Outside experts likely will be looking at the process of the former Harrison Medical Center becoming a facility for Bainbridge Island police and courts.

The scope of that investigation is still in doubt as the city is just weeks away from having the designs and permits to proceed.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, some council members favored having experts decide if the city paid too much for the building, $8.975 million. They want other experts to oversee the rest of the Harrison project to make sure there are no cost overruns. Other council members wanted those two things, but also more of an audit to see if there were other problem areas.

The council decided to continue the discussion March 23.

Deputy Mayor Kirsten Hytopoulos favored the former, while Mayor Rasham Nassar favored the latter.

Hytopoulos said while she wants to know if the city overpaid, she doesn’t want experts looking at a “machine-gun spray” of information. She said the experts need to be off-island, “neutral experts to help us do it right.”

Nassar said a lot of mistakes were made, and the public wants them investigated. She said the public has been complaining since 2018, “but the council didn’t listen.” She said some council members were saying Tuesday that nothing was done wrong, but Nassar disagreed. “Harrison was a bad idea. We overspent. We cannot deny that,” and if we do the public won’t trust us, she said.

Nassar said the council should leave it up to the investigators as to what the scope should be, since they are the experts and know “what information they need to look at.” We want to find out “what went wrong so we don’t make the same mistakes again,” she said, adding if the scope is limited the results won’t be comprehensive.

Nassar recommended putting the project on hold for two months when new City Manager Blair King comes on board. Earlier in the meeting the council hired King at an annual salary of $195,439. He will start May 17.

Councilmember Leslie Schneider, the only one still on the council who actually voted for Harrison, said she was new to the council then, but remembers that all of the other options cost more. And while critics say the city should have been able to get a better price, she said that wasn’t the reality because of what Harrison had invested in the property. “I would prefer not to have to do this, but the public trust is very important,” she said.

What can the city learn?

Councilmember Brenda Fantroy-Johnson seemed to want more of a probe. “I would want to know what’s going on,” she said of the public. She said an inquiry would identify where the process failed and what the city can learn from that.

Councilmember Joe Deets, who along with Nassar actually voted against Harrison, wanted the city to move forward, saying it’s in “decision paralysis.” He said the city has looked at a new police-court facility for over 20 years, and “costs just keep going up the longer we delay.” Deets said one area the analysis doesn’t need to look at is malfeasance. “There is no proof of that,” he said. “If there was I’d be all over it.”

Councilmember Michael Pollock said he doesn’t blame the earlier council for its decision on Harrison because it was given inaccurate information. He called that negligence, adding also that a lot of factual information wasn’t provided. He also would like the experts to look into if the city could recover any costs for overpaying for Harrison. He wants those things looked at so the “public can be reassured we know what we are doing.” He also would like to research other alternatives. “I don’t know if spending $10 million to retrofit Harrison is the best decision,” he said.

Nassar had said earlier that experts say a new facility in 2018 could have been built for $12 million.

Pollock said maybe Harrison could be used as some other type of facility. He said the public is opposed to the project and will continue to be without a full investigation. “It’s phenomenal to have racked up the bills we already have,” he said, adding we need to find out “why this project spiraled out of control.”

Hytopoulos said even if the city did overpay the council needs to move forward. “We need to get the politics out of it,” she said.

Nassar said anything “less than an audit is a disservice to the public. We need to broaden the scope and look at everything” to alleviate any risk.

As to allegations of malfeasance, Nassar said even if unfair we “can’t ignore them” because the public wants to know.

Interim city manager Ellen Schroer opened the meeting saying: The city’s project management team had hoped to have a building permit and be ready to advertise the project for construction bids in March. A contract could be ready to come to council in April or early May. Construction could begin in summer or fall. A new site could take three to five years longer and likely be more expensive as a result. In agreeing to buy Harrison, there were four appraisals, ranging from $7 million to $9.7 million. The seller was unwilling to accept anything less than $9 million. Yet the city got the 18,000-square-foot, two-story building on 3.13 acres for $8.975 million.

Public comment

Dick Haugan presented a petition calling for an independent investigation of Harrison signed by about 200 people. Comments included: “Decisions made without full understanding of consequences and alternatives.” “This issue must be thoroughly investigated to find out what is really going on.” “The price is outrageous and if possible needs to be reversed.” “If this had happened out in the real world, the City Council members voting yes for the purchase would now be fired.” “You might want to get ahead of this before it blows up in your face. ” “Has an investigation been done to determine if there was a kickback involved.” “Sounds like there was a backroom deal occurring at the same time.”

Ron Peltier also called for a major investigation, saying it looks like a coverup with $5.5 million wasted. “You have an obligation to know what happened,” he said, adding the “public has a right to know.”

Others who spoke said police don’t need a new station because there is so little crime on BI. Another said Harrison is too big. Another said too much money is spent on police, and the national trend is to defund them and try other methods. Others said the money should be spent on other things, like affordable housing, but Schroer later explained the funds have to be spent on a police-court facility because of the way they were allocated.

Sal DeRosalia said he knows the money can’t be spent elsewhere, but “I don’t support grandiosity of the building.” Maybe you can “redo how you split up that building.”

New city manager

King provided a “virtual handshake” in thanking the council for hiring him over 63 other candidates from 24 states.

“This is a great moment for our city,” Hytopoulos said. “I was not optimistic” at first but came to appreciate King’s strength and integrity.

Schneider agreed. “Many moments I was fearful, but this is a great place to land.”

Pollock called King “a class act.” He said he talked with King about getting a bonus as an incentive to make progress on climate action. King told him he didn’t need one to do his job.

Nassar said even though the council “didn’t always agree we reached a really good point of consensus.”