ReviewBainBRidge island

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2009 | Vol. 109, No. 36 | www.BAINBRIDGEREVIEw.coM | 75¢

Football: Spartans open the season tonight against North Kitsap.Page A12

Brad Girtz/Staff Photo

About 50 island residents demonstrated their support for health care reform Wednesday evening on Winslow Way. See Page A5 for a related story on health care.

HEAlTH cARE DEBATE

By NAT LEVYStaff Writer

In the coming weeks, Bainbridge Island will see its fourth public works director this year.

The city began advertis-ing this week for a perma-nent replacement for for-mer director Randy Witt, who left in January to take a job with King County Metro Transit.

Former City Engineer Bob Earl and Deputy Director Lance Newkirk both filled in on an inter-im basis.

Earl left the city in July for an engineering posi-tion with Harris and Associates in Belleve. Earl could not be reached for comment. Newkirk is still debating whether or not to make a run at the per-manent position.

City Manager Mark Dombroski said the city will conduct the first review of applications by Sept. 28. The goal is to hire a new director by Nov. 16.

Witt, who still resides on the island, said being an effective public works director requires knowl-edge in numerous, and sometimes unrelated, fields.

Newkirk, the current interim director, said numerous backgrounds can produce a solid direc-tor. A strong candidate should have a background in utilities, along with

Wanted: Public works

director

SEE PuBlIc woRkS, A4

By BRAD GIRTZStaff Writer

The Bainbridge Island Fire Department has pro-posed a new levy for the Nov. 3 general election that could save lives and jobs.

The EMS (emergency medical services) levy would generate about $2.5 million a year and be used to hire nine basic life sup-port (BLS) staff and one paramedic, and help offset the cost of operations.

Fire Chief Hank Teran said that without the addi-tional funding, the depart-ment would have to cut a number of emergency medical technicians just to remain at its current level of operation.

BIFD receives $5.6 mil-lion dollars annually, $3.6 million of which goes to department personnel. The rest is split among operations, investigations, equipment and other smaller expenses.

The extra $2.5 million would help free up some of the current funding to provide basic necessities such as power and fuel.

“If this does not go through, the district will be at a loss within 18 months,” Teran said.

If the levy is approved, the new staff members will work at stations that are currently unmanned and help increase the level of care while decreasing response times.

“Many people on the island may think all the fire stations are staffed, but they are not because there is just no budget,”

Teran said. “Ninety-five percent of the time Station 23 (on Phelps Road) and Station 22 (on Bucklin Hill Road) are not staffed. And when they are, the people working there are generally volunteers.”

He said that at times there are only four full-time paramedics and BLS personnel to cover the whole island. This means officers responding to one call may not be available if another emergency occurs simultaneously.

“We are asking for the minimum we need to do our job,” Teran said.

Proposition No. 1 would

impose a regular property tax levy of “40 cents per $1,000 of assessed valu-ation for a period of 10 consecutive years begin-ning in 2009 for collec-tion in 2010.” That works out to $16.67 per month for property valued at $500,000.

Approval would require 60 percent of the island voting for it. If approved, it would be the first per-manent levy funding the department has had in 16 years.

“We went through the department with a fine-toothed comb,” Teran said.

BIFD levy placed on Nov. 3 ballot

SEE lEVY, A4

Money would be used to hire nine life-support staff and one paramedic.

City manager hopes to hire new director by Nov. 16.

knowledge of capital proj-ects, planning and finance, Newkirk said.

Without prior experience in the position, the new director will experience a learning curve, Newkirk and Witt said.

“The city is a 24/7 busi-ness, and the responsibili-ties of the position don’t slow down if you’re just coming into it,” Newkirk said.

The director has to learn quickly and adapt to the demands of managing a full department and interacting with the public.

After eight years as direc-tor, Witt found the ability to prioritize to be a key part of the job.

When Witt first came to work for Bainbridge, the budget was healthier and more projects could be undertaken. Since then, dollars for public works projects have decreased significantly.

“What you saw was a lot of really good things com-peting for a diminishing amount of money,” he said.

As the budget for projects dropped, the importance of connection with the public

rose, Witt said. The direc-tor has to show the public why one project was priori-tized over another.

“You’re going to be pretty visible, so you need to be able to work with groups of people, get consensus and deliver projects,” Witt said.

Newkirk prides himself on his work with the com-munity. Newkirk said over his 12 years with the city he has earned a degree of trust with people, but every agency struggles to gain and maintain that confi-dence.

“Public trust is an extremely important ele-ment in the job,” he said. “It’s not unique to Bainbridge, it’s a national phenomenon that there’s not a lot of trust in government.”

Dombroski said the city has emphasized build-ing a relationship with the community as an impor-tant piece of the new pub-lic works director’s job description.

The department has always employed extraordi-nary engineers, Dombroski said, but an effective public works department needs more than that.

“You have to have some-one who can explain what is going on in the commu-nity and have a relationship with them,” he said.

Witt said the new direc-tor will have to build a relationship with the City Council, a group empow-ered by the change of gov-ernment vote, as well.

The new director will be in the public eye often, Dombroski said, but shuf-fling the department around behind the scenes will be another important duty.

In the last year, the Public Works Department, which is split into engi-neering and operations and management divisions, has seen significant reduc-tions in staff. According to the city Human Resources Department, at the end of 2008, public works employed a total of 57 peo-ple. Layoffs and unfilled positions has reduced that number to 46.

Layoffs occurred primar-ily on the engineering side, which is supported by the general fund, as opposed to operations and man-agement being funded by utilities. At the time of the layoffs the city was seeing reduced revenue mainly on the tax-supported side, so cuts in operations and management weren’t nec-essary.

Dombroski said changes within the department will continue, with the primary

change being a reduction in the number of managers.

Currently, the depart-ment has a ratio of 3.6 employees per manager, Dombroski said. The city would like that number to be closer to six employees per manager. Fewer man-agers will force those who remain to get closer to day-to-day operations.

