Scott announces bid for Bainbridge council seat

Published 10:50 am Friday, May 1, 2015

Bainbridge Island City Councilman Mike Scott has announced he will run for election in November to retain his Central Ward seat on the council.

Scott, a January appointee to the council, is the first candidate to announce for November’s council races.

Filing week begins May 11, and four city council seats will be up for grabs this fall.

Scott announced his candidacy in a press release late Thursday. The move was not a surprise, as Scott had said during his interview for the vacant council seat in January that he was planning to run as a candidate in late 2015.

“It’s been a good experience. I’ve been learning a lot and have a lot to learn still,” Scott said Friday.

Scott joined the council earlier this year as the city was trying to emerge from an ongoing controversy prompted by council members who were found to be conducting city business in secret on their personal email accounts, and then later, refused to release emails that were deemed to be public records. Scott stepped up to serve in the Central Ward seat after then-councilman David Ward resigned as part of a settlement agreement that ended a public records lawsuit against the city that also named Councilman Steven Bonkowski and former councilwoman Debbi Lester.

Scott said he has been impressed during his time on the council by the city manager, city staff and his council colleagues.

“I like the direction the council is heading with more collegial decision-making,” he said.

“There’s a lot more good work to be done,” Scott added.

Scott, 58, has lived on Bainbridge since 1989.

A lawyer who received his juris doctor degree from Stanford Law School in 1982, he currently is the chairman of the Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson Litigation Group.

He has previously served in elected office. He was a member of the Bainbridge Island School Board from 2001 to 2004.

Scott has hit the ground running as a candidate, and his announcement coincided with the launch of a fully developed website, www.mikescottforbainbridge.com. While he has been thinking about running since he applied for the vacant council position, work on the website began a few weeks ago, with much of the content being added this week.

In his announcement Thursday, Scott pledged to “work collegially, collaboratively, and creatively with the other members of the council, the city manager and city staff to make the best decisions we can for our city.”

One of the big issues this election season is expected to be development on Bainbridge. The city is currently updating its comprehensive plan, the expansive policy document that will guide growth on the island over the next two decades.

On his website, Scott said he supports “moderate, graceful growth.”

“I will strive to develop and improve policies that foster balanced and sustainable growth, while preserving open spaces for future generations,” he pledged.

“I will work to preserve and promote the environmental quality of our shorelines, open spaces, forests, and farms. I believe that to achieve these goals requires broad community engagement, and purposeful, visionary, long-term collaboration. We need to work together to maintain a community that welcomes and retains a diverse range of individuals, communities, and natural places, farms and businesses.”

In an interview Friday, Scott said other prominent issues include the siting of a new police station and court facility, downtown parking and the eventual re-use of the land where the current police station sits at the gateway to the island at Winslow Way and Highway 305.

He said putting the police station near the city hall campus should be considered, and recalled that it was an idea broached in the Pendleton report, an independent consultant’s review of the police department that suggest multiple ways to reform and improve the agency.

“That makes sense to me. I also think it would be healthy for downtown,” he said.

There may also be a way to expand the farmers market area at Town Square, while providing underground parking there, which would help downtown shoppers.

Voters will decide on four of seven city council seats during the Nov. 3 General Election.

In addition to the Central Ward, District 4 seat held by Scott, three other council seats will also be on the ballot. All carry four-year terms.

The other seats are the at-large District 1 position (currently held by Bonkowski); the District 2, North Ward position (currently held by Councilwoman/Mayor Anne Blair); and the District 6, South Ward position (currently held by Councilwoman Sarah Blossom).