enabled the City to apply for and receive Connecting Housing to Infrastructure Program grants, supporting the 90-unit 625 Winslow Way project, and, when many voices in the community opposed 625, looking for and finding a viable alternative (such as on Madison). 

As the only councilmember to offer weekly “office hours” at local cafes, I deeply appreciate these opportunities to learn from my constituents. In a world where personal accountability is shriveling and people are interacting more with electronic devices than with one another, I am sitting down to look people in the eyes and find out what is important to them. 

It is the City’s responsibility to deliver solutions for the community to adapt to climate change. I have championed since its onset the City’s ambitious Climate Action Plan (CAP). I serve as a Council Liaison to the Climate Change Advisory Committee, and I approved funding for a full-time Climate and Sustainability Manager. We continue to work on increasing the Island’s clean energy production (e.g., the 150 kW photovoltaic system at Woodward Middle School), reducing reliance on single occupancy vehicles (e.g., the Income-qualified E-Bike Voucher Purchase Pilot Program), addressing sea-level rise (we funded an assessment), mitigating wildfire risk (e.g., working with BIFD and Bainbridge Prepares to manage risk and inform the community), and changing precipitation trends (e.g., considering water conservation measures following the completion of the Groundwater Management Plan). It will be my priority to ensure that the hard work of implementing the CAP continues.

Water is our most precious resource, and with Bainbridge Island wholly reliant on aquifers for its water supply, I initiated Council discussions on the implementation of water conservation measures to coincide with the completion of our Groundwater Management Plan.

I am on record supporting Bainbridge Disposal as the Island’s waste hauler. I want to ensure that we resist the easy fix of treating waste as something that is simply removed and hauled away - at great environmental and economic expense - to something that we can and should reduce and transform into a useful resource. Let’s stop treating garbage like garbage!

More to follow!

Vibrant communities depend upon a healthy and resilient ecosystem. In addition to supporting the Springbrook Creek and Cooper Creek Fish passage projects, I serve as Vice-Chair on the Executive Committee of the West Sound Partners for Ecosystem Recovery. Commonly known by its acronym WSPER, it is the lead entity on the west side of Puget Sound working on salmon recovery and the broader ecosystem. I work alongside Suquamish Tribal Chairman - and WSPER Chair -Leonard Forsman and other members of the Executive Committee in identifying, prioritizing, and implementing actions to conserve and restore the Puget Sound ecosystem, recover salmon, and protect, improve, and conserve water resources for people, fish and wildlife.

I serve on the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) Advisory Council. The PSCAA is tasked with protecting public health, improving neighborhood air quality, and reducing the region’s contribution to climate change. Serving on the Agency’s Advisory Council, I help to advise the agency in its work, including its strategic plan and community outreach.

Diversity brings strength to our community, and I am a stalwart supporter of the creation of housing for workers, families, and seniors so that people who are a part of our community can live here. My efforts include:

• As the 2024 Chair of the Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council, I collaborated with other leaders to provide free, pre-approved, accessory dwelling unit (ADU) plans, shortening permitting times and significantly lowering building costs.

• To maintain the Island’s stock of low-income housing, I responded to a rate increase in 2025 by the WA State Department of Natural Resources by supporting keeping rents down for 13 low income liveaboard tenants in Eagle Harbor.

• I supported the Multi-Family Property Tax Exemption program (MFTE), which incentivizes the building of affordable housing.

• When the City received a one-time allocation of just over $7M from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), I approved $2M going to Housing Resources Bainbridge for their project on Wyatt and Madison (now called Oliver Bainbridge Apartments), with a further $1.75M set aside for affordable housing capital.

• I voted to pass Ordinance 2023-27 to counter burdensome utility and infrastructure costs (water, sewer, system participation fees, etc.) for affordable housing projects. This enabled the City to apply for and receive a WA State Department of Commerce CHIP (Connecting Housing to Infrastructure Program) grant in the amount of $480,000, which was applied to the infrastructure costs of Housing Resources Bainbridge's Erickson Community project. Once completed, it will offer 18 permanent affordable units. 