“Anytime you remove layers of management, I think it increases some efficiencies,” Dombroski said.

Dombroski cited a recent plan to combine the devel-opment engineering group and capital projects engi-neering group as an exam-ple of one of the ways the department can become leaner.

To find someone who satisfies all of these requirements, Dombroski said the city will conduct its search at the regional level. Dombroski wants a director with knowledge of not only the unique nature of the island, but also an understanding of plans throughout Washington.

“When it comes to poli-cies like transportation issues, they’re very state-wide, so it’s good to find someone who knows about state issues,” he said.

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“We also met with the public four times to see what they want and expect from the fire department.”

The process took 20 months and helped offi-cials pinpoint the depart-ment’s needs, said Teran, who added that additional funding is the only way to fill those needs and provide the level of care the public expects.

If approved, the depart-ment will staff stations 22 and 23 with at least two full-time employees 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Station 22 would be staffed next year and Station 23 in 2013.

Officials said new employees will improve response time and raise the level of care the BIFD can offer.

The current staff sim-ply cannot meet the needs of the community, Teran said.

When Bainbridge’s med-ical personnel are unable to respond to a call, the next closest help has to come from Poulsbo. Teran said it takes about 20 minutes for an ambulance to respond from off-island, but only

four minutes for a patient’s brain to stop functioning. This makes quick response times a must.

By putting full-time members of staff in all three fire stations on the island, emergency services can respond quickly and with the appropriate staff.

Having the right people on scene is often the differ-ence between life and death, Teran said. It takes between five and eight medical per-sonnel to respond to a call of “CPR in progress.”

The fire department only has one of their four full-time paramedics on duty at a time. The paramedics are the only people autho-rized to administer medi-cations and other drugs to a patient. When they or other EMS personnel are not available, the system can break down.

Last year the BIFD went on 2,700 calls. When these calls overlap, the depart-ment often has to rely on help from its dedicated vol-unteers, many of whom, unfortunately, are not always able to respond.

This leaves residents in a dangerous situation with-out emergency medical services, Teran said. If the levy is not passed the prob-lem will only get worse.

By NAT LEVYStaff Writer

As word spread that Bainbridge Pediatrics was the first clinic on the island to receive nasal vac-cinations for H1N1 influenza A, hundreds of families spent their Monday afternoon in the brightly colored, picture-filled reception area, waiting to vaccinate their children.

“I believe in vaccinations,” said Sarah Sydor, who brought two children to the clinic. “It’s good for our family, and it’s good for the people around them,” she said.

Some of the children were in tears upon entering the clinic, while others took the spray with little hesitation.

Morgan, 6, is Sydor’s oldest

ReviewBainBRidge island

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2009 | Vol. 109, No. 43 | www.BAINBRIDGEREVIEw.COm | 75¢

A new season: Bloedel Reserve seeks to cultivate relationship with islanders. Page A14

Brad Camp/Staff Photo

Island Cooperative Preschool teacher Ellen Carleson works with students Rowan Schick, Finn McCallum and Annika Toma on a nut hunt in fall leaves dur-ing class Monday. Carleson is celebrating 20 years at the school. Top: Nell Marcus took to books right away after arriving for the morning class session.

By NAT LEVYStaff Writer

After nearly a decade of debate and several more hours of failed motions and in-depth discussion, the City Council has decided on a plan for an open-water marina.

Councilors went back and forth Wednesday on several options before choosing a 16-boat, mini-mal open-water marina – the cheapest of the three options pre-sented.

The option, for which the city must submit a lease application to the state Department of Natural Resources by the end of the year,

Open-water marina gets council nod

By VICTORIA NGUYENStaff Writer

As the 3-year-olds scramble to form a circle around the blue alpha-bet rug, Ellen Carleson takes the hands of two students and leads the group with her crisp, yet gentle voice.

“Thank you for this day,” she sings as the children’s arms swing back and forth in unison. “Thank you for this day.”

Carleson, affectionately known as “Teacher Ellen” at Island Cooperative Preschool, celebrates her 20th year as head preschool teacher and par-ent educator today. Carleson’s anni-versary also marks the 71st year of Cooperative Preschool parenting support classes in Washington.

“When I started I never thought I’d be here 20 years,” Carleson said. “I couldn’t imagine it. But it is really exciting to reconnect with the adults that these children have become.

“When I get to meet them (again), and they’re college age, that’s pretty amazing. They really haven’t changed that much since being four.”

Carleson, who teaches more than 40 students in five different classes, dreamt of becoming a teacher.

“I knew it was something I always wanted to be, but I didn’t do it directly because I went into music and drama instead,” Carleson said. “My major focus was being a profes-sional singer.”

After having two children and moving to Bainbridge, Carleson turned her focus to becoming an

educator.“My son’s preschool teacher (in

Seattle) was Teacher Betsy, and I just thought she walked on water,” Carleson said. “To think that I could be ‘Teacher Ellen’ and that I could have the same impact on parents and children was really exciting to me.”

A friend introduced Carleson to ICP, and she soon became head teacher, taking over the parent education program affiliated with Olympic College.

“It’s a holistic approach,” she said. “It’s the family approach to early childhood, because the parents are learning alongside the children.”

Even her husband, David, became her pupil when the Carlesons had their third child.

“It was very interesting for me to teach my husband parent educa-tion and to have him in the class,” Carleson said. “That was kind of challenging because he had been an educator for 20 years so he knew what he was talking about.”

Balancing motherhood and teach-ing also forced Carleson to make sacrifices to fulfill her duties as an educator.

“There were some sad times when the teacher rules had to surpass the mother role,” Carleson said. “I remember (Rachael) crying at the Mother’s Day tea party because I couldn’t sit beside her to have the tea because I was busy taking care of everything.”

‘Teacher Ellen’ celebrates 20 years

“It is really exciting to reconnect with the adults that these children have become.”

