Lee Walton built a career on walking into difficult government situations and leaving the place better than he found it.

Walton, a Bainbridge resident who served as city administrator from 2003 to 2004, now has the task of dealing with some of the city’s problems as he takes the role of interim city manager following the departure of Mark Dombroski.

Walton sat down with the Review this week to discuss matters such as the city’s financial situation, issues involving its new form of government and what may happen to some of the city’s utility projects.

Q: What is the state of the city currently?

A: It’s in flex; it’s in transition. The city is facing a lot of problems, and it’s in transition, but hopefully the trend is upward. They’ve had a major transition from mayor to manager. The council has discovered the manager system is not a silver bullet, it still requires hard work.

Q: How does it compare to other places you’ve worked?

A: Every city is obviously different and unique. It’s pretty hard to compare. I’ve done several new cities; I’ve done transitions. They’re encountering the same problems and challenges the other cities had. I don’t think the city’s unique in terms of transition issues. The issues and problems are there, and they have to be assessed and solved, and I think the council wants to do that.

Q: What are some of the issues involved in the changing of government?

A: Making the change from a governance where the mayor is the key player to recognizing that council becomes the focus and key players, it’s a different dynamic. That requires that the council start to understand what that dynamic is, and I think there’s often a little confusion in the wheels of making that transition from being a legislature to becoming the directors of the city. It does require a change in focus. There quite often is some wheel slipping during that transition, but they’ll fit into it in time.

Q: What would you characterize as a few of the main problems the city faces?

A: Right now, the main problem is to get the sewer plant finished, and hopefully in a way that we can avoid having to raise the sewer rates. I see it as probably the major issue, to avoid the necessity of imposing a rate increase. And I’m trying to find alternate financing.

Of course we have the problem of staffing. The city has lost some key personnel, not just at the higher ranks, but even at lower ranks we’re losing some good people, and we’ve had to adjust to a smaller workforce. That simply means there has to be a readjustment in responsibilities and duties.

It’s obviously difficult for employees to absorb the same, and in some cases higher workloads, with fewer people. I’ve been quite suprised and pleased that they’ve been willing to make that adjustment. Planning is actually getting more applications and more land use work and yet they have fewer people. I’m really very impressed with the staff’s willingness to do that. Unfortunately it means lots of things the city has traditionally done in terms of service to the public are probably not going to be able to get done. The public is going to have to get used to a lower level of service in some areas. The city obviously has to live within its means. I think that’s the direction I’m getting from the council is the importance of the city living within its means, which means balancing revenue and expenditures. And since our revenues have declined, we’re having to make substantial cuts in personnel, which leads to a reduction in service.

As our resources are reduced we can make adjustments to our service levels, to make those decisions about setting priorities of what’s most important.

Right now I think road maintenance is a major problem; we’re way behind in maintenance of our streets. The problem is if we can’t solve that problem in a year or two, we will have major street failures that we’ll never catch up with. That concerns me because the streets are in very bad condition, many of them, and if we don’t do something, we’re going to be beyond salvage. The basic services, which are police and street maintenance – I’m concerned we won’t be able to afford these essential public services.

The city has a tradition of giving good support to what I call “enrichment programs,” which includes cultural and social arts. The city has long had a reputation of giving them good support. I’m concerned that we can’t continue to do that and still maintain a respectable level of essential services. I think it will be a big test for the city over the next year or two to solve that problem.

Also you have to consider the planning functions that are required by state law. Bainbridge Island is unique in that we have 54 miles of shoreline, which means we have 54 miles of very sensitive areas that have to be addressed. These are special issues that require a high level of attention. Some of the cities don’t have those shorelines, and shoreline management isn’t an issue. But here it is.

Q: What are your plans for fixing the problems at the city?

A: There’s no magic bullet. Obviously, what we try to do is to develop a staff to where they can, with the council, respond to those problems. Council will take the lead, but one of my jobs is to get coordinated staff effort to assist the council in doing that. The council obviously will take the lead, not the city manager. My role is to carry out policies initiated by council, and I will certainly try to help the council develop policy. I think we’re going to have a good council.

Q: How can the city fix the financial situation?

A: Right now the financial situation is precarious. What we have to do is reduce expenses to match revenue. We’re going to be walking a tightrope until our revenues and expenditures are stabilized. I think we’re close though. Some past problems are reaching out and grabbing at us, which are the sewer plant and the Winslow Way utilities.

Basically our revenue is going to be stable. Bainbridge Island has chosen to be a rural-oriented village, so the city has not been interested in developing an industrial commercial base. They don’t want a Wal-Mart, they don’t want a Toyota car agency, which is fine. But the problem is the unwillingness to develop an industrial commercial base means that our revenue is essentially level; it isn’t going to grow. We’re dependent on property and sales tax, which is minimal. We have to accept the fact that we won’t have the commercial industrial base to support some of these enrichment programs like the arts.

How you fix it, is you basically have to reduce expenses and concentrate on our essential services. And if we want to continue the enrichment programs, then we have to find new sources of revenue. The community has to decide whether those are important. We simply don’t have the money to support both basic functions and enrichment programs. This is something the council and the community have to decide.

Q:What do you see as your role in this new form of government, which is about to see a new council?

A: A Facilitator is probably the best description. I see myself as the bridge between council and staff as an advisor. Maybe a negotiator.

Q: Your thoughts on the Winslow Way project? Are they prepared to go forward, or should staff think about shelving the process?

A: My concern is whether we’ll have the financing in hand. We’re dependent on grants. I’m concerned whether we will have funds on hand to proceed immediately. It may be that the better discretion is to postpone it a year and concentrate on the sewer plant, and perhaps delay the utilities. But that’s a council decision. At this point I suspect that’s where the council will go, to postpone that until they have the money in their pockets.

Q: What are your thoughts on the legal proceedings pending against the city?

A: Bainbridge Island has an unusual amount of pending litigation. It’s a part of the nature of the community. It’s been the nature of the community for a number of years. People who have the resources would challenge anything that they are dissatisfied about. I suppose in that way we’re more unique than most communities; that’s Bainbridge Island I guess.

Q: How do you plan to reduce the staff turnover that has plagued City Hall this year?

A: I think we are trying to change the environment in City Hall. The employees are very competent and they like what they do, but they’re under a lot of stress because of the layoffs. I think we need to change the culture and make them understand they are appreciated, and I guess that’s my job.