A former city councilmember, a current parks commissioner, and a former state assistant attorney general are set to face off for the Bainbridge Island City Council – South Ward seat in the Aug. 5 primary election.

The candidates are former BI councilmember Sarah Blossom, current BI Metro Parks and Recreation District Commissioner Dawn Janow, and former state assistant attorney general (2017-2021) Mike Nelson. The two candidates with the highest vote totals will appear on the November general election ballot. The prevailing candidate from November’s general election will replace current councilmember Jon Quitlund, who did not file for re-election.

Blossom has previously served two terms on the BI council and has served on the Planning Commission since 2020. During her time on the council she also served as the deputy mayor, Bainbridge Island Transportation Benefit District chair and City Council representative to Kitsap Health District Board between 2012 and 2017. Blossom is a former attorney, small business owner and a graduate of Seattle University.

Janow, a longtime BI resident, has most recently has served since 2020 as a BI Parks District Commissioner. She has also worked as a costume designer for Bainbridge Performing Arts, a yoga instructor with Bainbridge Yoga House, and a founding member/executive director of Alpine Asscents Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to building educational infrastructure in Himalayan communities. Janow has also served on the No Child Left Inside advisory committee, an organization aimed at expanding outdoor education. She is also a graduate of Colgate University.

Nelson is a 4th-generation Washingtonian and has served as the assistant attorney general between 2017 and 2021. He has also worked as an investment professional. He worked as a law clerk at the Snohomish County Superior Court for the former Superior Court Judge, Linda C. Krese. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington as well as a graduate from Georgetown University.

The Bainbridge Island Review reached out to the three candidates and asked them to answer two questions.

Sarah Blossom

Q: What would be your top priorities as a city councilmember?

A: My top priorities as a city councilmember are to clarify council procedures, ensure the budget is sustainable and reflects our community’s values, increase transparency, and prioritize the implementation of actions from the Comprehensive Plan update.

One area I believe needs significant improvement is council procedures. The council should have greater influence over how it operates and more actively shape the processes used to develop and update major policy documents like the Comprehensive Plan. Councilmembers must take a stronger role in guiding these efforts to ensure they reflect community priorities and uphold public trust. It is essential that the city’s budget aligns with our community’s priorities and remains financially sustainable. To demonstrate sustainability, the city should evaluate the budget based on two key criteria. First, it should ensure that policy reserves are maintained in all funds over the next ten years. Second, the budget must support recurring expenditures that remain lower than recurring revenues throughout that same period. These measures are critical to maintaining fiscal health and long-term stability.

The city manager regularly meets one-on-one with councilmembers, which is appropriate. However, the substance of those conversations is often not shared publicly. If the council engaged in a more transparent and substantive deliberative process, the public would be better informed about upcoming initiatives. This approach would also allow the council to gauge public sentiment—especially on potentially controversial issues—before committing limited city resources. Open, early dialogue builds trust and ensures that council decisions reflect community values.

Every update to the Comprehensive Plan includes a long list of implementing actions. Deciding which actions take priority—and how they are carried out—is a policy decision that rests with the City Council. While this often meets resistance from the administration, it’s essential that the council remains committed to its role as the community’s policy-making body. Councilmembers must be guided by the community’s vision and not lose sight of their responsibility to shape implementation in a way that reflects public priorities.

Q: Why should voters choose you over your opponents?

A: As a lifelong resident who has closely followed city politics and served on both the city council and planning commission, I bring unmatched experience and a deep understanding of Bainbridge Island to this position. I understand our history, values, and priorities. I offer both historical perspective and current knowledge and will step into this role without a learning curve.

While my opponents have rightly pointed out unpopular city initiatives—like the move to take over Bainbridge Disposal, paid parking studies, and staff-initiated “massive upzoning”— identifying bad outcomes is only the beginning. Where I differ is in understanding why those outcomes happen. I believe many of these issues stem from flawed processes, not just bad decisions. Process is a policy choice, and it’s the council’s responsibility to get it right. Over the past several years, council’s role in shaping process has diminished, and as a result, we’ve seen unacceptable outcomes. I will work to restore council’s leadership over process to ensure better results for our community.

Dawn Janow

Q: What would be your top priorities as a city council member?

A: A Bainbridge resident for over 20 years, I’ve dedicated my time to turning ideas into action and have proven successes across parks, arts, schools, and sports to back it up. It’s been my passion to preserve, protect and enhance our island, environment and community.

What I’ve witnessed and experienced is our multiple taxing agencies working in silos and not communicating or coordinating with each other or with the community at large. This siloed approach to community governance does not serve the public. I would prioritize improving interagency relationships to eliminate overlap and redundancy in planning and spending, maximize taxpayer dollars, and plan a shared vision for Bainbridge, while keeping the community engaged in decision-making.