Ellen Carleson, head teacher, Island Cooperative Preschool

Bainbridge receives its first H1N1 vaccines

SEE mARINA, A5

SEE TEAChER, A3SEE h1N1 VACCINE, A3

Council opts for the cheapest of the three possibilities.

Carleson also made sure her daughter was exposed to a range of teachers and teach-ing styles while at ICP.

“We’re a lot about kids learning to be self-sufficient or self-efficient,” Carleson said. “They learn to hang their coats up and wash their hands – and do it pretty inde-pendently.”

For many parents, it was Carleson’s ability to connect with every child that brought them to ICP.

“There was a certain affin-ity,” Laura Hegarty said of her daughters’ introduction to Carleson. “They were auto-matically comfortable with her. She drew them right into the classroom.”

Hegarty, who had moved from Colorado with her fam-ily, heard of ICP through word of mouth.

“Teacher Ellen was talking about learning and alphabets and all that, but we weren’t studying,” Hegarty said.

Hegarty enrolled her daughters Alexis and Sophie in ICP in fall of 2006. She joined the ICP’s board of directors the same year, and now serves as president.

“I knew that there was a real solid foundation then at the preschool,” Hegarty said. “I think the longevity and the continuity just shows her commitment to the program and to the students and to the preschool.”

Through the years, many students have gotten “hooked” on Carleson, co-teacher Tifanie Mitsui said.

“You hear all the things about getting down on their level and listening to them and looking in their eyes,” Mitsui said. “You see Ellen doing that every day.”

At the end of every class, Carleson says goodbye to every child with a song.

“It’s building trust,” Carleson said. “It’s building that love relationship, which is what I think is critical. You learn when you’re in a rela-tionship. The relationship you have with the kids will really impact whether or not they’re going to be effective learners.”

Whether students sit in Carleson’s lap or on the rug, every child gets a song.

“It’s a little personal, physi-cal connection with them which is really special to me,” she said. “Not all of them sit in my lap, but by the end of the year, everybody does.”

daughter, and she was happy to receive the nasal spray instead of the shot.

“It felt good,” Morgan said. “It tickled a little bit.”

The clinic received its first shipment of 400 doses of the nasal spray vaccine last Friday, said Jennifer Ottmer, the clinic’s office manager.

“Since kids are the high-risk group, the health department tried to get the vaccines out to us quickly,” she said.

The nasal vaccine carries no upfront cost, Ottmer said, but an administra-tive fee between $30 and $40 would be billed to the patients’ insurance.

Flu clinics held over the weekend and on Monday used all of the first ship-ment, but Ottmer said the clinic received another 400 doses of the nasal vaccine Tuesday.

Representatives from the two other clinics, Virginia Mason Winslow and the Doctors Clinic, said they have yet to receive any H1N1 vaccinations. The Doctors Clinic should have vaccinations available at

the end of October or early November, while Virginia Mason spokeswoman Alisha Mark said it remains unknown when the clinic will receive its first ship-ment. She said the clinic was told by the county that the first round of vaccine had been shipped, but Virginia Mason has yet to receive anything.

Scott Daniels, spokesman for the county health dis-trict, said the county has had trouble receiving the federally manufactured vac-cine, as well.

“We’re frustrated that it’s coming so slowly, but we’re shipping it as as we get it,” he said.

Daniels said in some cases, vaccines are shipped directly to the clinics, not through the county, some-thing that may have con-tributed to some of the con-fusion.

Ottmer said vaccinations are first-come-first-serve, and all a patient has to do

is walk in and fill out a form before getting a vaccine.

As his mother worked on the form, 11-year-old Aiden Dorsey waited patiently for his turn. He patrolled the waiting room watching other children receive their vaccines.

“I’m not really nervous,” he said.

Like Morgan Sydor, Dorsey is not a big fan of shots, and the painless nature of the nasal spray worked for him.

“It just felt a little tickly, it didn’t really hurt,” he said.

Though the clinic has been busy, Ottmer said, it only takes 30 seconds for medical staff to administer the nasal spray vaccine.

Potential patients between the ages of 2 and 21 can receive the nasal vaccine from Bainbridge Pediatrics.

Ottmer said the nasal vaccine works on everyone between the ages of 2 and 50, except for pregnant women and people with asthma or

chronic illnesses.Ottmer said the clinic is

expecting to receive shots of the vaccine this week or next, but it’s still uncertain when the injectabile vac-cine will arrive.

“Until we have it in our hands we’re not counting on it,” she said.

Though the vaccine is beginning to arrive, the onset of the H1N1 strain coupled with the seasonal flu will make for a difficult flu season, according to the Center for Disease Control.

The CDC said the sea-sonal flu typically causes about 36,000 death and 200,000 hospitalizations every year, mostly among older adults and high-risk groups.

Last week, the White House released a report that an estimated 30,000 to 90,000 people could die from the H1N1 this sea-son because people lack immunity to the H1N1 strain. Early estimates from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology predict H1N1 may infect half the U.S. population and hospitalize 1.8 million patients.

Friday, October 23, 2009 • Bainbridge Island Review www.BaInBRIdgeRevIew.cOm Page a3

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vaccine supplyFor more information about Bainbridge Pediatrics’ vaccine supply and clinic times, visit the clinic’s Web site at www.bainbridgepediatrics.com. Clinic employees encourage patients to check the Web site in lieu of calling to reduce call volume.

ReviewBainBRidge island

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2009 | Vol. 109, No. 50 | www.BAINBRIDGEREVIEw.CoM | 75¢

SPORTS: The Spartans tops North Kitsap 55-42 at home.Page A18

Brad Camp/Staff Photo

Travis Quick attempts to pull the flag Zach Anderson Monday during a pick up flag football game on a sunny afternoon at Gideon Park. The players are from the Bainbridge Bible Chapel and meet regularly at the park.

By NAT LEVYStaff Writer

Nearly five months after the Strawberry Plant Park project stalled as a result of protests by the group Friends of Cannery Cove, the City Council decided Wednesday to continue with the project as currently planned.

