A recall against four Bainbridge Island Metro Parks & Recreation commissioners was filed May 1 with the Kitsap County auditor’s office.
Named in the recall are: Jay C. Kinney, John T. Swolgaard, Kenneth R. DeWitt and Dawn Janow.
Commission chair Kinney says in an email that the charges have no merit as all discussions regarding Sakai Park and other parks board actions have been out in the open.
“We simply have not done what Mr. Hunt demands, in a timeframe to his liking,” Kinney said.
In the recall, William A. Hunt alleges violations of oath of office and malfeasance.
The charges say a recall is the only way citizens can exercise oversight and accountability over the parks commissioners, who are elected to six-year terms.
In Hunt’s filing, he asks for signatures to be gathered for a recall petition.
Hunt and others have been pressuring the commissioners at park meetings for weeks to take action on Sakai Park. Hunt’s filing says it’s been over eight years since the commissioners signed off on a ballot measure to purchase about 23 acres of land near the heart of downtown, schools and a branch of the regional library.
Despite receiving 10 recommended uses based on public input in 2016, nothing has happened there beyond trails. A state grant of $1 million also requires “active recreation.”
Hunt’s filing notes that when the parks district was formed in 2004 via petition, its mission was “to build a healthy community through effective, sustainable stewardship of the district’s parks and open spaces, and through the development and delivery of innovative, cultural and recreation opportunities.”
The four charges are:
Failure to initiate, direct and administer district park and recreation activities pursuant to state law.
Material misrepresentations made in grant with state Recreation and Conservation Office.
Improper diversion and/or gross mismanagement of park district funds.
Improper conversion of Sakai Park property in violation of state code.
Kinney said Hunt is upset because four commissioners stand in the way of his advocacy for a new 52-meter pool for $60 million plus and a $30 million fieldhouse at Sakai Park. The one commissioner he is not attempting to recall, Tom Goodlin, has announced that he wants the park district to put a bond for both projects before voters.
The four commissioners decided to renovate the existing pool for less than $5 million rather than float a bond because the BI school district is likely to ask for a bond of over $100 million in 2024, Kinney says.
“I said I would support a valid and reliable public opinion survey to determine if island voters would support a $90 million bond for a pool and a fieldhouse,” in addition to the expected school bond, Kinney says. The commissioner added Hunt seemed receptive to this idea. “Then, without waiting to see what the voters thought, he filed his recall petition.”
Janow says in an email that a presentation on Sakai Park will take place May 18. She says a lot has happened since the community was surveyed about what it wanted at the park.
Since 2016, the district has received a donation of 10 additional acres at Strawberry Park, installed six pickleball courts, installed playgrounds at Battle Point Park and Fay Bainbridge, acquired BIRC, created off-leash dog areas, covered batting cages, initiated free summer concerts and movies in the park, added miles of new trails and acres of new parks, exponentially increased and diversified programming, and more.
“Mr. Hunt’s assertion that the commissioners and, by extension staff, are negligent in their duty to build a healthy community through effective, sustainable stewardship of the district’s parks and open space, and through the development and delivery of innovative cultural and recreation opportunities, is false.”
