Council candidates square off Tuesday

The candidates running for City Council have been quiet lately. Likely they’ve been sharpening their rhetorical blades for the political pit fight coming up this Tuesday, July 24.

Ok, so there will likely be little bloodshed, metaphorical or otherwise. I’d guess it’ll be a fairly tame affair, especially with the Chamber of Commerce’s director hitting the would-be politicians with nerfish salvos. (However, you can expect the Chamber to drill the candidates on the Ericksen-Hildebrand road connection issue).

Turnout to this debate anyhow. It could be your only chance to see the candidates before the primary. Ballots are poised now for mass mailing.

The first bout is for the central ward, where Bill Knobloch hopes to defend his place on the council. He’s facing the wily John Waldo, ‘lil Lauren Ellis and jack-of-all-whosiswhats CarolAnn Barrows.

Then it’s the south ward fight, with road warrior Curt Winston, admiral anti-affordable housing Robert Dashiell and wetland watcher Kim Brackett.

The rest, including north warders Matt Van Winkle and Hilary Franz will sit this one out since their big face-off isn’t until the general election in November.

Meanwhile, Barry Peters, who is running unopposed for the all-island position, is getting his posterior measured for a custom tailored council seat.

The show starts at 7 at the Senior Center on Bjune Street near Waterfront Park.

Clinton proposes, Inslee accepts

While many left-leaning islanders flirt with the many eligible suiters asking for the Democratic party nomination, at least one prominant Bainbridger already knows who he wants as his president.

Jay Inslee, our man in D.C., has slipped on the ring of Hillary Clinton this week. He'll not only back her in 2008, but also get a cushy job as part of the bargain.

Seattle P-I Columnist Joel Connelly writes in his blog that Jay wants a "battle tested" president who can lead a "clean energy revolution."

It might appear Al Gore, the Democrat's 'big tease' when it comes to the '08 race, would be a more compatible fit with Jay. Wouldn't they be cute together? Mr. Apollo Energy uniting with Mr. Inconvenient Truth? Well, if Jay's going to snub Al, Bremerton's Congressman Norm Dicks doesn't mind taking his place. Even though he's not yet officially running, Norm has endorsed his old buddy Al. They go way back, apparently, from their days as rowdy freshmen in Congress.

As for Jay, he'll co-chair Hillary's energy and environment task force, along with former environmental protection administrator (and Al ally) Carol Browner.

Jay says Hillary "understands that tectonic plates need to shift in the American economy, and that we have an opportunity to both grow the economy and develop technologies to deal with global warming."

And, according to Connelly, Jay will be repaying "a major political favor."

Hillary came to Seattle in 1998 to help Jay with his campaign against Republican Rick White. She spoke to a rally for Jay, the underdog in the race, and again to a big-money fundraiser event held in Dale Chilhuly's glass studio (you know the place: where his army of underlings do the work and ol One Eye signs it). The money helped Jay trounce White and put in place a strong defender of Hillary's hubby when he had impeachment problems.

Two other Washington congressmen have also made early announcements of their presidential picks. Rep. Adam Smith, a Democrat, wants Barack Obama. Rep. Dave Reichert, a Republican, is supporting Rudy "Ghoully" Giuliani, and is helping to lead a Giuliani law enforcement brain trust.

Harbor Square Dancing

In an effort to soften its image, the most hated condo conglomeration on the Island is offering free salsa lessons.

Harbor Square's businesses (Dszign, the Harbor Square Wine Shop, and Island Health Foods) will, this Saturday, June 23, post a Latin dance expert in the concrete park known as "The Park at Harbor Square" to enduce hip shaking and sultry sashaying among the Island masses.

Square dancing, I think, would have been more fitting. In my crystal ball I see Sea Shanties at the Sea Breeze development on South Madison and grape squashing jigs at the Vineyard Lane compound.

Salsa starts at noon.

Ole.

Where's Waldo?

Islander Debbi Lester is also a bit miffed about John Waldo's last minute bait-and-switch for a city council seat. Here's the letter from Debbi that Kitsap Sun Reporter Rachel Pritchett posted on her blog, "Bainbridge Conversation":

Waldo did a disservice to the community in switching races at the last minute. No council race should be run unopposed.

Portraying him, as a nice guy, “listening to the community," and comparing himself to Barry Peters, are media spin. My take is that Waldo saw out the gate himself loosing to Peters.

Why did Waldo not announce his change of heart on Monday? Why did he wait until the last moment possible to file and switch races?