The council decided to move forward with Strawberry Plant with the addition that the city search for ways to allow more access to the shoreline.

The amendment was suggested by Councilor Barry Peters, who learned at a Nov. 7 community meeting about the proj-ect that shoreline access was a shared goal of the community.

The proposed project would dramatically alter the shape of the shoreline along the 4.7-acre Eagle Harbor parcel.

Concrete bulkheads and the shoreline would be cut back, with the intent of creat-ing new marshland and nearshore habitat. The proposal includes provisions for an over-water viewing structure, a bridge over the creek and small-boat launch.

The council made the decision to move on and pursue 90 percent design on the project several months after it was stopped to allow for greater community involvement. After hearing all sides of the issue, the council ultimately opted for shoreline restoration.

“I know there’s been a lot of opinion on this both ways,” said Councilor Kjell Stoknes. “I have decided to prioritize the restoration of the shoreline.”

Stoknes was backed by the rest of the

Strawberry project moves forward

By NAT LEVYStaff Writer

As of Thursday evening, authorities are still searching for a California man who is charged with attempted murder and burglary after he entered the Bainbridge home of an ex-girlfriend early Sunday morn-ing and attempted to light her and their 12-year-old son on fire.

Edward Mark Olsen, 49, was

recently released from prison in California for assaulting the victim, said Bainbridge Police Lt. Sue Shultz.

Olsen tracked the family to Washington and threatened to take the son away from his mother, the police report said.

According to the police, the victim awoke at 4:45 a.m. Sunday morning and smelled gasoline. Olsen then began pouring gasoline on the bed

and threatening the victim and her son, who was sharing the bed with his mother at the time, the report said.

The victim screamed and jumped out of the bed, which distracted Olsen briefly. When the victim screamed, her son also woke up and grabbed Olsen, allowing them to escape.

The son told police that he went into his mother’s room at 12:30 a.m. because he heard noises outside that frightened him.

Attempted murder suspect at large

The City Council voted Wednesday to continue the project as planned.

FlAG tIME

SEE StRAwBERRY, A13SEE olSEN, A3

Inside:Olsen’s victim was previ-ously assaulted but didn’t contact police.Page A3

SLIDESHOW www.BainbridgeReview.com

“This young man has lived with violence his whole life,” Shultz said.

The investigation con-cluded that Olsen used a rock to break the passenger side window of the victim’s car, which was parked in the driveway and used the garage door opener to enter the house.

Shultz said the woman and her son were treated for minor injuries at a local hos-pital and have been moved to an undisclosed location.

According to the police report, Olsen and the victim

dated for an extended period of time.

The victim told police that Olsen showed up unan-nounced on Halloween, and that was the first time she’d seen him since he went to prison for assaulting her. The victim told police that Olsen was jealous because she had a new boyfriend.

Olsen was sent to prison for two years in 2000 for “threaten crime with intent to terrorize,” according to the police report. After serving his time, Olsen was in and out of prison for parole viola-tions until being sentenced to more than a year in prison in 2008. Five days after his Oct. 24 release, an arrest warrant was issued in California for

Olsen as a result of a parole violation.

The victim told police she is fearful of Olsen’s threats. On Nov. 18, Olsen stole her car and crashed it in Poulsbo. Because of the past history of violence, the victim chose not to argue with Olsen about it.

Approximately a week ago, Olsen punched the victim in the face several times after an argument about the car, the report said. Following the incident, the victim decided not to call police because she was afraid of Olsen’s reac-tion.

The victim said Olsen has been depressed recently and talked about “suicide by cop.”

Police were unable to find an address for Olsen, and his only known family, two sisters, one of which lives in Tacoma, and parents in Kitsap County, said they hadn’t seen him since Nov. 28.

Olsen is described as 5 feet 11 inches tall, 210 pounds, with short gray hair and a mustache.

Shultz said Olsen should be considered a threat to the community and anyone knowing of his whereabouts should call 9-1-1 immedi-ately.

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Breaking free from abuse poses great risk for victimsEdward Mark Olsen allegedly assaulted his victim several times before the latest incident. Just over a week ago, police say Olsen attacked the victim following an argument, but the victim didn’t call police, saying she was fearful of what Olsen would do to her if she had. Police and women’s advocacy groups say this is not an uncom-mon phenomenon. People in abu-sive relationships often become trapped. “When you have someone in a domestic violence relationship, they become accustomed to the pattern of abuse,” said Bainbridge Police Lt. Sue Shultz. These cycles don’t always start with physical violence. They often begin with emotional abuse and later escalate to physical alterca-tions, Shultz said. “It can start out in not as serious a manner and then escalate pretty quickly,” said Barbara Saur, pro-gram director of the local YWCA ALIVE program. “By the time it gets to a situation where your life may be in danger or you’ve been so emotionally or physically abused, you may not even be aware of that because it happened inch by inch.”At the point that victims real-

ize what’s going on, stopping it becomes difficult. Saur said the victims still have positive feelings about the person mixed in with their fear. “They may still love them and be victimized by their abuse,” Saur said.Shultz said the victim is the only one who can know when to con-tact police or make a break.But it can be dangerous for the victims to try and get away from their abusers. If the victims can’t prove the abuse, the abusers are often back on the street, and the violence may then escalate, Saur said. In a lot of cases, domestic killings take place when the victim tries to make a break, Shultz said. Saur said victims hesitate to make that break for numerous reasons. “Often why it happens is they’re being threatened by that per-son, or if they are econonmically dependent on that person, or have kids with that person, it’s like pull-ing the rug out from under them. It changes the whole landscape.”In the Olsen case, the victim made the break and moved to Bainbridge, but Olsen was able to track her down. “There’s been a long history of vio-lence in this case,” Shultz said.

-Nat Levy

courtesy Bainbridge Police Department

Edward Mark Olsen remains at large.

By DENNIS ANSTINEStaff Writer

Puget Sound Energy has con-tracted Asplundh to trim trees along many of Bainbridge Island’s 83 miles of distribution lines, beginning in February for six or seven months.

