There’s one thing you can bet on when it comes to the outcome of the race for the Bainbridge Island City Council’s North Ward seat between incumbent Kol Medina and challenger Kevin Fetterly: Medina’s not going to go to sleep on Election Night with 97.9 percent of the vote.
Medina, Bainbridge’s current mayor and the councilmember for the council’s District 2 position, ran unopposed during his first shot at public office in 2015.
This time, however, there are two people in the race.
Fetterly, 65, a Bainbridge businessman and owner of Apria Technology, is also making a second attempt for a position on the island council.
He ran for a North Ward seat the past time one was open, in 2017, and ultimately lost to Joe Deets. Fetterly has a master’s and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering; both from Stanford University. (Fetterly’s campaign website is at www.fetterly4bi.com).
Medina, 46, is an attorney and the CEO of the Kitsap Community Foundation. He has a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College (environmental studies) and a law degree from Stanford Law School. (His campaign website is at www.re-electkol medina.com.)
* Transcripts edited for length and clarity.
Kol Medina
BIR: Your opponent says the council needs to focus on the basics. Your vision of what the basics look like is much different from what he says. What are the basics, to you?
KM: You saw what he thinks are the basics, some of which I understand, some of which doesn’t feel like the basics for a city at all, because it’s not stuff a city deals with.
When you boil it down to what a city does, at heart, any government entity’s job, especially a city, is to provide for the safety, health and well-being of its residents. That’s what it’s about.
That gets translated into a lot of different programs and things that cities do. But for me, when I look forward at what is the greatest threat to our public health, safety and welfare, it’s climate change.
And so, I think, if you want to talk about the most basic thing that the city should be doing, it should be doing something about climate change. Both to try to mitigate it — granted, we as a small city aren’t going to have some huge impact on the force of climate change in the future, but we should do our part — and maybe most importantly then to make sure our city is resilient and able to adapt to climate change.
So if we want to protect the health, safety and welfare of our future citizens in the city, and our kids and grandkids, I think the most basic thing we need to do is make sure the city is ready for climate change.
BIR: How do you decide what’s enough? You said we can only do so much. What’s an adequate response, at the Bainbridge level.
KM: There’s no answer to that, really. I think we need to get our climate action plan. We need to be advised by the experts. And there’s some real experts on our climate advisory committee. There’s some amazing, well-qualified scientists on that committee, so let’s get advised by them, what they think we need to do as a city. They will tell us what they think is enough, and then the question for us, as councilmembers, and as a community, is do we have the resources, and the actual willpower, I’ll say, to actually do everything the experts tell us is enough.
One answer to your question was, I think we’ll be told what’s enough.
But a different question is: What can we as a city actually do?
It’s probably unlikely that we’ll be able to implement all of the recommendations of the climate change action committee as immediately and quickly as they would like us to. We’re going to have to go through, what I assume, is going to be a really difficult process of figuring out how much we can actually do. Most likely, we won’t be able to do everything that the experts tell us we need to do.
BIR: What’s going to help decide that? Available resources in terms of how much money we can spend, or is it more than that, in terms of what can we do where we’re not spending money but we’re creating a regulatory environment that pushes us down the path of being a healthful part of a solution?
KM: The way I hope the recommended climate action plan is organized, is in this manner. It’s broken down per different sectors of our society that emit greenhouse gases. It’ll end up saying, about 40 percent of it comes from transportation. And then it will break that down; and it will tell us what percent of the 40 percent comes from different parts of the transportation system. And then, what I hope is, the way it’s organized is right next to each one of those percents, is a list of recommendations from the climate change committee on what we can do to impact whatever it is; the 5 percent that comes from buses. Whatever it is. Get down into the weeds.
Here are the things we can do to impact the 5 percent that comes from buses. (I don’t know that 5 percent comes from buses.) And see what those recommendations are, and see what they cost.
And basically, do a cost-benefit analysis on every one of their recommendations.
So if this recommendation under buses will cost a million dollars and get rid of 5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, how does that relate to this other recommendation that costs $500,000 that relates to green building but will only get rid of 1 percent greenhouse gases?
And just compare those things.
And then make decisions in that way; on a very fact-based, scientific basis. What actions will give us the greatest bang for our buck. Right?
With limited dollars, how do we spend our dollars to have the biggest impact.
Half of the equation is, is mitigating what’s happening now, trying to stop greenhouse gas emissions. The other half of the equation is getting ready for what’s coming. And I hope the climate action plan will be organized in the same way, there, when it comes to sea-level rise.
For our city to be ready for that, it’s going to cost X number of dollars. And here’s the timeline for when we need to spend them.
And break that down in every way. When it comes to being prepared for more wildfires, these are our recommendations. This is what it might cost.
