Kordonowy will join Bainbridge City Council as eighth member | UPDATED

Published 5:18 pm Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Mayor Darlene Kordonowy says she will stay on as the eighth member of the Bainbridge City Council.

Kordonowy made the announcement in a Wednesday afternoon interview with BITV’s Selina Shearer. Her decision comes on the heels of the May 19 special election, in which nearly 70 percent of voting islanders chose to adopt the council-manager form of government and abandon the position of mayor.

“I look forward to being the eighth council member,” Kordonowy said. “I’m excited about it… it’s a new learning experience. And I look forward to learning from seven very capable people (council members).”

On June 3, the new council-manager government will take effect, making current City Administrator Mark Dombroski the city’s new manager, and removing the position of mayor permanently.

Under state law, Kordonowy could have chosen to either step down or stay on as a member of the council through the end of her second term.

“This is a way for me to contribute in the transition,” Kordonowy said. “The real point was, I want to contribute and I’ve received a lot of e-mails and calls of support, particularly to stay as an eighth council member.”

Kordonowy said she had no plans to run for a four-year city council term in Bainbridge’s North Ward. Her eighth council position will be dissolved on Jan. 1, 2010.

Dennis Vogt, one of the main proponents of the council-manager movement on the island, and a committee member of the Vote Council Manager 09 campaign, said Kordonowy’s decision will make it harder for the city to transition to the council-manager system.

“Wow, it makes things more difficult, it makes it difficult to make a break with the past,” he said, after hearing of Kordonowy’s announcement. “We knew it was a possibility. The bottom line is the council group is going to have to figure out what they will do about it, but with the mayor it makes it complicated for seven months.”

Vogt said he believes it could be the first time a sitting mayor of a Washington city has decided to stay on as the eighth member of a city council after a council-manager system has been approved.

Kordonowy said much of her decision also hinged on her large role in regional government.

She currently sits on boards of the Kitsap County Health District, Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council, Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority, CENCOM board of directors and the Department of Emergency Management. She also serves on Puget Sound Regional Council government executive board and is the chair State Salmon Recovery board and serves on numerous sub-committees.

“No one person is going to do all of that,” said council member Chris Snow. “So I welcome her presence. She knows a lot and will be a useful resource to us.”

The work of the mayor could turn into a contentious issue as council members divide up the mayor’s responsibilities over the coming months, and also, how they should be compensated for the increased workload.

“It is a lot of extra work, and that is why there will be a lot of issues in terms of compensation and time,” said council member Bill Knobloch.

Elected official’s salaries are reviewed independently by the community supported Salary Commission.

The mayor’s decision to stay on the council also raises the point that votes could come to a tie. Without a strong mayor to break a vote, tie decisions on the council automatically fail.

A special meeting has been convened for next Wednesday to discuss the next steps in moving forward the council-manager form of government and how to appoint an honorary mayor to sign city documents, decisions that Kordonowy as a voting member of the city council will be a part of.

“Quite frankly, it was the mayor’s decision to stay on, and when you change the composition of an elected body, it’s going to make for some bumps along the way,” Knobloch said. “The transition to the manager form of government will take six months and in six months the community will be able to see the change happen.”

Check back for more details on this developing story.