A slight increase in the duration of power outages along PSE’s dis-tribution lines indicated a need for the action, which last occurred five years ago.

But PSE spokeswoman Gretchen Aliabadi said the outage numbers “are pretty routine for the island.” The trimming cycle is usually four years for trees leaning on distribution lines, which typically have more outages than the main transmission lines but affect fewer people.

Aliabadi said the island represents “a big job for us” because many of its narrow roads are tightly lined by large conifers. Much of the work will be done on the south end of the island near the Winslow substation. Trees along Sportsman Club and the Murden Cove area also will be focal points, as will Port Madison.

“We haven’t had more than the usual amount of complaints,” she said. “Of course, the island has a his-tory of outages, based on the number of trees and windstorms during the winter months. We try to remove dangerous trees between the (trim-ming) cycles when we become aware of them.”

ReviewBainBRidge island

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2009 | Vol. 109, No. 53 | www.BAINBRIDGEREVIEw.CoM | 75¢

ON TOP OF THE WORLD: World travel offers BHS grad vital life lessons. Page A8

PSE hires contractor for tree trim in February

Brad Camp/Staff Photos

Gale Williams conducts a daily living cycle on his houseboat that is moored in the middle of Eagle Harbor. Williams has been on boats most of his life and is a full-time liveaboard. He also keeps a small floatilla of boats tied on for sailing, commuting to shore and other projects.

By NAT LEVYStaff Writer

More than a decade ago, island resident Craig Spencer had to choose between his home and his art.

The Southern California native, who moved to Bainbridge in 1987, rented a studio for his paintings and had a home on the island. But the bills for the two loca-tions became overwhelming and Spencer was forced to choose.

He kept his studio – filled with paintings influenced by symbol-ism and Buddhist teachings – and moved aboard his boat, in 1997.

Spencer gets by on very little money.

He does yard work to cover his $200 monthly studio rent and

trades paintings for dental work and other services.

Without the ability to live rent free on the water, Spencer wouldn’t be able to continue his starving artist lifestyle.

“If I didn’t have my boat, I would probably have to leave the island and I’d lose my studio,” he said.

Spencer, and an estimated 15 other liveaboard residents, are competing for four spots in the city’s new open-water marina, which was created by a council ordinance passed in October amid much debate and emotion.

Some liveaboard residents, like Gale Williams, have the ability to relocate if staying in the harbor isn’t possible.

“If things start to become unrea-sonable, which most of it has, I can

just pick up and leave.”Williams, who has been on

boats all his life in one form or another, has property in Oregon. But many residents don’t have that luxury.

“There’s a difference between the people who want to live out here and those that have to,” said Richard Seubert, a liveaboard resi-dent from Texas who has spent the last eight years in Eagle Harbor.

The city is still negotiating terms of the lease with the state Department of Natural Resources, but if the open-water marina is implemented as planned, the live-aboard community and its 100 years of history on Bainbridge would be endangered.

“It’s pretty much people turning their backs on the traditions that

this island has always centered around,” Spencer said.

DNR forced the council’s hand on the adoption of an open-water marina by threatening to cite boats that were in violation of state law for mooring off shore in a zone without an established open-water moorage.

Then, DNR notified the city it would have to pay full lease rates on liveaboards.

When compiling the data for the three marina options, the city worked under the assumption that it would only pay for one-third of the swinging area covered by rent-ed boats. The council found this out only several days before the meeting and decided to go with

Liveaboards facing ‘end of days’

“All my neighbors just want to live their lives.”

Rich Seubert, Liveaboard resident Bainbridge Island

SEE LIVEABoARDS, A3

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the cheapest of the three options.

The change in fees added $13,000 to the minimal option, $32,000 to the inter-mediate option and $35,000 for the most expensive alter-native.

The agreed-upon option will cost $10,000 for infra-structure with an additional $21,507 in lease fees to the DNR. The infrastructure cost comes in the form of new buoys for residential vessels.

The lease rate for those remaining four vessels will be 22 cents per square foot, and the entire encumbered area. For example, the monthly rent for a 35-foot boat will be approximately $365; and another $21 per month added to a 45-foot vessel.

Council Mayor Chris Snow, who voted in favor of adopting the marina, said he voted for it because of indications he received that liveaboard residents would not pay. Somebody had to pay the DNR, and if it wasn’t the liveaboards, the city would have to do it. The smallest option represented the lowest risk, he said.

Liveaboard residents that don’t move into the open-water marina will have to vie for spots in one of Eagle Harbor’s five land-based marinas, city Harbormaster Tami Allen said.

But a group of liveaboards has been working to create a new state law that would recognize historic livea-board communities, with

a goal of preserving their traditions.

Their planAs the council came

closer to passing the open-water marina, members of the liveaboard commu-nity formed Boaters and Mariners of Bainbridge Island (BAMBI). The group has held regular meetings on how to maintain the live-aboard community.

The open-water marina passed by the council pro-vides space for 12 transient vessels and four livea-boards.

Seubert, who has worked as a developer and a land-lord, said BAMBI is still crafting its plan.

It calls for an allowance of 25 liveaboard residents, who would be allowed to rent their own buoys from the state with an approxi-mate annual cost of $150 each.

Spencer said it’s only fair for liveaboard residents to pay some form of rent.

“I would be willing to pay a couple hundred bucks a month if there was some-thing offered with it,” he said.

Liveaboard residents would then commit to a lease contract, which would make them responsible for maintaining boats and buoys, limiting noise levels, and disposing of waste in an environmentally conscious manner.

But the state quickly denied the plan.

DNR cited WAC 332-30-148, which says residential vessels cannot moor at facil-ities disconnected from the shoreline, unless an open-water moorage leased to a local government agency is present.

A new law would be required for liveaboards to rent buoys directly from the state.

Seubert said he and other liveaboard members have met with several city coun-cilors about the plan and are currently looking for a state representative to sup-port their cause.