BIR: How much should the city be willing to spend to implement the plan?
KM: That’s going to be the hard question. On the one hand, I want to be on council so that I can make sure we implement as much as we can. But on the other hand … that’s going to be hard; to get this plan, being faced with this reality of what’s happening, and then take a look at the city’s budget and figure out what we’re going to stop funding in order to fund what’s recommended in that plan.
And I don’t know how much those dollars are going to be, but it’s going to be a hard process.
BIR: How do you balance Bainbridge’s requirement to take its fair share of growth while accommodating islanders’ concerns that it’s going to impact the quality of life and what makes Bainbridge unique? It’s a struggle.
KM: It is the struggle. It’s the core struggle that the council deals with. Maybe not every time we meet, but the basis of everything we’re working on. That’s the core struggle. How do we balance growth on the island with environmental sustainability on the island, with affordable housing on the island, and quality of life on the island? How in the world do you balance all those things?
Obviously, there’s no clear answer to it. So, a few thoughts. We just passed new design guidelines for the island, which would apply to any future developments. Especially down in Winslow. The purpose behind those design guidelines is that future developments will fit the character of Bainbridge better. And of course, you know, that’s kind of a subjective thing.
Part of why people hate the Grow development is because, I mean, it doesn’t look like Bainbridge, with this big square, brown huge apartment building there, or condos, or whatever it is, right, without any trees around it and screening.
So the design guidelines should help with some of that.
It doesn’t get to the basic question of should we have more density and growth down in Winslow or not. It just gets to the question of, if we do, let’s make it look better.
Under the GMA [Growth Management Act], we can’t just say to the state and the other communities around us, we’re just not going to let any more growth happen on the island. We’re not able to take that position, unless we have some way to justify it.
Another thing we are working on is a groundwater management plan. The city’s trying to hire a hydrologist, finally. And that person’s primary job will be getting a groundwater management plan done for the city.
If we go through that process and we get more science done and we reach a point 10 years from now when we have credibly reached our carrying capacity for water use on the island, then we will have a way to say to the GMA and the rest of the state, sorry, we just can’t take any more people here. And it will be defensible and I think we can do that.
I haven’t tested that. This is just me talking. But without something like that, there’s no way to stop it from coming.
BIR: Has any community ever been able to make the case that, ‘We’re full’?
KM: Not that I know of. We’re unique because we’re an island; we get all of our water from the ground. That gives us a unique possibility for being full. Mercer [Island] gets water pumped in, from Seattle, so they don’t have that.
BIR: Whidbey gets water piped in.
KM: Right. So does the San Juans, but there’s just not that many people there. So it’s not an issue for them.
Without something like that, the growth is going to come. And people have a right to develop their property. So comes the question of how do you manage it, and where do you make it go.
I don’t like the idea of upzoning the ferry district, or upzoning High School Road. It’s not something I want to do; I like the small-town feel, as well. But if the growth is coming, it becomes a question of, if it’s coming and we can’t stop it, where is it going to go and what is it going to look like.
Going back to climate change and environmental sustainability, it is much, much better for our whole community and communities around us, and the world, to have that growth be dense growth. And within Winslow. And I hope it’s probably obvious why that’s better environmentally.
BIR: You said something in this position paper that made me laugh. You talk about setting the stage for the city to be a leader in climate change mitigation and adaptation, and then you make the statement, “Let’s not miss this moment by electing the wrong people to council.”
KM: Yeah.
BIR: Who are the wrong people and what makes them wrong?
KM: Who are the wrong people. What would make a person wrong, in what I’m saying there, is obvious. I mean people who won’t support implementing the climate change action plan. That’s what I mean by “wrong people.” If we don’t have people on council when we get that plan delivered next year who want to support it and actually work hard to get it implemented, then it won’t. It’s just going to be another one of those studies that some government agency got done and it goes and sits on a shelf somewhere. We’ve seen a lot of those.
I’m not going to talk about candidates outside my election … I have not gone to my opponent’s website; I have not read his stuff.
It’s not a leading issue for him, it’s not something that he brings up. It’s not something he focuses on.
He has told us what he’s focused on. Right? It’s not climate change.
From everything I’ve seen, he’s not going to be a supporter of implementing that climate action plan when we get it next year. I could be wrong; I haven’t asked him directly. But that doesn’t seem where his energy is.
Kevin Fetterly
BIR: We talked during the primary. What did you learn from the primary campaign?
KF: I think the big thing is since then, I love door-belling. And I’ve knocked on about 300 homes now. And when you talk to that many people, you really get the unfiltered view of the islanders.
And I’ve talked to people here, right in the grid around Grow Avenue and such, and then out in the high-end waterfront, and in the center of the island. You really get things unfiltered. And I guess I’m getting a clearer picture of what people are concerned about.
