Bainbridge council members butt heads over grants
Published 12:26 pm Friday, July 4, 2008
On Wednesday evening, somewhere above City Hall, clouds clashed and thunder rumbled.
A similar rumbling echoed inside the building, as City Councilors clashed over whether to face a controversial Winslow Way-related decision absent one member, or put off the vote until the council was at full force.
“Nothing has changed between last week and this week,” said Councilwoman Kim Brackett, who along with Bill Knobloch and Debbie Vancil were ready to vote on the item. “Frankly it’s really disappointing to come into the meeting with votes counted.”
The council on June 25 was set to reallocate $2.5 million in federal grant money to one of two projects: Winslow Way or Wing Point Way.
Brackett, Vancil and Knobloch have all said Wing Point Way is the better choice; city staff and presumably some councilors – not all have shared their views about the issue – think Winslow Way is the better option.
The council delayed the issue last week due to an overcrowded agenda, but were set to decide its fate Wednesday until Councilman Kjell Stoknes moved to vote on July 9. He and other councilors said the delay was warranted because the issue should be considered alongside the capital plan, for which a public hearing is scheduled next week.
But the three councilors who wanted the vote to happen Wednesday said the delay was more about Franz’s absence – and perhaps her vote – than the reasons stated by Stoknes and other councilors.
In the end, a 3-3 draw was broken by Mayor Darlene Kordonowy, who sided with Stoknes, Chris Snow and Barry Peters in delaying the vote. City Attorney Paul McMurray confirmed the legality of Kordonowy’s tiebreaker, since the mayor may only intervene on certain types of votes.
A similar situation arose last fall when Councilman Bob Scales was absent the night councilors were deadlocked over whether to okay a preliminary financing plan for the Winslow Way project.
Then, as on Wednesday, Kordonowy broke the tie by voting to push the project forward. Scales’ absence caused some at the time to question the fairness of the vote; the council later reconsidered the issue at the request of Scales, who voted for the project anyway.
After the June 25 meeting, Stoknes said it appeared to him that some councilors had stalled to avoid voting on the grant issue; on Wednesday he reiterated his disappointment at the continuing division among councilors.
“I find it unfortunate that we’re doing all this political wrangling,” he said. “I’d like to see us work better together, but right now that’s not the case.”
Councilors will next week listen to public input about the capital plan, in which the projects for both Winslow Way and Wing Point Way are included.
The hearing will be the first of several such sessions; others are scheduled for July 23 and Nov. 12. Final passage of the capital plan is slated for December.
Aside from well-known revenue problems and strife among leaders, the capital planning effort was dealt another blow Monday when Deputy Finance Director Carol Badzik announced her resignation.
Badzik joined the city as a budget analyst last year and shortly after was named to the department’s No. 2 position.
Her primary role was to help condense the capital planning effort to a six months. The process typically takes up much of the year. Speeding up things required as much as 70-hour work weeks for Badzik and other members of the finance staff, Director Elray Konkel said.
The capital plan was slated for passage at the end of June as part of an overhauled budget process, but was instead delayed until December due to financial upheaval at the city.
“We’re hurting,” Konkel said of the finance department, which was already down two employees prior to Badzik’s announcement. “I’m losing one of the best people I’ve had since I’ve been here. She was key to the processes inside the finance department, but we’ve got to press ahead.”
Revenue projections continue to be off from what was anticipated. If trends continue, by the end of the year the city will be about $2.5 million short of what leaders planned for. Cuts have been absorbed both by the cancelation or delay of capital projects – only a few select projects will be able to proceed over the next two years – and by multiple cuts to the operating budget.
Konkel said the capital plan and budget process has placed a big strain on Badzik and the rest of the finance department.
“She put her heart and soul into it,” he said. “After all that planning, to be where we are today is very disappointing.”
He said it will likely take at least two months to find her successor. Konkel said he’s unsure if the island’s political climate will deter some potential candidates.
“I think it’s a concern for everyone,” he said. “You don’t have to Google very deep to understand that Bainbridge is a unique place to work, that there’s not much collaboration going on.”
Badzik, who accepted a position as director of finance at a company in Seattle, said her last day at City Hall is July 15. Her resignation comes two months after the departure of former Planning Director Greg Byrne, who resigned in May, following a little more than a year on the job. Former City Administrator Mary Jo Briggs resigned in January due to tension at City Hall.
Badzik declined to comment on whether strife among leaders contributed to her decision to leave.
“I have the utmost respect for all of my colleagues at City Hall,” she said. “The staff is extremely hard-working and professional, and Elray Konkel is the best boss I’ve ever had.”
