A call for participation was issued for volunteers to join the following citizen advisory groups:

Affordable Housing Task Force

At its May 9, 2017, meeting, the City Council approved establishment of an Affordable Housing Task Force, to consist of 15-20 members. 26 written applications were received. One applicant did not submit his application in writing, due to a miscommunication between Mayor Tollefson and the Bainbridge Island Land Trust.

Mayor Tollefson and Deputy Mayor Peltier reviewed the written applications and initially agreed on 20 to recommend to the City Council for appointment. Concerns have been raised regarding the appointment of an applicant who did not submit in writing, and regarding the qualification of one other applicant. In addition, the City Council should independently review the applications of several of the other applicants and determine whether to appoint them, or to appoint fewer members to this Task Force.    Accordingly, Mayor Tollefson has divided the appointment recommendations into two groups.

Mayor Tollefson and Deputy Mayor Peltier agree and recommend that the following 16 applicants be appointed to the Affordable Housing Task Force: Ann Huff, Emma Aubrey, Stephen Deines, Pat Callahan, Jeffrey Brown, Jane Allen, Phedra Elliott, Sharon Gilpin, Stuart Grogan, Edward Kushner, Ann Lovejoy, Bill Luria, Pegeen Mulhern, Charles Wenzlau, Althea Paulson, and David Shorett.

The following applicants should be considered if the City Council wishes to appoint more than 16 members to the Task Force: Kate O’Brien, Rasham Nassar, Phyllis Katz, Linda Allen, and William Booth.

Mr. Booth has offered participation as a representative of the Bainbridge Island Land Trust.  Because of conversations between Mayor Tollefson and representatives of  the Land Trust, Mr. Booth was under the impression that he would be appointed without need for a new application having recently applied to be a member of the Historical Preservation Commission.

In addition, two sitting members of the Planning Commission, Jon Quitslund and Bill Chester, have indicated an interest in serving as liaison from the Planning Commission to the Task Force. The City Council should decide whether to ask one or both of them to serve. 

Finally, since it might be wise to provide the Task Force with a clear statement of the Council’s intent, it is recommended that the Council consider whether the attached Instructions, or some modification thereof, should be provided to Task Force members.

Climate Change Advisory Committee

The City received 12 applications for the 7 positions on the Climate Change Advisory Committee. Mayor Tollefson and Deputy Mayor Peltier screened the applications, and selected 5 names to submit to the Council. There were 3 other applications from which they wanted to select 2 additional recommendations. Deputy Mayor Peltier and Councilmember Roth interviewed the 2 candidates who were not personally known to the City and, on the basis of those interviews, the following 7 applicants are recommended for appointment to this Committee: Gary Lagerloef, Lara Hansen, Michael Cox, Derik Broekhoff, Nora Ferm Nickum, David McCaughey, and James Rufo-Hill.

Of the remaining applicants, 2 are particularly qualified and interested in serving. It is recommend that the Council consider whether it wants to either temporarily or permanently increase the membership of this advisory committee to 9 members. When the City worked a few years ago on standardizing advisory committees, the Council gave some thought to what size is most effective, and landed on 7. As Deputy City Manager Smith recalls, the reasons included a preference for an odd number, not being too large to keep the chairs full as terms expire, and keeping the threshold for a quorum low. If the Council decides to increase the size of this Committee, either permanently or temporarily, the following additional applicants could be considered for appointment: Jane Silberstein and Deborah Rudnick.

Lodging Tax Advisory Committee

Councilmembers Scott and Townsend reviewed 4 applications and recommend the following appointments:  Susie Burdick, Dominique Cantwell, Nancy Fortner, and Patricia Nash.