News Roundup — Flynn defends vote counts/Gym pumps up for tsunami/Workshops set for school levy/Bands rock Sunday night/Open house for bike/ped

Published 8:00 am Saturday, January 8, 2005

Flynn defends vote counts

The Republican campaign for a new vote in the governor’s race has raised the ire of Kitsap County Auditor Karen Flynn, who disagrees with the notion that the election was poorly run.

“This was a very close election,” she said. “But it’s a myth to think that it would be any less close with a re-vote.”

Flynn said the Republican assertion of 484 “mystery votes” in Kitsap County is both erroneous and explainable. There are legitimate reasons why the vote total can exceed the number of registered voters, including unexpected military votes and the fact that voters sitting out the last two federal elections are placed on the “inactive” list.

And the total of such votes in the county for this election is actually 18.

“I wish they had come to us with questions before issuing a press release,” she said.

Flynn also took issue with the GOP-sponsored petition drive which calls for a gubernatorial runoff because of a high volume of uncounted votes. While anyone can verify whether their vote was counted, she said, they can assume it was unless they hear otherwise.

The auditor’s office sent out approximately 1,600 notices to people whose votes were uncounted for one reason or another, including illegible signatures, late postmarks or other registration anomalies.

In some cases they were offered a chance to rectify the situation, even if the submitted the final ballot after Election Day.

Flynn is a Democrat but she insists her criticism of Republican behavior has nothing to do with partisanship. If the situation was reversed, her opinions would be the same, she said.

“But I can’t imagine Christine Gregoire acting like this,” she said. “She has always said she would accept the results of the final count. Rossi didn’t take this position. Instead, he was always trying to get Gregoire to concede.”

Flynn also took umbrage with the position that the election was poorly conducted.

“My staff is getting calls every day with accusations of incompetence,” she said. “These charges are completely baseless. These are people whose only job is to supervise elections, and they were doing a wonderful job.”

– Charles Bermant

Gym pumps up for tsunami

To raise money for the victims of the Asian tsunami disaster, Island Fitness is holding a silent auction fundraiser and donating all walk-in fees and a percentage of January membership sales directly to Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders.

Alexa Rosenthal, Island Fitness owner, is spearheading the fundraising efforts and weeklong silent auction event at the gym.

“The scale of this disaster is overwhelming,” she said. “We at Island Fitness feel strongly that it’s important to support the relief efforts as much as possible.”

The gym staff has donated personal training sessions, massage therapy, memberships and more to be auctioned off to the highest bidders, with a goal of raising at least $10,000.

Bidding kicks off on Jan. 12 and closes at 5 p.m. Jan. 15. Bid sheets are at the front desk.

Island Fitness will also donating all walk-in fees and a percentage of memberships sold during the month of January. For those wanting to empty their pockets of change, there is an American Marine Bank collection jar at the desk.

Information: 842.5720 or www.island-fitness.com.

Workshops set for school levy

Starting Thursday, the Bainbridge Island school board will hold a series of meetings to come up with a dollar figure for the technology levy and capital facilities bond coming before the voters on May 17.

The estimates that have previously been reported – $40 million for capital improvements and $10 million for technology in the schools – could very well change as the school board weighs the importance of various projects and their costs, members said.

In a letter sent to islanders this week, the board invited public input during the meetings, which will be held at 5 p.m. in the Bainbridge High School library.

The meeting dates and topics include:

• Jan. 13: Staff and consulting architects present options for the entire high school campus, including playing fields, as well as maintenance and Commodore facilities.

• Jan. 20: Future enrollment estimates discussed, along with alternate funding sources and the potential impact of new buildings on the general fund. Key components of the technology plan reviewed.

• Jan. 27: Consulting architects to compare costs of remodeling vs. new construction for the high school, specifically the 100 building (classrooms) the 200 building (administration, offices, library, commons, cafeteria) and the LGI auditorium.

• Feb. 10: Sports fields at high school, Commodore, and Ordway discussed, along with options for synthetic football fields at the high school and Woodward.

• Feb. 24: Proposed amount of the capital facilities bond and technology levy to be discussed.

• March 10: Final amount of the capital facilities bond and technology levy to be discussed.

Bands rock Sunday night

Those who think teens have “nothing to do” on the island haven’t talked to Bad Otis or Holy Ghost Revival.

“Bainbridge has a very rich youth culture history, and there is a strong tradition of energetic, musical kids creating their own entertainment by forming bands and putting on shows,” said Conor Kiley of the band Holy Ghost Revival, who grew up on Bainbridge but now attends Seattle Central Community College.

“Any kid who says there is nothing do to on Bainbridge must not know about the music scene.”

The two island-grown bands play at 8 p.m. Sunday at the Grange Hall with two bands, RTA and Trainwreck Riders, from California and the Cheese hailing from Spain.

Leah Julius, a junior at Bainbridge High School and drummer for Bad Otis, says their band is just one of about 10 bands at the high school which are actively playing and performing in shows.

Bad Otis practices three to four times a week after school until about 6 p.m. before hitting the books.

But even if she has to stay up to 1 a.m. to finish her homework, Julius says it’s worth it.

“It’s something you love so much, it’s still worth it (to stay up late),” said Julius, who has been drumming since she was 7 or 8 years old.

Unlike sports which are competitive, Julius describes the music scene as “supportive and unified,” and says Sunday night’s concert will be “a lot of good music.”

The band, which also includes BHS students Peter Frankland and Nick Mann on guitar and vocals and Alisa Saario on bass, plays all original punk rock.

Songs begin with a chord progression from one and a collaborative process comes up with the tune. Frankland, Mann and Julius then hammer out the lyrics.

“We all put in our different influence,” Julius said.

Bad Otis has played in Seattle, Redmond, Port Angeles and Portland, Ore. on weekends, and is putting together a West Coast tour this summer, sending press kits to club and booking their own gigs.

They plan to finish recording their first full-length album in February for an April or May release.

Holy Ghost Revival is planning a full-length record release this year in late spring or early summer on the Portland-based indie label Johnny Cat Records.

For more information, see www.badotis.com and www.holyghostrevival.com.

– Tina Lieu

Open house for bike/ped

The Non-motorized Advisory Committee hopes to gather input on plans to make walking and biking on the island more enjoyable, convenient and safe.

The committee will host an open house Tuesday to assemble a list of non-motorized transportation projects for 2005.

Committee chair Mark Epstein said about $1.6 million is earmarked for non-motorized transportation improvements.

The committee’s earlier recommendations for 2005, with a predicted budget of just $800,000, included sidewalk and bike lane improvements on Wyatt Way, Grow Avenue and Wing Point Way. Other proposed upgrades included a driveway replacement program for Madison Avenue, south of High School Road, and a new pedestrian path to the Children’s Museum on Sheppard Way, east of Grow Avenue.

With the non-motorized budget nearly doubling, Epstein said the committee needs public input to reassess projects and come up with a five-year vision for bike and pedestrian improvements.

The open house will be held between 7 and 8 p.m. at the Bainbridge Commons.

– Tristan Baurick