They have gathered more than 300 signatures from community members in an effort to show support for the plan, but Seubert acknowledged that it will be impossible for BAMBI to succeed without political

backing.“We have to have city

support before the state will listen to a new law,” Seubert said.

Councilor Hilary Franz, who was a member of the Land Use Committee as the ordinance was making its way through the process, has paid close attention to the liveaboard cause. Franz voted against the marina because she believed it devi-ated from the city’s mandate to preserve the liveaboard community.

“Four residents doesn’t represent a community, especially when it means eviction,” she said.

Seubert and Spencer contend that it would be unfair for those residents not convicted to be charged

in excess of $300 monthly to stay because that fee only

The BAMBI PlanThe group Boaters and Mariners of Bainbridge Island is working to create an alter-native plan to the city’s open-water marina. For the group’s plan to be effective, members say the city must first lift its ban on buoys in Eagle Harbor and finish the critical programmatic buoy permit process. Though the BAMBI plan is still a work in progress, some of the provisions may include:1. A different category of laws for the state buoy permit process for historic anchor-out liveaboard communities to survive, allowing new liveaboards in as existing vessels leave.2. All ground tackle and anchoring systems stay in place. Members say some anchoring systems have been in place for decades, so there’s no reason to disrupt the bottom. When the BAMBI member leaves the harbor all of the anchoring gear is pulled from the bottom at the member’s expense. All members would fund an escrow account to pay for all removal of anchoring systems prior to being issued a buoy permit. A new anchor out member, replacing the old member, shall install an anchoring system to meet state standards.3. All BAMBI members enter into a contract to have sewage and trash removed on a weekly basis or sign an affidavit to dispose of sewage and trash legally.4. Members would enter into a mooring agreement with the city or the state that includes language controlling derelict vessels, noise, trash and debris on deck, number of liveaboard vessels, and a provision for eviction of BAMBI members.5. All current boats in the harbor would be grandfathered in, and the number allowed would be increased to the historic level of 25 and all would be allowed a buoy permit and pay a lease fee to the state.

Brad Camp/Staff Photos

Above, residents gather on a vessel on the east end of the harbor. Bottom: Liveaboard resident Dave Ullin helps Harbormaster Tami Allen tie up to his boat for a visit.

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provides them a space to park their boat. It lacks any amenities.

Seubert said the BAMBI plan would give Bainbridge something it severely lacks: affordable housing.A�misunderstood�����community

Despite its presence on Bainbridge Island for the last century, the liveaboard community remains myste-rious.

“The thing I like about this community the most is the thing that’s killing it,” Seubert said. “All my neigh-bors just want to live their lives.”

Liveaboard residents have carved out lives of inde-pendence on the water. A percentage of them live on much less money than the DNR lease would charge them. And though their existence on Bainbridge is

threatened, many remain reluctant to involve them-selves in the process.

Williams said he attended several meetings concern-ing the marina, but after observing the process he became frustrated with the deliberations and stopped paying attention.

His favorite part of the lifestyle is the ability to get away.

“I can hide out here, turn off my phone and go read a book,” he said.

And though many livea-boards enjoy their privacy, they look out for each other through a kind of aquatic neighborhood watch.

For example, last week when one of the boats began drifting, several residents banded together to catch the boat and secure it.

Also this week, a resi-dent’s boat began sinking and another pulled it to shore.

Seubert said not everyone on the water is as honorable as some, but he feels safe on

the water.“It’s the best neighbor-

hood I’ve ever lived in,” he said. “I never lock any-thing up. Yes, I’ve had a few things stolen, but when I’m anchored out there every-one looks after me, and I look after them.”

Seubert said the com-munal bond comes from a shared experience – resi-dents dealing with the same problems.

“You row over to see your neighbor,” he said. “You see each other downtown and you know you had to row into town. You’re bound by the elements. The common thread out here is we all live outdoors.”

Ullin said about 10 times a year winds seriously rattle the boats and the water. And while it is difficult to deal with, Seubert said, in time people get used to it.

But the community has its problems as well.

A gaze across Eagle Harbor shows a number of run down, abandoned

boats. Allen said boats often get towed in, left and never maintained. Those boats are more than just an eye-sore. They take time and money to remove.

“I don’t like cleaning up other people’s messes,” Allen said.

Residents who leave these boats in the harbor have given the liveaboard com-munity a poor perception among some members of the public. Seubert said the community hasn’t been per-fect and should be subject to some criticism.

“We’ve earned some of those black eyes,” he said.

Spencer, whose boat resides in the western part of the harbor, said he under-stands how property own-ers could be upset by some of the noise made by livea-boards.

“It’s the generator noise that I find really annoying, and I think people on shore really do, too,” he said. “I think that’s part of the rea-son they want to see us go.

It certainly would drive me crazy all the time.”

Seubert blamed a few bad apples, as did Allen, who spends her days looking after the harbor.

“Liveaboards get a bad name for a lot of things they didn’t do,” she said.How�we�got�here

The subject of an open-water marina and regulation of the liveaboard community has been a hot topic for over a decade. It began in 1999, when the council directed the Harbor Commission to establish an open-water anchoring and mooring area in Eagle Harbor for transient and liveaboard vessels.

Three years later, the DNR enacted a new rule to allow residential uses on state-owned lands. This residential-use rule directed the city to identify an open-water moorage area in its Shoreline Master Program before Nov. 1, 2007.

In 2006, the council accepted an anchoring and mooring plan for Eagle

Harbor, which fell within the same boundaries the recently passed open-water marina does.

That plan called for 20 reserved spots for liveaboard residents.

The initial vision changed significantly between the beginning of discussion and when the council adopted the final product. Allen said two things happened that caused the city to select the option it chose.

The size of the marina was reduced, cutting the number of boats that could fit by 75 percent, and the increased DNR lease rate reduced the scale of moorage the city could afford.

Seubert said BAMBI’s plan would come at almost no cost to the city. He believes the city and state are at a crossroads and could make or break the legacy of the liveaboard community.

