Comments about the police station-court facility at the old Harrison medical building showed some of the biggest differences between Bainbridge Island City Council candidates at a forum last Friday.

The in-person forum scheduled to be attended by about 40 people was at the BI Senior Community Center.

Clarence Moriwaki, who is facing Mayor Rasham Nassar, said he supports the Harrison site, adding it’s been selected and paid for. “Maybe we spent too much” but it’s time to move on. It’s not time for more studies, which he called, “analysis paralysis.”

Nassar said millions of dollars were wasted, and there needs to be an investigation. The fact that some want to just let that injustice slide is an embarrassment, she said. She said a new jail-court facility could be built on another site for what it would cost to remodel Harrison, which could be turned into senior housing instead. “We’d get two for the price of one.”

Councilmember Joe Deets agreed more with Moriwaki, while ex-councilmember Ron Peltier sided more with Nassar.

Peltier said he doesn’t want to defund police, but he doesn’t want to spend too much either. He said he opposed Harrison because the city paid too much. He said an independent look at it must take place that sets aside politics. It all points to “dysfunction in government. They can’t work together,” he said of council.

Deets said he voted against Harrison, not because it wasn’t a good site, but because “they were desperate to sell,” and the cost was too high.

Kent Scott, who is taking on former Planning Commissioner Jon Quitslund for an open seat, said he agreed more with Nassar. “We don’t know what our policing needs are,” he said.

Quitslund blamed some of the problem on new city manager Blair King. He said the council tasked King with doing an investigation to determine the best site, but he hasn’t done that.

Here’s what candidates had to say regarding other topics.

Sustainable transportation

Deets and Peltier showed major disagreement on this issue.

Deets said he wants more bike and walking trails that are interconnected, but safety needs to be improved.

Peltier also wants bike trails, but said the Sustainable Transportation Plan is “in name only. I’m not sold on it. It’s a waste of money.” For example, he said $300,000 was spent on a consultant when that money would have been better used on a bike path near a school. “It’s a perfect example of pie in the sky. All this process looks like we’re really doing something,” he said.

Quitslund and Scott also were miles apart. Quitslund likes the long list and said over time all would be good. Scott said the plan is much more “than what is needed.” He favors fixing all the missing links so trails are connected.

Councilmember Brenda Fantroy-Johnson said she supports all kinds of mobility. She has her own electric bicycle and said there needs to be more charging stations for those and e-cars, too. She also said better safety for kids is a must.

Affordable housing

Chris Smith, who is challenging Fantroy-Johnson, said he favors affordable housing in areas where there is support for it. “There are a lot of options available,” he said, adding the schools need more students, and that’s a way to get them.

Fantroy-Johnson has been a major supporter of affordable housing on the council. But she favors private rather than public development, which was what the city was planning with the Suzuki project a few years ago. “We don’t have to be the ones building it,” she said, adding Housing Resources Bainbridge has that expertise.

Deets stood up for the effort, saying it was one way to solve the huge problem of a lack of affordable housing. He said the city could try again, sell the property or possibly make a trade with the parks district.

Peltier said this is just another case of the city “going around in circles.” He said he’s not an opponent of affordable housing, it just needs to be in the right place – not in a conservation area of the island. He said Suzuki would be a great place for parks.

Nassar was another candidate who supports Suzuki as a park place. She said it was not a place for 100 affordable housing units because it’s a rural zone not slated for high-density growth.

Scott said many affordable housing projects aren’t really, so he favors handing such projects off to the experts at HRB.

Climate change

Fantroy-Johnson said climate change needs to be looked at with an equity lens, while Smith said multimodel transportation and affordable housing also play a part in reducing climate change.

Nassar said many efforts focus on property owners when the biggest point source of pollution is stormwater. Moriwaki said the power company is responsible for one-third of toxic carbon.

Quitslund said the city needs to plan for sea-level rise, while Scott said less driving on the island won’t make a difference.

Qualifications

Nassar said she has been on council four years, promising to bring change because the administration did not reflect the community. “Taxpayer dollars are literally walking out the door,” she said. Nassar said she offers what her opponent does not – the bravery to push the city in the direction it should go. She wants to leave the city healthy and well, putting public good over special interests.

Moriwaki said his strength is bringing people together on tangible things that can actually help. He said he will bring to the council ethical government and smart growth.

Peltier said he was on the council from 2016-19 and uses creative thinking and problem-solving skills. He said somebody needed to challenge Deets who will set politics aside and not be part of the club.

Deets said Bainbridge Island had its driest summer on record, and we need to adapt to it, to the pandemic and to affordable housing.