Hot contests get even hotter during the final hours of filing for City Council races.
Friday afternoon saw a flurry of new names enter races for City Council.
Charlie Frame, CarolAnn Barrows and Kim Brackett, with just hours to spare before the filing deadline, tossed their hats into already contested races for the council’s North, Central and South wards.
Charlie Frame
Businessman Charlie Frame was the third and final candidate to enter the race for City Council’s North Ward seat.
Frame, who lives on Hidden Cove Road, wants to help shepherd “a lot of good ideas moving forward” in Winslow’s redevelopment while challenging some of the “indecision” he’s witnessed on such projects as the Waterfront Park bathroom.
“I’d like to be a voice of reason in the fray,” he said Monday. “I’d like to help get things going. The downtown renovation, especially, I want to make sure is done right.”
The 66-year-old Detroit native will face law clerk Matthew van Winkle and environmental activist Hilary Franz for Councilman Bob Scales’ soon-to-be-vacated seat.
Frame was the Northwest division manager of Baker Commodities, a national meat rendering company, until he retired in 1999.
He and his wife Carolyn own and manage Carolyn Frame Associates, an island-based mortgage-brokering business.
The couple, who moved to the island from Seattle 17 years ago, were named 2003 Business Couple of the Year by the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce. Frame was the chamber’s president from 2003-05 and also served leadership roles in the Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce.
He volunteers on the Bainbridge Island Boys and Girls Club advisory board and has led fundraising efforts for the club’s capital projects.
Frame is a past chair of the Bainbridge Rotary Club’s auction and has been active in Habitat for Humanity.
An active boater, Frame would like to see a boat haul-out facility replace Washington State Ferries’ maintenance yard on Eagle Harbor.
He also aims to be a tough negotiator with WSF on ferry terminal and other planning projects affecting Bainbridge.
“I’d like to make sure the ferry system’s feet are held to the fire,” he said.
Frame hopes to tackle downtown parking issues and work on ways to ensure higher professional standards for building contractors working on the island.
He also wants to bring a more collegial atmosphere to the council.
“People say the City Council has not been very user-friendly with one another,” he said. “I want to bring them together and get something done.”
As for his competition for the North Ward post, Frame admits he knows little about van Winkle or Franz.
“I have a lot of experience,” he said. “I don’t know them very well. I just know what I can do.”
Frame said he will not fundraise for his campaign. He plans to focus his efforts on door-belling and meetings with voters. His campaign can be reached at (206) 790-1383.
Kim Brackett
Environmental activist and full-time mother Kim Brackett was the third and final candidate to enter the race for the City Council’s open South Ward seat.
Brackett, who filed for candidacy hours before the deadline Friday, laid out a campaign platform focused on environmental preservation – both on land and water.
“Bainbridge Island is treasured by all of us,” the Skinner Road resident said, who said preserving “quality of life” is her number one concern. A large part of that preservation is connected to Puget Sound, she said.
“As an island in Puget Sound, it’s essential that we consider the cumulative impact of our choices on the health of the water around us,” she said.
The 48-year-old former transportation manager also highlighted her concerns about the island’s groundwater supply, ailing roads and the financial costs of the Winslow Tomorrow effort.
She will face retired federal transportation manager Curt Winston and retired military officer Robert Dashiell for Councilman Jim Llewellyn’s soon-to-be-vacated council seat.
Brackett, who moved to Bainbridge from Renton in 1996, believes the council lacks a strong environmental voice.
“I’ve been watching the City Council meetings and watching the decisions they make,” she said. “They don’t tend to think about the environmental impacts. I have a good working knowledge of how all the pieces fit together.”
Brackett has been active in Blakely Harbor preservation efforts and covered environmental issues for a now-defunct blog.
The Moscow, Idaho native earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Idaho in 1980 and began an early career in public relations for agricultural groups.
Later, Brackett worked as a legal assistant in land use and environmental policy for Seattle law firms and served as an environmental consultant for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad.
Most recently, she worked as a project manager for Sound Transit, where she helped plan and implement rail construction between Everett and Lakewood.
She left Sound Transit in 2002 and has devoted much of her time to raising her daughter, a junior at Bainbridge High School.
“I have a working knowledge of the legislative process,” Brackett said. “I’m collaborative and decisive and I look forward to making the city government responsible to citizens.”
Brackett believes the city should refocus some of its spending priorities.
“The cost of Winslow Tomorrow might be too high,” she said. “Are we willing to pay $100 million (on implementing Winslow Tomorrow recommendations) or are there more pressing needs, like the senior center or bike lanes?”
She will also advocate for more open space, public transportation and basic road repairs.
Brackett can be reached at 842-2134 or kimbrackett@msn.com.
C. Barrows
Winslow artist and environmental activist CarolAnn Barrows entered the most crowded of four City Council races Friday.
Barrows will face incumbent Councilman Bill Knobloch, stay-at-home mother Lauren Ellis and attorney John Waldo in the race for the council’s open Central Ward seat.
“One of the things I love about living here is that we live in a town where there is a rich, diverse ecology with trees, water and even wild animals,” said Barrows, who moved to Bainbridge from North Kitsap in 2001.
Barrows, 55, said she is particularly concerned about the future of Winslow. She hopes to prevent what she calls the “corporatization” of downtown.
“There are people who benefit from the huge changes to Winslow and those people are not making decisions with the health and wellbeing of the community in mind,” she said.
The Harbor Square development, Barrows said, is “a perfect example of the corporitazation. It was built by a huge company from outside the community who came here and created something that in no way reflects our values.”
She hopes to see future development grow on a smaller scale and with greater preservation of open space.
Barrows believes the city’s goal of planning for some 7,000 new residents over the next two decades is both a detriment to the island and is a poor interpretation of state growth planning mandates. She believes communities in Kitsap County should plan for a larger share of the predicted growth and allow Bainbridge to grow at a slower pace.
“Bremerton should receive much more of the allocation because they have the infrastructure and they want (more) population,” she said. “Bringing in 7,000 people was a political decision (by) our representatives (and) it’s being used to drive zoning changes.”
Barrows also pledged to improve city staff morale through greater council support and stronger leadership.
Through her involvement with Reclaim Our Waterfront and Ericksen Neighbors, Barrows has advocated for the removal of the ferry maintenance yard from Eagle Harbor and for the preservation of the park between Ericksen Avenue and Hildebrand Lane.
She also volunteers with the Bainbridge Conservation Voters, the IslandWood learning center and takes part in efforts to establish the Japanese-American internment memorial.
Barrows was born in Seattle and studied sociology for a time at the University of Washington.
She founded GrowSmart!, a nonprofit that advocated for environmentally friendly development. While living in the Poulsbo area, Barrows was an outspoken critic of the Olhava development, which now hosts Wal-Mart and other retail outlets.
Barrows ran for mayor of Poulsbo in the late 1990s but was pulled from the contest because she did not live in the city limits, according to a Kitsap County Auditor’s decision.
Barrows has focused on various artistic and business enterprises since moving to Bainbridge Island six years ago. She is a jewelry designer, teaches singing and gives lessons in the martial art Qigong.
She believes she has a background and perspective better suited for the council than her three opponents.
“Bill Knobloch has done his best to serve the community for years, but it’s time for someone else to take their turn,” Barrows said.
Barrows can be reached at (206) 818-1515 or carolann@bainbridge.net.
