Matthew van Winkle and Lauren Ellis fit a demographic largely gone from the island.
Matthew van Winkle and Lauren Ellis are hoping to put a fresh face on the Bainbridge City Council.
Increasingly gray-haired, retired, male and white, the council could use a dose of new blood, the pair say.
“Lauren is somebody who fits exactly what’s missing on the council,” said van Winkle, who encouraged Ellis, 23, to run for the council’s Central Ward seat while he aims his sights on the North Ward. “She’s young, she’s a woman and she’d be the only one on the council with a young child. She’d bring an additional perspective you don’t see now on the council.”
Van Winkle is a mold-breaker himself. At 24-years-old, the Miller Road resident works a 9-to-5 job as a law clerk – unlike most of the current councilors and other candidates vying for office.
“Having two young people serving, I think, would be appreciated because it’s an under-represented demographic on the island,” said Ellis, a stay-at-home mother of a 1-year-old daughter.
The number and diversity of candidates has declined over the last three council elections. More races are won in uncontested bids while the pool of candidates that are female, under 40, or employed has dwindled.
The trend seemed firmly set for the 2007 election when Barry Peters and John Waldo announced that they’d seek council seats along with Councilman Bill Knobloch, who aims to hold his Central Ward seat. All three are white, middle-aged men who have retired, although Waldo has since opened a law office.
North Ward Councilman Bob Scales, who will not seek reelection, said he welcomes new faces to council races.
“It’s great new people and young people are throwing their hats in, and I hope more people do,” Scales said.
The fact that he and most other islanders know almost nothing about van Winkle, his possible replacement, or Ellis may hint at a reinvigorated council.
“It’s nice that I don’t know anything about them and it’s nice to have people not already in the political machine come out and give it a shot,” Scales said.
Both van Winkle and Ellis moved to Bainbridge about a year ago.
Van Winkle, a Seattle native, was drawn to the island when his wife, Lindsay, landed a job teaching at Bainbridge High School.
Now a homeowner on Miller Road, van Winkle is currently pursuing a law degree at Seattle University while working for the state Attorney General’s office.
Ellis, who was born in Silverdale to parents of German and Japanese descent, recently graduated with a teaching and history degree from Ohio’s Cederville University. While her husband works in Seattle, Ellis attends community events with her daughter and volunteers with local organizations.
Ellis hasn’t found many issues on which she and Knobloch, who she hopes to unseat in November, disagree.
“But it’s time for a change,” she said, listing walkability, youth programs and environmental preservation as her top priorities. “It’s time for a fresh voice from a different perspective.”
Despite the challenge from a young upstart, Knobloch said he’ll “stick to the issues” during his campaign. He also characterized himself as a candidate “with common sense along with experience.”
While both admit they must contend with a sizable learning curve on island issues, both say they are especially invested in Bainbridge’s future.
“We came here because this is a wonderful place (for my daughter) to grow up,” Ellis said. “We want to invest in (Bainbridge) and make sure it flourishes.”
Van Winkle suggested Ellis run for a council seat after working with her on a island group supporting 2008 Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, a candidate who also bucks many political norms.
“Matt and I definitely have similar perspectives about government and I think that will be a benefit if both of us are elected.”
Both candidates say they’ll campaign by doorbelling, speaking at meetings and through their personal web sites. They’ve pledged to do no fundraising and to avoid “disposable” campaign materials.
“No campaign signs, no mailings, and nothing that’s thrown away,” Ellis said. “It’s not necessary and I don’t think it’s appropriate.”
United in campaign strategies and many issues, the candidates say much of their public policy perspective was shaped by the hometowns they fled.
Van Winkle’s Seattle neighborhood and Ellis’ Central Kitsap community were, they say, spoiled by poorly planned development – a malaise they hope will not overtake Bainbridge.
Ellis, who rents a home on Wyatt Way, wants to see Winslow remain a pleasant and safe place to walk, and not at all like Silverdale, where wide vehicle lanes intersect acres of parking lots and strip malls.
“Winslow is the ideal,” she said. “You hardly ever have to drive. You walk more – and that cuts down on emissions – and you run into people and talk much more, so it’s easy to meet people.”
A sharp increase in population combined with unchecked traffic problems also altered van Winkle’s childhood home, he said.
“I grew up around Green Lake,” he said. “It was a neighborhood of single-family homes. Now, it’s a lot of high-density condos. I saw 400 units built in the six blocks around my parents’ house in three years and 600 more are on the way.”
Van Winkle stresses that he’s not against higher density development, but wants to ensure that adequate parking – preferably underground – comes with it.
“The growth in Green Lake just jumped and the infrastructure changes just weren’t there,” he said. “Now you can’t drive down the street because there’s a steady flow of traffic and you’re less-inclined to walk.”
Like refugees from a dystopian future, van Winkle and Ellis aim to prevent what Bainbridge could become.
“I’ve seen what can happen,” van Winkle said. “I want to make sure it doesn’t happen here – and that’s why I’m getting involved.”
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Virtual runners
City Council candidates Matthew van Winkle and Lauren Ellis will rely largely on websites to promote their campaigns. See van Winkle’s site at www.matthewvanwinkle.com and Ellis’ site at www.laurensatoellis.com.