When we talk about policy, we need to talk about people. We need to consider how people live, work, travel and gather to continue to foster a vibrant home and not simply see raising taxes or upzoning as the answer. I support creative solutions to housing, including ADUs, deeper partnerships with (Housing Resources Bainbridge), better utilizing our existing home inventory; housing solutions that strengthen our social fabric, support both low- and middle-income residents, while protecting the island’s character and natural beauty.

On transportation, I focus on low-impact, high-return projects. An island-wide interagency trail map to connect public pathways and promote alternative transportation.And above all, accountability. I’ll push for greater transparency in major projects and reach out to local businesses before enacting policies that adversely affect them. We can accomplish much, but we must get into conversation for change to happen, and we need leaders who are willing to engage the public before making decisions that affect all of us.

Q: Why should voters choose you over your opponents?

A: I bring decades of proven Bainbridge leadership—one example is project manager for Pia the Peacekeeper. I have global environmental experience as a founder of Alpine Ascents International. As an elected Park Commissioner, I’ve championed sustainability across programs and priorities. Under my leadership, BIMPRD added nearly 100 acres, expanded trails to over 50 miles, and broadened programming for all ages and abilities.

I’m also a yoga instructor and theatre costume designer, experience that reflects a creative, kind, on-time, and fresh approach to leadership. I’m uniquely positioned to break down silos and foster interagency coordination. With smarter collaboration, we can maximize taxpayer dollars and empower our community to shape the future. My leadership is rooted in public service, inclusion, and transparency. I welcome tough conversations and believe that education and incentives encourage residents take part in shaping real solutions. I bring common sense, vision, and follow-through to every effort.

I see an island rich in history, natural beauty, creativity, strong schools, diverse population, and spaces to gather. I envision bold solutions that unite people and agencies to address overall affordability, the natural environment, housing, transportation, and sustainability. I see a bright future, and I’m ready to help build it.

From a recent letter to the editor: “Bringing Dawn’s experience, energy, and community-building skills to City Council would benefit Bainbridge Island now and for years to come.”

Mike Nelson

Q: What would be your top priorities as a city councilmember?

A: As your representative on the City Council, I will advocate to preserve the special character of Bainbridge Island and to plan for growth responsibly. I oppose the current City Council’s plan to hand over our historic downtown to developers by massively upzoning Winslow and the surrounding area. I believe the City Council’s misguided plan will destroy the special character of the island, strain existing infrastructure (water, sewer, roads), cause congestion, and increase taxes, all without meaningfully addressing housing affordability. This massive upzoning is simply unnecessary to accommodate future growth and comes at too high of a price.

The City Council’s current plan is an agenda of maximum growth—a plan for 45 percent growth over the next 20 years, which is far beyond the 18 percent growth Bainbridge Island needs to plan for under the state’s Growth Management Act. That means the City Council is unnecessarily planning for more than 11,000 new people over the next 20 years when it only needs to plan for 4,524 new people. A more responsible approach would be to plan for 18 percent growth, which we can do without changing our zoning.

Responsible growth planning also means taking into consideration resource constraints, such as the scarcity of our drinking water. Bainbridge Island is designated as a sole-source aquifer and gets all of its drinking water from groundwater. There are serious concerns about the long-term sustainability of our water supply due to measurable annual declines in our groundwater aquifers. That is why we should complete the Groundwater Management Plan before we complete the Comprehensive Plan. This is just common sense.

Responsible growth planning means considering our community’s unique challenges, such as the fact that we have a limited and increasingly stressed water supply, which would only be further stressed by massive upzoning. Instead of upzoning Winslow into something unrecognizable, I believe the City Council should focus on a new plan that responsibly plans for growth without sacrificing the special character of the Island, straining our infrastructure and our natural resources, causing congestion, and increasing taxes. As your representative, I will advocate for a responsible future.

Q: Why should voters choose you over your opponents?

A: The City Council needs new leadership—leadership that listens to the community and values the special character of Bainbridge Island. The City Council’s growth planning should focus on the community as a whole instead of just the interests of developers. One of my opponents spent eight years on the City Council and has spent the last five years on the Planning Commission, where she is at the epicenter of pushing the maximum growth agenda. Most recently, because of significant public opposition, she has been pushing a slightly “toned down” version of the plan that still calls for about 9,000 new people over the next 20 years. This is still double what we are required to plan for. We can do better. She has had her opportunity to pursue maximum growth. It is time for a new direction.

Thank you for your consideration. Vote Mike Nelson. Let’s keep Bainbridge Bainbridge.

Dawn Janow

Mike Nelson