Off to the races | IN OUR OPINION
Published 10:39 am Saturday, May 9, 2015
Filing Week hasn’t yet started and the November election is already shaping up to be an interesting prospect.
Mayor Anne Blair and Councilman Steven Bonkowski both announced this week they would not seek a second term, while the council’s newest member, Mike Scott, said he’d run to retain the seat he’s warmed for nearly four months.
Incumbent Councilwoman Sarah Blossom is in the running, too, the only survivor of the block of three (including Bonkowski and former Councilman David Ward) that swooped into office four years ago and helped change the council majority, and dynamic, for the following two years.
Residents can well remember the seemingly constant cantankerousness and squabbling that went on at council meetings until a new power trio — Council members Val Tollefson, Wayne Roth and Roger Townsend — were elected in the last council races.
An aura of cooperation and a display of cordiality — however real or forced — has followed since.
We’re excited about the possibilities that the upcoming election will present.
The candidates who have announced so far are solid, and we also expect a few surprises to be unveiled in the days to come, as other islanders step forward, ready to serve in the four council positions that will be on the ballot.
Listening to the candidates in the race right now, it’s clear this election will look much different than the last.
Instead of an election where some of the candidates harped about the past — the passage of the SMP, past misdeeds or perceived problems caused by city officials long ago since disappeared — it looks like we’ll get something different this go-round. The current crop of council hopefuls seem eager to talk about the future, about moving Bainbridge forward. They seem focused on the issues of today and tomorrow — the comprehensive plan, managed growth, downtown parking and so on — rather than focusing on the woulda, shoulda things of many yesterdays.
The campaign season has just began, and we say, so far, so good.