“If this doesn’t come together, it’s the end of days for the oldest neighborhood on Bainbridge Island.”

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By NAT LEVYStaff Writer

Jessica Cook returned from her dream honeymoon last fall to a nightmare she described as some-thing “out of a horror movie.”

Sixteen months after she met her husband Matthew through one of her professors, the couple married in an elegant August cer-emony in front of more than 150 friends and family members in British Columbia’s oldest church, St. Stephen’s Anglican.

The newlyweds then crossed the border on their way to a hon-eymoon in San Francisco.

Cook, a 2001 graduate of Bainbridge High School, and her new husband absorbed the eclec-tic nature of the city and made the week-long venture back north through some of the country’s most lush forests and picturesque beaches. They visited Cook’s par-ents, Paul and Colleen Ziakin of Bainbridge Island, before return-ing to Victoria. Cook, 26, was pre-pared to start school, on her way to an honors degree in art history from the university.

Just days after they returned home, the magic of Jessica Ziakin and Matthew Cook’s wedding and honeymoon faded, rapidly replaced by fear and prayer for the health of the bride.

“We were all still feeling real-ly good about the wedding, and they moved in together, and then three days later it happened,” Paul Ziakin said.

On the morning of Sept. 9, Cook awoke at 3:30 a.m. after hearing a noise downstairs.

“What still puzzles me is when I heard that squeak I knew it was more than just the cat,” she said.

By VICTORIA NGUYENStaff Writer

Minutes before the live broad-cast began, Sakai teacher Terri Atkinson rushed to the corner of the classroom to prep her anchors.

“After we do the weather, you’re going to have to stall,” she said. “You have to remember to support each other.”

The anchors, sixth graders Cassie Thomas and Jade Greer, needed to improvise for 10 seconds while the crew queued a feature story on the school’s salmon condos.

The student broadcast, now in its 11th year, is aired live Monday through Friday and is viewed by the entire school.

Students are involved in every

aspect of production, from writ-ing scripts to running the green screen.

Once the broadcast began, Thomas and Greer breezed through the rundown: the pledge of allegiance, daily schedule and lunch information.

As Leah Potter finished the national weather report, the cam-eras returned to the anchors.

“I saw a raccoon in my back yard,” Greer said with a smile. “It was amazing.”

Greer and Thomas then transi-tioned to the salmon feature and the video began.

“I like being able to think of transitions on the spot because it makes you feel like you’re under pressure,” Greer said afterward.

Students learn valuable skills when dealing with the pressure of a live broadcast, Atkinson said.

“It’s really important that they work together as a function-ing unit,” Atkinson said. “Public speaking skills, problem solving, learning how to manage on the fly when things don’t go well, to not panic and just work the problem.”

The broadcasts, which range from seven to 10 minutes, cover subjects from national news to intramural athletics.

Bob Nash, Sakai’s technol-ogy paraeducator, supervises the behind-the-scenes production.

“The kids take care of all the technical – the mixer boards, all the sound boards, and the green screens,” Atkinson said.

The technology of the broad-cast has evolved in the last decade, sixth-grade teacher Ruth Schmidt said.

“We had two video camcorders, two tripods and a switcher and a mixer and it was set up in the back of the classroom.” Schmidt said. “It was much simpler at that time.”

Schmidt brought the idea of a student broadcast to Sakai in 1999.

“I was responsible for that (broadcast) project at another school I had come from on the East Coast,” she said. “We had TVs in every room and they were wired so things could be broadcast room-

BHS graduate gains strength during assault rehabilitation

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Sakai sixth graders shine in daily broadcast

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Sakai teacher Terri Atkinson watches as weather reporter Leah Potter works the green screen during the weather segment. The students produce a live daily news, weather and sports broadcast for the school.

lIGHtS, cAmERA, ActIoN!

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I knew it was a person. I was like a little kid, I just sat up and went downstairs. It was just really uncharacter-istic of me.”

She checked on the cat, and before returning to bed, Cook went to use the bathroom.

There she encountered her assailant.

A young man in a hood-ed sweatshirt, holding two kitchen knives, one of which Cook said was a wedding gift, leapt out of the bathroom, twice stab-bing her in the process.

First, the would-be bur-glar slashed her shoulder and ring finger with a bread knife. Then he cut the back of her left knee, piercing the femoral artery in the process.

“It was straight out of a horror movie,” she said.

As soon as he attacked Cook, the gravity of the sit-uation hit the invader. He froze and apologized pro-fusely as Cook screamed for her husband.

“After that flash moment he went from being a malevolent presence that was looming in the dark-ness to this scared little kid,” she said. “The kid was just in panic mode.”

Matthew Cook grabbed the attacker but let him go so he could attend to his wife’s wounds.

When paramedics arrived to remove Cook from the two-floor duplex, they decided to sit her up, which caused her to pass out.

“It was then that I had the near-death experience of being enveloped in the darkness that was just warm and comforting,” she

said. “I wasn’t afraid to die. For Matthew’s sake I didn’t want to die.”

Cook quickly regained consciousness and stayed awake until her condition stabilized at a hospital.

As Cook’s recovery began, the attacker, an 18-year-old ward of the state, turned himself into Victoria police on Sept. 13.

Though he inflicted great pain on Cook – physically, emotionally and financially – she refused to participate in the public blood-lust against the attacker.

“I didn’t want him to rot in jail,” she said. “I understood that he was a young person who didn’t have much of a chance.”

The sus-pect was let out on bail, Cook said, but police barred him from entering Vancouver Island. Calls to Victoria police were not returned.

He was charged with

aggravated assault, robbery, breaking and entering and assault with a weapon. In February, he is expected to enter a plea for the charges against him.

“This is a real anomaly, this kind of thing hap-pening in Victoria,” Paul Ziakin said. “The whole community was stunned by this. Violent crime is usually criminal against criminal.”

As her suspect moves through the justice system, Cook’s recovery continues.