Everyone thought the Peters / Waldo race would provide a lively discussion of the community issues, as these are two candidates with very different approaches and
perspectives. In waiting to the last minute, Waldo gave no one else the time or the opportunity to consider running against Peters.

Were his supporters given notice of this sudden move?

Were they given the option to get their endorsement money back when it became a different race?

Is this how Waldo is going to perform if elected? If things aren't going in his favor - he'll jump ship?

Waldo paints himself as listening and responding to the community (his reason for not running against Peters).

On the Ericksen Avenue/Hildebrand Lane connection issue, he's stated that the council just needs to make a yes-or-no decision. How many times does the council need to say no? Since 1989, the community has said no.

Who's not listening? Who's not responding?

Waldo should also be straight up and let everyone know that he has been legal council for a few Hildebrand property owners. He has been paid to lobby the council and advocate for the connection of Hildebrand and Ericksen.

If elected, and should this issue come to a council vote, would he uphold the promise made by the city to the community or would he advocate for his clients?

Where's Waldo?

Debbi Lester

And they're off!

After a few recent Council elections in which the island only managed to field a handful of old codgers, change seems to have finally come.

Not only do we have some real, honest-to-goodness contests, but the range and breadth is something to celebrate. Rather than the usual "old white guys", we have working stiffs, civic-minded mommies, young folks and even (Gasp!) a candidate that's not a WASPy whitey.

Here's the rundown of the races:

All-Island: Barry "Sustainability" Peters running uncontested for Nezam Tooloee's position.

North ward: Matt "Lil' Lawyer" Van Winkle, Hilary "Eco Attorney" Franz, and Charlie "Chamber of Commerce" Frame.

Central ward: Bill "Golf Ball" Knobloch, Lauren "Lil' Mamma" Ellis (the non-caucasian of the bunch. I believe she's Asian), John "Where is" Waldo, and Carol "Poulsbohemian" Barrows.

South ward: Curt "Highwayman" Winston, Robert "Ok, might as well run for City Council" Dashiell, and Kim "Tolo Terrorist" Brackett.

Quite a line up. Odds are on Franz, Knobloch and Brackett.
Franz because she has a quite a resume (land use attorney, activist, environmentalist). Knobby because he's known and works hard (too hard?) to please his constituents. AndBrackett because she probably better represents the island (middle-aged and left-leaning). Winston and Dashiell are a bit conservative and Dashiell is actually running on an anti-affordable housing platform (go figure).

Of course, Barry Peters gets a free ticket to the council. That rankles me a bit. Being elected to office means you run. You get out there and earn votes. Peters merely has to scratch his ass and pick his nose, and he gets a council seat. But it wasn't always that way. Remember last week? Before John Waldo freaked out and jumped into the packed race in the Central ward? I think that Waldo's move was a disservice to local democracy. No, really. He staked his claim, so others staked theirs. No one else eyed the All-island race thinking it was well-full of top-tier politicos. So they crowded into the ward races.

Meanwhile, candidates shake hands and agree not to raise funds. Instead, they agree to attend meetings and do door-bellings and talk with voters. But in the All-Island race, Barry and Waldo stockpiled money, thousands in fact. So then Waldo switches to the Central race at the last minute Friday and brings with him a ton more money than the rest of the candidates.

Don't know why Waldo had cold feet at the end, but his move smells of politics rather than public service. They guy wants to win, even if he tangles up other races and allows one guy to coast in unopposed.

But, in general, I think we'll see some "spirited debate," as they say. And we'll actually have to spend some quality time when we sit down with our ballot this time around.

Holster your pistol, cowboy, and recycle that varmint!

Read in the cops blotter that a Bainbridge man had shot his TV....twice. First with an antique pistol. Then (perhaps really wanting to get his message across) with a shotgun. When he was finished, he neatly placed the bullet-riddled boob tube back in the closet whence it came.



I had to laugh then when I heard about a noble effort here on the island to recycle old TVs. This weekend, high schoolers and realtors are teaming up to dispatch aged electronics to their proper place: the recycle bin. After all, the TV set and its cousin the computer monitor are rife with untold toxins: lead, mercury and other compounds I can't pronouce or remember. Point is: they are bad. So, load 'em up and take the old IBMs and Zeniths down to Ace Hardware's parking lot this Saturday (May 26) from 9 AM to 1 PM.

If only that poor gun-toting bloke had known about this event. Coulda saved those slugs for the apocalype or somesuch other nonsense.

Check out this site for more info and prices for each item. This links to Bainbridge Neighbors, a new site devoted to community news and events. Glad to see another group stepping up after the Bainbridge Buzz went under.