You start this process with your conception. Mine was, I want to improve road safety. I want to have a place to walk; a place for kids to ride bikes. But when you start really talking to a lot more people, it’s pretty clear. Three issues were growth, what’s happening with our water supply, and then road safety.
Growth was always at the top.
BIR: Why do you think that is? Right now, on Bainbridge Island, the amount of growth is still below pre-Great Recession levels.
KF: People are seeing the high density development on Madison, and they’re seeing parking in Winslow; Winslow’s kind of transformed away from being for locals to being more orientated toward tourists.
BIR: That’s been true for a while, though.
KF: Well, it’s really true now. By the time you add two new boutique hotels, it’s really just going to become a destination.
BIR: How do you feel about that?
KF: It’s kind of like we’ve already lost it. And we’re not going to get it back, what it was. How do I feel about it? I think we need to focus on the residents here in terms of, this needs to be a place for the people that live here. I’m going to worry less about the tourists. I’m going to worry even less about what Olympia wants us to do.
Olympia says grow, grow, grow. We have this new House bill, 1923, and I’m concerned about what that’s going to bring. It allows the council to double the density.
BIR: Going back to tourism, because it’s such an important part of our economy. When you said concentrate more on the locals, isn’t the future of downtown really as a destination, considering that a lot retail is going online? You’re going to need restaurants, etc. And Bainbridge doesn’t allow big-box stores.
KF: I know. We don’t have a sales tax base, which makes us very vulnerable to the real estate cycle. Twenty five percent of our revenue comes from real estate; transactions, sales tax on materials. On labor.
So you’re right; what little revenue from commerce is shifting toward tourism. I’m not sure if I would back an 80-room hotel, at 70 gallons of water per day. I don’t know if our aquifer can handle those kinds of developments.
BIR: On the hotel, generally speaking, if someone submits an application for a project that’s allowed by code, shouldn’t you honor their property rights?
KF: Yeah. I think, tactically, it’s just like Suzuki. It would have flown at 40 to 50 units, but at 80, and the way it’s configured, to put all of the facade right on the street, you know, then you get pushback. But if it had been 40 or 50 units, and it had been pushed further away from the street, I don’t think you would have everybody up in arms. Same is true for Suzuki; if they had done Suzuki at 50, you’d have the whole community backing it. But at 100, you’ve got people concerned about the comprehensive plan; you’ve got all the neighbors concerned about the density, because it has to be three stories. And so it’s a matter of, what do you call it? Degree. A matter of overreach.
BIR: In your campaign material, you said, “Specifically, any high-density development on Bainbridge needs to be concentrated within the designated Winslow urban zones and leave our rural farms intact.”
So how many more housing units do you think should be built in the Winslow core? What sort of number are you looking at?
KF: What I was getting at in that statement was, I don’t think we should build out Rolling Bay or Island Center at this time. We don’t have sewer, and we definitely don’t have transportation. And Lynwood Center to me is an abomination, because we’ve located a whole pocket of density without a transportation system. So people down there, to go to the grocery store, are shuttling back and forth, and we’re creating CO2 doing that. We’re jamming the roads doing that. So I’d hate to see us go down the same path for those two other locations on the island, until Winslow is truly filled out.
It’s zoned for a certain density; once it’s built to that density, then we should talk about further expansion. But not until Winslow is filled out.
BIR: So what’s your ideal mix between housing and commercial use in Winslow?
KF: Mixed-use properties are fantastic.
BIR: In terms of a percentage?
KF: Well, the first floor becomes commercial and the upper floors are housing. That’s a great mix.
BIR: How do you feel about the idea of loosening building heights to get more density downtown?
KF: Hhmmm. To go above 35?
BIR: Or 45 feet.
KF: Again, there’s still build-able properties out there and we don’t need to turn this into a mini Bellevue. We haven’t consumed what’s already allowable under our code. Let’s not take away the character of the island.
BIR: Is that a no, then?
KF: That’s a no. That’s a politician no.
BIR: What’s a ‘politician no’?
KF: [Laughs.] You get a question, then the politician circles around and never gets there.
BIR: You mentioned the aquifer and groundwater. Some think groundwater concerns have been overblown by people who don’t want any more development. What’s your take on that? That the science isn’t there.
KF: Here’s what I know. I’ve learned this by knocking on doors and talking to people. And got hit with a total shocker during the primary. The aquifer here is the Fletcher Bay Aquifer. It’s dropped 5 feet; the water is 6,000 years old. The city’s Commodore production well went dry. They moved production up to Sands Avenue. And a couple miles north of there, there’s a salt intrusion into that aquifer.