• The high price of land on Bainbridge Island is a particular challenge for below-market rate housing (for households earning 80% or less of Area Median Income). This is why I have been—and will continue to be— a strong supporter of housing projects on donated land. Such was the case for the ongoing project at Bethany Lutheran Church, which required Council support so they could fully use the density bonus allowed under State Law for religious organizations. The project will create approximately 22 units. This is also true of the City-owned project at the site of the former Police Station (625 Winslow Way), where we intend to create upwards of 90 affordable housing rental units.

We need to have a full and complete discussion on the topic of growth. Planning for it is a requirement under the Growth Management Act. It is important to note that Bainbridge has been managing its growth well, growing just 2% in 2020–2024, while Bremerton grew 4%, Poulsbo grew more than 8%, and Port Orchard grew more than 17%.

Demographics. Our population is aging. The number of young adults and families with children living here is in decline. Meanwhile, many of our most essential workers can’t afford to live here. For example, more than 75% of City of Bainbridge Island employees live off-island. There are at least four effects off these trends:

• a decline in community vitality;

• an increase in commuter traffic and the resulting effects on air quality;

• a potential lack of emergency personnel during a large-scale disaster;

• a negative impact on employee well-being.

New Housing. Long ago, our City agreed to concentrate most of its growth in Winslow, which makes sense since that is where much of our infrastructure, schools, transportation networks, shops, and businesses are located. We should stay on this wise path, focusing on Winslow while respecting human-made and natural system capacity limitations.

Water. We should be conservative in making assumptions about our aquifer capacity, which we cannot fully assess. I have taken the lead in Council discussions about implementing water conservation measures.

Among the many assaults leveled by the current Federal Administration is the assault on equity. I have held firm, speaking out that the City of Bainbridge Island is not backing down in its continuing work on equity.

Housing for people experiencing homelessness and for people in recovery is a regional need that requires a coordinated response across jurisdictions. For the past two years I have served on the Ad-Hoc Intergovernmental STEP (Shelter, Transitional, Emergency, and Permanent Supportive Housing) Group. Working with leaders from Kitsap County, the City of Poulsbo and local non-profit organizations active in addressing homelessness, we have found consensus for creating in North Kitsap an overnight facility that would serve people who are unsheltered and that could connect them to recovery services.

Recently, a North Kitsap Resource Center was set up in Poulsbo. It is a walk-in, no cost resource center for anyone seeking drug or alcohol recovery in the North Kitsap area. We’re still looking for funds for an overnight facility and longer-term housing.

I will continue to represent Bainbridge Island in this important effort.

As a Councilmember and Candidate, one thing I have heard loud and clear from Islanders is that they want to get around more by bicycle and they want to do it safely. I get it: I frequently travel by e-bike to Winslow from my house on the north end. Creating more bicycle paths is one of my priorities and why I was an avid supporter of the now completed bundled Madison Project with its protected bike lanes and green striped lanes. Projects in the works that I strongly support include the upcoming Eagle Harbor/Wyatt non-motorized improvements and the design for non-motorized improvements along Bucklin Hill and Lynwood Center roads. And you can count on me being an enthusiastic supporter of the upcoming design work for the Sound to Olympics trail from Madison Avenue to the Agate Pass Bridge.

I take seriously being your representative and welcome you to meet with me during my Council Open Office Hours. From when I first assumed office in 2018 to the present, I have met hundreds of people to talk about the issues of the day. My office hours are Saturdays from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon at Cups Espresso on Bjune Drive in Winslow. Meeting with constituents is one of the best parts of being a Councilmember, and I will continue to do this for as long as I hold public office.  

During my term in office, the City has maintained the highest possible credit rating for a municipality: Aaa by Moody’s. This keeps our interest payments low and saves the taxpayer money. Only fourteen cities in the State of Washington have this or a comparable credit rating. The degree of economic uncertainty is higher than usual, and I supported keeping our reserves intact for the 2025–2026 budget. I also supported keeping an additional $1 million as an emergency buffer.

An essential city responsibility is maintaining the infrastructure that people depend on: roads, water, sewer systems, and more. During my term of office, we have embarked on the highest level of infrastructure investment in our city’s history. Large-scale projects include the now-completed Police Station and bundled Madison Avenue projects and the soon-to-be–completed new Winslow Water Tank, Eagle Harbor/Wyatt nonmotorized project, and up-grades to the Wastewater Treatment Plant.