Buzzing off

Received an email today that the Bainbridge Buzz will buzz no more.

Apparently the cost of running an online newspaper and community forum is just too high.

Too bad. It was nice living in a three newspaper town. What falls through the cracks of the Review would surely be picked up by the Islander or Buzz.

And all three papers served their individual purposes. The Review casts the biggest net, catching bulk of island news. The Islander did well, serving as another take on the big events and local shenanigans. The Buzz provided a forum, at which you could read up on what all the crankies with keyboards have to say about the island's happenings.

No single publication did it all. That's why our ability to inform ourselves takes a hit tomorrow when the Buzz buzzes no more.

It's magic when you're on the air

Finally, us poor folk without the highfalutin cable teevee can watch the Island's public access station.

Well, as long as you have a highfalutin internet connection, that is.

BITV is now streaming all its programs via www.bitv.org

Right now the channel 12 is streaming its shows "live" on the site, which is great for people that don't want cable, don't have a TV or don't trust their computer when it's left alone.

I'm looking forward to when this service when it's "on demand" so's I can catch all the drama, the intrigue, the THRILLS at COBI city council meetings when ever my heart desires.

BHS History 101: "Sever the roots that bind"

If I were still a pimple-pocked upstart I'd have my spitballs loaded and ready for the next time any teacher tried to instill the importance of history at Bainbridge High.

Such lessons are suddenly laughably hypocritical at BHS, because outside the classroom window living pieces of history are being ripped from the campus grounds.

The papers are carrying stories, photos and letters about how BHS plans to chop down a cluster of blooming cherry trees planted some 70 years ago as a gift from the Japanese-American Community. They are, apparently, in the way of a building expansion. The school district says it hasn't enough money to move the trees, despite pleas and assurances from Island tree experts that the trees could be safely relocated.

Money, back-hoes, new bricks and mortar aside, what kind of lesson is this for the students?

In defense of the school's decision to hack the trees, school board prez Bruce Weiland is quoted in the Bainbridge Review as saying: "Our mission is to educate kids," and not, perhaps, to worry about trees. True, but what is education without the values associated with it? Learning about history is not simply cramming names and dates into young heads. It's also about learning to revere history, to value the stories that tell us why and who we are today, and to feel rooted to the past.

If I were a young BHS scholar, I'd fire a wet, pulpy one square in the eye of the school administration, hit the library and kickback with some good Island history under a shady cherry tree.

Barato burrito rebirth

There is nothing so fine as a quick burrito.

The Island has suffered for years after Chili Cosmos closed somewhere around 2003. It was there, and only there, that you could get a no-frills burrito on the cheap and not have to worry about combing your hair or "putting on your face." A good sloppy burrito'd mess both up anyhow (depending on the level of gusto to which you applied your hunger-fueled enthusiasm).

Well, Chili Cosmos was tossed in the waste bin of Island history after their landlord decided not to continue their lease. Now we have an expanded Cafe Nola in its place. Yey.

Cosmos used to be a hangout and feedery for cab drivers, aging hippies and young hoodlums. Hopefully, the new Casa Rojas burrito shack will serve the same purpose.

Opening sometime this week, the new Casa Rojas fills the void in the Safeway sprawlville left open when 'It's Casual' (arguably the best, and most fitting, restaurant name on Bainbridge) went out of business.

The other Casa Rojas at the concrete monolith known as 'the pavilion' is my second favorite place to nosh burritos, and I expect they'll put their tried and true balance of price and taste into practice at the new place.

On the menu: quality fast food, like burritos, salads, nachos, and, for all you commuters who haven't mastered the "milk + cereal + bowl = morning meal" equation, a line of breakfast burritos.

Inslee: More than just (daytime) talk

A headline from Saturday's Bainbridge Review gave me one of those "Zoinks?!" moments.

"Jay Inslee's goal: to get on Oprah." the front page declared.

Uh, wow. I'll have to check this out, I thought. After all, Inslee's made a name for himself promoting such lofty stuff as breaking our addiction to Middle East oil, promoting bio-fuels, fair trade vs. free trade, pushing for recognition of those Islanders sent to concentration camps during World War II.

Now his 'goal' is to yak it up with Oprah.

I wondered, as I forked over my three gilded Washingtons, what would Jay and Oprah discuss before a live studio audience. Weight loss tips? Childhood traumas? What in this spring's fashions will bring out the azure of Jay's peepers?

Nothing of the sort. Seems Inslee's writing a book about what Inslee loves best: clean energy. Not much of a Zoinker after all. I felt a bit duped, a little tricked. But I got to hand it to you Bainbridge Review - you got me.

