Residents urge more transparency in hiring process; roundabout plans draw concern

At a special Bainbridge Island City Council meeting, two residents urged the council to increase public engagement on city decisions: one criticized the recent city-manager recruitment process and the other asked for clearer communication about a potential High School Road roundabout.

Charlie Kratz told the council he and others were concerned about a lack of transparency, particularly in the city-manager recruitment where consultants trimmed a field of about 60 candidates to three. "It'd be nice if the public were somehow brought in earlier and have some sort of say in weeding out the candidates along with the consultants," Kratz said, and he urged the council to restart ward meetings and to restore advisory committees.

Dennis Golik, identifying himself as a North End resident, asked for better outreach on the proposed roundabout at High School Road and cited crash data: "Between 2015 and 2021, there were 29 intersection related crashes including 1 fatality and multiple pedestrian incidents," he said. Golik said many neighbors oppose the roundabout and requested proactive communication to avoid the "firestorm" that accompanied earlier projects.

Council members acknowledged the comments during subsequent discussion on the recruitment process and said the subcommittee would reconvene to prepare recommendations; they discussed allowing public presentations by finalist firms so residents can observe the selection process.

The meeting limited public comments to three minutes each and recorded no sign-ups in advance; the council moved on to business following the public-comment period.