To the editor:

Over the course of four years, city issues will change. What I look for in a candidate is listening, intelligence, and most importantly, attention to details.

If there is one major piece missing for the current city council, it is lack of fundamental financial skills and the reluctance spend time or effort in digging in more than surface scratching into city financials that directly affect your taxes and fees.

Ted Jones serves on the city’s Utility Advisory Committee. Bainbridge’s sewer rates are the highest of comparable cities in Western Washington, and they have an overhead of more than 100 percent. Sewer ratepayers are simply paying too much; akin to what city water ratepayers did for years with outrageous water rates. Already excessive stormwater rates have been increased 24 percent in 2017-2018 and more increased approved for the next four years. Ted Jones has been in a position to influence those utility rates and programs, and he has done nothing to indicate he cares one way or the other from participation in the Utility Advisory Committee. I suspect he would be the same on city council — another paid elected official blindly agreeing to whatever the city staff inks on the agenda bills for recommended council action.

Matt Tirman, on the other hand, has a business background and has already shown more interest and detailed knowledge of our city utilities than Ted Jones.

Both candidates are good people and would be acceptable for a city council position, but Matt Tirman has shown better financial skills and more detail interest in our city council’s current greatest weakness, that being engagement in the financial side of public governance.

I support articulate and reasonable candidates who will pay more attention how your public money, be it taxes or utility fees, is being properly used. Matt Tirman is the better choice.

ROBERT DASHIELL

Bainbridge Island