You got my 75 cents and I got a journalistic wedgie.

Spartans! The movie?

Right on time, Hollywood has produced an action-packed thrillride of a feature film about the Spartans.

Ok, so it's not about our Spartans, but the timing is uncanny. When was the last time you saw a movie about the hardest-core warrior society of the ancient world? And when was the last time Bainbride High's high-flying hoopsters were a hair's breath from taking a State Title? Here it is, a cosmic overlap of (Greek) mythic proportions.

I don't know how much islanders truly appreciate what it is to be a "Spartan." Honestly, I don't understand why the island of olden days would pick such a mascot.
For those not in the know, the movie "300" about a group of Spartan soldiers pulling an Alamo at mountain pass against the Persian invaders, should give Bainbridgers a hint at what it means to be Spartan.

But for a little, more history, check this out:

Sparta was, above all, a militarist state, and emphasis on military fitness began virtually at birth, according to Wikipedia. Shortly after birth, the mother of the child bathed it in wine to see whether the child was strong. If the child survived it was brought before the elders of the tribe by the child's father. The elders then decided whether it was to be reared or not.

If found defective or weak, the baby was left on the wild slopes of Mt Taygetos. In this way the Spartans attempted the maintenance of high physical standards in their population.

It was customary in Sparta that before the males would go off to war, their wives...would present them with their shield and say: "With this, or upon this." The idea was that a Spartan could only return to Sparta in one of two ways, victorious or dead.

If a Spartan hoplite were to return to Sparta alive and without his shield, it was assumed that he threw his shield at the enemy in an effort to flee; an act punishable by death or banishment.


A strong emphasis was placed on honour and carrying out acts because it was the 'right thing to do.' Xenophon wrote about the Spartans as he observed them during an Olympic game:

"An elderly man was trying to find a place to sit and observe the Olympic Games, as he went to each section. All the other Greeks laughed as he tried to make his way through. Some ignored him. Upon entering the Spartan section all the Spartans stood and offered the elderly man their seats. Suddenly the entire stadium applauded. All the Greeks knew what was the right thing to do, but the Spartans were the only ones who did it."

Perhaps our Spartans can await such honors when they return to Bainbridge with their shields rather than upon them.

Chilling images

Recovered yet from the Chilly Hilly?

Well, now re-live the battle. The Review newspaper has posted an online gallery from the ride.

Bainbridge ferry company kaputt

The island based Kitsap Ferry Company is throwing in their sweat and sea salt soaked towel.

Reading this story in the Sun, we learn that the passenger-only ferry service can't make ago of its infrequent crossings from Bremerton to Seattle once Kitsap Transit pulls its subsidy away. Kitsap vote-casters gave the big thumbs down to the notion that they'd allow their tax pennies to revive the trail of little steamers. I guess people wanted more money for Cayannes, Cross Countries and Outbacks (i.e.=the mosquito swarm of our paved inland canals...ah, the romance...)

Too bad. A true web of ferries in the Mosquito Fleet tradition would be a real boon for commuters, travelers, revelers and rovers looking for a quick jaunt over to the Big City or a visits with cross-Sound family. Imagine it: kicking back, enjoying the Puget-perfect view, sipping coffee, chatting with neighbors, listening in on conversations, reading the paper - all while traveling from the old ports-of-call at Port Madison, Manzanita, Fletcher Bay, Point White, Eagledale, Yeomalt, Rolling Bay to Manette, Port Orchard, Seattle, Suquamish, Poulsbo and Manchester.

Here's a map of a Kitsap County effort to catalog the old Mosquito fleet trail:



It's a small map, but the bounty of black dots lining the island's coast gives you a pretty good idea of what once was, and what one day could be......Alas, we'll stick to our cars, resigned to burn copious hydrocarbons and plumes of road rage fumes.

It was both chilly and, of course, hilly

It didn't break any records, but it sure brought out the Northwest's toughest pedal-pushers.

The '07 Chilly Hilly had over 4,000 people register, which doesn't quite measure up to the 4,700 back in 2005.

The difference between '07 and '05?

2005 was hilly, but not so very chilly.

2007 was bone-biting cold, especially after a cold, high-speed shower down Sunrise Drive, then a "break" standing in the rain, then a gust of wind.

But I'm not complaining. Maybe gloating. After all, I have stronger alliegiences to the no-frills bikers out en force with rain slickers, egg-shaped Bell helmets and flat pedal, steel frame style. The spandexalista largely stayed home, likely running the wheels on their stationary in the study whilst pondering how to shave a milligram off their tube caps.