Bonkowski won’t seek re-election

Published 9:29 am Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Bainbridge Island City Councilman Steven Bonkowski has announced he won’t run for re-election.

The at-large District 1 councilman announced at the South Ward meeting Monday night that he had accomplished what he wanted to do during his term on the council and would not run again.

In what was described as a farewell speech by one meeting attendee, Bonkowski pointed to his work on the city’s water utility and its lower rates of one of his accomplishments while on the council.

Bonkowski was elected to a four-year term in November 2011, beating incumbent Barry Peters with 53 percent of the vote.

During his time on the council, Bonkowski pushed for greater efficiency in city government and was a proponent of outsourcing the city’s water system to Kitsap Public Utility District. He also served as the council-elected mayor during his term.

There were also times of controversy; Bonkowski was one of three council members — along with former councilwoman Debbi Lester and David Ward — who were named in a public records lawsuit after they were found to be using their personal email accounts to conduct city business, a violation of the city’s Governance Manual. Bonkowski also admitted to deleting emails from his account before they could be turned over, and a Superior Court judge said Bonkowski and other city officials had violated the Public Records Act by their mishandling of public records.

The city settled the lawsuit before the penalty phase of the court case for $487,000. The council this week will review budget adjustments to pay for the legal settlement out of three accounts in the city’s general fund.

Bonkowski, 69, is retired. He formerly worked as a vice president for Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Bainbridge voters will fill four of seven city council seats during the Nov. 3 General Election.

In addition to the District 1 seat held by Bonkowski, three other council seats will also be on the ballot.

The other positions up for election are the District 6, South Ward position (currently held by Councilwoman Sarah Blossom); the District 2, North Ward position (currently held by Councilwoman/Mayor Anne Blair); and the District 4, Central Ward position held by Mike Scott.

Scott earlier announced he would run to retain his seat on the council.

Attempts to reach Bonkowski for comment early Tuesday were unsuccessful. The phone number listed as his contact number on the city’s website was repeating a “disconnected” notice Tuesday.