That’s what I didn’t realize. Now, I’m not a hydrologist, so I don’t know; do we have 30 years, do we have 50? A hundred? We do not know.
BIR: Do we have 5,000?
KF: We do not know. So being blind, if ever there was an emergency to have a … what’s a stoppage of?
BIR: Moratorium.
KF: Moratorium. There’s an emergency; you’re blind, you’re allowing development and not knowing how much we have.
And then I discovered the city’s so-called water plan is, hire a hydrologist. Then I discovered, it’s a temporary position. It’s not even permanent. And they can’t find anyone to take it.
It seems like we have enough money to hire a PR, press person, for the city. We’re getting nice brochures monthly from the city about what’s going on, but we don’t have enough money for a permanent hydrologist? I can’t drink nice fliers. We need water. And that, to me, should be at the very top of priorities. Getting that filled, getting the vision to see what the situation is.
BIR: Let me play devil’s advocate. Do you think Bainbridge is ever going to run out of water? There are other islands in Puget Sound that pipe water in.
KF: There’s a proposal to pipe water in from Seabeck. Pipe it across the Sound. I can only reflect on the situation right now. Certain islands … San Juan has halted development because of a lack of water. Parts of Vashon, have halted.
We need to do the science, first. That’s top priority for me. Even higher than building road shoulders.
BIR: Your campaign has said, “Each year, the city council should conduct an intense review of the aquifers. If any take a ‘turn for the worse,’ the city should institute measures to slow consumption (meter wells, institute water conservation, halt building permits, and to start the recapture of Winslow’s 300 million gallon outflow that is dumped into the Puget Sound).
Define “turn for the worse.”
KF: I leave that up to the hydrologist to say that our consumption rate, and if the recharge rate, you know, it’s a 50-year window. If something drops below 50 years. Leave it at that. Given that the Fletcher Bay Aquifer dropped 5 feet, that’s not sustainable.
BIR: You also said, “For all of our city council’s talk about climate change, they have never enrolled the city in any of PSE’s Green Power programs.” Is that accurate?
KF: There’s a Green Power program that set up to build a large solar power facility down in southeastern Washington. They never enrolled. They were given many opportunities to enroll in that, and they never did. And moreso, there is a state-driven committee built out of all the cities to help PSE go through the task of shutting down Coalstrip and changing over the mix of electricity. Bainbridge was asked to join and never did. Vashon did. A half dozen other agencies did join, but Bainbridge wasn’t interested.
BIR: Bainbridge was named Green Power Community of the Year by the EPA, though, two years ago.
KF: No. Somebody was investigating that for me; we couldn’t figure out where that came from.
BIR: It came from EPA; they put out a press release.
KF: We couldn’t determine the why. It could be because of Joe Deets’ solar project.
BIR: I think it was based on the fact, at the time, that Bainbridge was using more than 16 million kilowatt-hours of green power annually, which is enough green power to meet 8 percent of the community’s purchased electricity use.
KF: I can’t refute that.
BIR: The city purchases 100 percent of its electricity through PSE’s Green Power program. So all of the lights on at city hall, etc., all that power is purchased through the Green Power program. You’re saying they are not doing enough.
KF: We checked with PSE and they said they weren’t. Either the EPA fact is wrong, or my fact is wrong. It’s as simple as that. It’s not a blame game. But the upshot is, I’d like us to see move forward on something that’s proactive. I’d like to see the city to be purchasing green power. I’d like to see us, again, work on road shoulders so we can leave our cars behind and walk or bike to work.
We’d like more transit. I grew up in a city where you could catch a bus anytime and go to work. That’s not true here.
BIR: That’s kind of out of the city’s control. What would you have in mind to push Kitsap Transit in that direction?
KF: Kitsap Transit has a very large budget; $55 million a year. For me, the first order for Kitsap is to work on the commuters coming down 305. We need to get more people out of their cars. Park your car at the Poulsbo park-and-ride, hop a bus, get down to work. How do we get people, say, from the ferry terminal area out to where they work. Maybe we need some commuter vans midday that does the shuttling back and forth. Talked to the Suquamish Tribe; they’d be happy to provide their casino buses midday for doing work like that. Maybe we contract with the school district to, during the couple of hours there in the morning and afternoon, use school buses to move people back and forth. They’ve got the drivers; they’ve got the equipment. So I’m willing to explore ideas. Two-thirds of that traffic on 305 is people commuting. That’s where I would start.
BIR: How about expanding the highway, widening the highway to make room for bus jump lanes, so they go by traffic that’s just sitting there?
KF: I know people will just have a conniption fit, but I totally agree with that idea. I know people are just going to scream crazy about it, but those people stuck in traffic need to see that bus whipping by. That’s going to get them out of their cars.
