Vote ‘yes’ campaign for Bainbridge bond measure finds few contributors

Published 3:28 pm Friday, February 5, 2016

Bainbridge residents will cast votes on the most expensive ballot measure ever for the island — an $81.2 million proposal to pay for a new building for Blakely Elementary, a replacement for the 100 Building at Bainbridge High and other improvements in school facilities — but the vote “yes” campaign has found just a shadow of the financial support that swelled campaign coffers in earlier bond measures.

The campaign group Bainbridge Island Public School Supporters, a political action committee set up in November to promote the capital bond measure, has reported a total of $21,139 in donations to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, the agency that serves as a watchdog on campaign financing.

That figure is far below what campaigns have raised in the past to pay for improved school facilities on Bainbridge, however.

By contrast, campaigns for the last two major bond measures in the Bainbridge Island School District, in 2009 and 2006, raised $36,704 and $26,847, respectively.

The 2009 measure was the $42 million bond proposal that financed a new Wilkes Elementary School and other improvements. The 2006 measure was a $45 million bond proposal that paid for the replacement of the 200 Building at Bainbridge High, as well as other upgrades in district facilities.

Campaign contributions typically serve as a simple bellwether on the vitality of a campaign; the depth and width of support.

The contributions to the current campaign are more than $15,000 less than that raised by previous school supporters in the 2009 campaign for a new Wilkes school.

A review of contributor reports on file with the Public Disclosure Commission also shows the number of contributions for the 2016 campaign are far below those of previous bond campaigns.

Bainbridge Island Public School Supporters have reported just five contributions over the past three months, which includes only one donation made by an individual.

The largest donation was from the Bainbridge Island Parent Teacher Organization Coordinating Council; a $13,700 contribution made Nov. 20.

Other donations include: Mahlum, $4,000; Fairbanks Construction Co., $2,000; Spee West Construction Co., $1,000; and $100 from Peter Bang-Knudsen, assistant superintendent for administrative services for the Bainbridge Island School District.

The companies contributing money to the campaign are well-known to the district.

Mahlum was the architect for the new Wilkes school, while Spee West Construction was the general contractor on the project.

Fairbanks was awarded the bid for the district’s transportation facility remodel project last year, which was also funded by the 2009 bond measure.

With just five donors, this year’s campaign falls well short of the expansive financial support seen in previous bond campaigns.

In the 2009 campaign, Bainbridge Island Public School Supporters reported 35 contributions. And in the 2006 campaign, the group reported a total of 49 contributions.

This year’s campaign is also nearing the end of the election with much of its campaign coffers unspent.

Bainbridge Island Public School Supporters has spent a total of $9,814, and reported that it had a cash-on-hand amount of $11,325 on Feb. 1.

The previous two campaigns finished their efforts with little left in their  coffers; the 2009 campaign reported $2,285 left over after the election, while the 2006 campaign reported $4,960 unspent.

The 2016 bond measure, called Proposition 1 on the Feb. 9 Special Election ballot, requires 60 percent voter approval to pass.

If approved, local school taxes in 2017 would increase an estimated 36 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value (or $15 per month for the median property value of $486,000).

District officials said the bonds are structured so that the total school tax rate would remain roughly constant for the life of the bond, up to 20 years.