C o o k , who pre-v i o u s l y worked as a sous-chef at Victoria’s f i n e s t French res-taurant, just r e c e n t l y r e g a i n e d the ability to walk on her own. S u r g e o n s told her she’d be walking by

November. But the pres-ence of a full-leg cast caused her muscles to atro-phy so dramatically that she was forced to exercise

at home for several months to recover her strength. Just this week, Cook began driving again, one of the things that afford her the most independence she’s had since the attack.

“I thought by the end of the year I’d be fine, but the process has been much slower and time consum-ing than I thought it would be,” she said.

The burden of physical recovery increased over time, but the psychological effects of the attack sur-faced immediately.

When she returned home, her husband had to escort her into the bath-room, the scene of the attack. Every noise fright-ened her.

“Any little sound could have been another person with ill intent,” she said.

But Cook, an individual strong of mind and reason, dismissed these thoughts over the following months.

Though the experience has been painful and trau-matic, it led her down a new path. An art history major, Cook plans to add a psy-chology major and begin pursuing medical school. Typically, a sudden change in career paths could nega-

tively affect one’s school-ing, but Cook’s family believes the honor student at BHS and the University of Victoria can seamlessly change gears.

“Anything’s possible for her right now,” Paul Ziakin said.

Though Cook is unsure where she would take a medical concentration, she would like to work either in neuroscience or public policy, helping women in the field of reproductive health.

Cook is recovering well, and the injury has opened new doors, but yet another

How you can helpThe financial backlash of the attack has severely affected the couple. Since the attack, donations have helped them pay for medical expenses and other bills. But that money is running out. To help the fam-ily, search Jessica Ziakin-Cook on facebook. A fan page under that name has an option for donations.

“It was then that I had the near-death experience of being enveloped in the darkness that was just warm and comforting. I wasn’t afraid to die. For Matthew’s sake I didn’t want to die.”

Jessica Cook

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Photo Courtesy Joan Herron

Jessica Ziakin married Matthew Cook Aug. 15.

Friday, January 22, 2010 • Bainbridge Island Review www.BaInBRIdgeRevIew.com Page a3

By DENNIS ANSTINEStaff Writer

The city will need to bor-row $600,000 soon from its water utility fund to the general fund to help pay an insurance bill due in a week and provide enough funding to get the cash-strapped city through March.

Finance Director Elray Konkel made the request during Wednesday’s City Council meeting after explaining that about $950,000 that was expected to come in during January probably won’t be added to the city’s coffers until late February or early March. The council will address the

request during its Jan. 27 regularly scheduled meet-ing.

Konkel said about $1 mil-lion is currently in the water fund and that the inter-fund loan could be paid back at the end of May. Last year the city borrowed $3 million from the water fund, trans-ferring it to the sewer fund to help finance the Waste Water Treatment Plant upgrade project. That loan won’t be repaid, Konkel said, until the city borrows bond funding later this year.

The city was depending on about $600,000 in fund-ing (part of a $1 million state grant given to Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park

and Recreation District) in lieu of the district tak-ing over the Williams park property. And about $250,000 will come the city’s way when the sale of its Vincent Road property closes. Unfortunately, the state hasn’t signed off on the grant yet and the sale hasn’t been finalized.

Konkel said he has been assured that the grant and land sale will occur soon, but not in time to pay a bill that can’t be ignored.

“The problem is we have an insurance bill for about $670,000 due on Jan. 27,” Konkel said. “Our cash flow is sufficient right now with ongoing receipts coming in each month, but the insur-ance payment is an anom-aly.”

The city will receive the first of two annual prop-erty tax payments in April,

which will take the pressure off a bit.

Konkel said the city’s cash-flow situation is such that he needs to address it every Monday morning just to make sure there are no surprises. “We’re literally trying to project our cash balances for the week,” he said.

Following Konkel’s state-ment, Mayor Bob Scales said, “We’re still operating hand to mouth and it’s extremely risky.” He suggested that the council needs to address the possibility of cutting more operating costs.

“It’s just too narrow of a margin for error,” he said. “There’s no level of confi-dence right now that we can make it to the end of the year.”

The council has scheduled a work study session involv-ing finances on Feb. 3.

City planning to borrow from its water fund again

Friday, January 22, 2010 • Bainbridge Island Review www.BaInBRIdgeRevIew.com Page a5

F i n d u s o n F a c e b o o k ! s e a r c h F o r t h e “ B a i n B r i d g e i s l a n d r e v i e w ”

problem has surfaced: money.

“As I progressed and got my head above water, that’swhen we started seeing the full effect. The financial dev-astation that it brought, the strain on our new marriage.”

Cook said the govern-ment assists people who lose income as a result of violent crimes. But for Cook, who relies primarily on academ-ic financial aid to pay the bills, no such services exist. Additionally, she received her health insurance through school, but as a result of dropping out temporarily because of her injuries, Cook lost her coverage.

Cook now pays for physi-cal therapy, prescriptions and other medical expenses out of pocket.

To make matters worse, Matthew Cook, who works at a brewery, had his hours cut back to part-time status.

“He’s had to care for me so much that he hasn’t had the time or energy to go out there and get different train-

ing and explore his options in school,” she said.

Normally, Cook’s parents would assist her as much as possible. But the economy has taken its toll on them as well. Paul Ziakin’s hours as a software implementation manager at Davis Langdon, an international construc-tion consulting firm, were recently cut back.

“We’re not in a position to help,” he said. “We’re in kind of a financial pickle ourselves.”

But through all of this, the intense physical therapy, the skyrocketing medical expenses and the psycho-logical trauma, Jessica Cook remains positive.

“It was a terrible, horrific thing, but there is something around every corner,” she said.

Cook’s father continues to marvel at her strength and refusal to submit to adver-sity.

“She’s not a victim,” her father said. “None of us in our family have ever been comfortable in that role. She’s taking this as a chal-lenge, and she’ll come out of it a better person.”

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Nearly $1 million expected to arrive this month won’t be available until late Febuary or early March.