BI appoints new city attorney following Haney’s retirement
Published 1:30 am Monday, December 15, 2025
The Bainbridge Island City Council approved the hiring of a new city attorney with Seattle-based law firm Ogden Murphy Wallace, P.L.L.C., as part of its Dec. 9 meeting.
Current city attorney Jim Haney will retire at the end of this year after 40 years practicing municipal law in Washington state. Haney has served as the city of BI’s attorney in 2013 and 2014 and 2023-2025, per city documents. Haney will be replaced by former deputy city attorney Andrew Tsoming, who previously worked under Haney.
Responsibilities of the role include: attending all city council meetings, providing day-to-day legal advice to council, city manager and staff, and reviewing agenda packet materials for council meetings. However, the role does not include criminal legal services, per city documents.
Tsoming will serve as lead council and city attorney for one year, starting Jan. 1, 2026 until Dec. 31, 2026. Additionally, the city will work with other attorneys from OMW, including Drew Pollom and Heidi Greenwood, per city documents. Greenwood or Pollom will attend the city’s Ethics Board meetings and attend other meetings as requested by the city. “OMW may assign other qualified attorneys to provide legal services to the city from time to time, as appropriate to their skills,” per documents.
City manager Blair King said Tsoming was the most qualified candidate for the position.
Council also approved a new ordinance that creates a new Mobility Advisory Committee. The committee aims to advise and make recommendations to the council about transportation. “The committee should represent a broad range of interests, including pedestrians, cyclists, and equestrians,” per city documents.
Previously, the city adopted a Sustainable Transportation plan in 2022 and hired its first sustainable transportation coordinator, Hannah Boettcher, in 2023, who is responsible for guiding the implementation of the plan. Since 2014, the city’s municipal code has allocated for a Multi-Modal Transportation Advisory Committee to provide input on non-motorized transportation and public transit to city staff and council. COBI estimates the ongoing costs for the committee to be roughly $1,000, and council previously identified sustainable transportation as an area of focus for 2025-2026, per city documents.
