Six Bainbridge Island residents have filed applications to be considered for an appointment to the Bainbridge Island City Council.

The six council hopefuls are Christy Carr, James Halbrook, Denise Grzech Kulak, Ashley Mathews, Lisa Neal and John C. Ogden.

The council is searching for a replacement for Matthew Tirman, who resigned from the South Ward, District 3 council position in February.

Two of the candidates hoping for a council appointment, however, have bluntly criticized the council in their application letters. Neal wrote there is the impression “that there is a ‘back room’ contingent’ running things on the island,” while Halbrook wrote that policy decisions were being “made to maximize economic gain of the few at the expense of the many.”

Neal, 58, is an attorney who has owned a home on the island for 25 years.

She previously served the city as vice-chair of the Island Center Subarea Planning Process Steering Committee, but was kicked off the committee by a 5-2 council vote in 2018, after complaints that she was argumentative with other committee members and city staff. Two members of the committee resigned right before Neal was removed, and there were concerns other committee members would quit out of frustration.

Neal addressed her removal in her application for the council seat, and complained that she had been passed over twice for a position on the city’s Ethics Board.

Her removal was “unjustified,” Neal wrote, and made after she said the city’s planning director, staff liaison to the committee, and committee chair had made “inaccurate legal statements.”

Neal also complained about the city council’s handling of ethics complaints against former councilman Ron Peltier and current Councilwoman Rasham Nassar.

Halbrook, 62, is a former scientist who has been involved in research efforts for the treatment of inflammation, viral diseases and cancer.

Halbrook has also been an opponent of the proposed Winslow Hotel and has donated to the neighborhood group that has filed a lawsuit against the city over the project.

In his application letter, he said there were too many people already living on Bainbridge Island.

“Bainbridge Island has greatly exceeded its carrying capacity,” he wrote.

“This state has been potentiated by encouraging the various McMansion housing developments, the rapid growth of Lynnwood Center, shopping centers, storage facilities and business parks. Combined, these actions have contributed to over-population, over-consumption, increased motorized traffic, air, water and land pollution.”

In his cover letter, Halbrook described the course of the current city council as “threatening the lives of those who depend upon a stable ecosystem. It is my desire to change our present course and discover a way that puts people before money making and self dealing.”

He sharply criticized the city’s actions on climate change, which has left him to “wonder why neither the actions of the city council nor city administration are seriously focused on this issue.”

Kulak, 57, is general manager of Green Mountain Technologies, a Bainbridge-based commercial composting company.

She has extensive experience as a volunteer, having served on boards and committees that include the city of Birmingham, Michigan, the Walsh College Foundation and Michigan Legacy Art Park. Her work experience includes work for nonprofits, educational institutions and private businesses.

She said development on the island is the city’s biggest issue.

“One of the other challenges I’ve perceived is the density of the island during the peak season and the influx of tourists from the Seattle area,” she added. “This is an issue that will need to be addressed long term from a parking, development, and community perspective with continued input from neighbors and local commerce alike.”

Mathews, 41, is a regional marketing specialist for Coldwell Banker Bain. She was a candidate for the city council last November, but withdrew from the race for a North Ward seat before last year’s Primary Election.

In her letter, Mathews said that when she moved to Bainbridge from Brooklyn, New York, she told her fiancée that she would only live on the island for five years before moving back east.

“Little did I know that this truly magical island would take ahold of me and now there is nowhere else I would live. I not only want to live here, but want to take this opportunity to dig deep, do the work and serve this city,” she wrote. “Being appointed to our city council would be a great first step.”

She said when she ran for the council seat earlier, she discovered that running against Kol Medina, the incumbent councilman and the island’s mayor at the time, “wasn’t realistic at the time.”

“I decided to keep studying and learning so that when my time did come, I would be prepared. Here we are,” she wrote.

If appointed, she said she would “bring level headedness, resolve, curiosity, a unique perspective and great marketing skills to the council.”

She also noted that some may be suspicious of her work background.

“I don’t want anyone to think I have some desire to see development, because I happen to work for a real estate company and love my job. That isn’t the case at all,” she said.

Ogden, 74, has lived on Bainbridge full-time since 2012.

Most of his career was spent working for a large electric and gas utility, with the last 20-plus years in the real estate development business.

“Both of those provided the opportunity for me to be closely involved with city and state government bodies. All that effort has been on the presenting or negotiating side, but it has allowed me to gain a bit of understanding for the complexity of the decisions governing bodies face,” he wrote.

“I think the effort coming out of this pandemic is going to create some unique challenges for all of use, especially small cities,” he added. “The financial impact on citizens will transfer to a financial impact to all governments, including COBI.

“I come with years of financial experience and management decisions that go back to the oil embargo of the ’70s, RTC days of the ’80s and the financial meltdown in 2008. I believe that experience can benefit the citizens on Bainbridge Island,” Ogden wrote.

Carr, 49, is a former city of Bainbridge employee. She worked for the city from 2014 through July 2019 as a planner, associate planner, and senior long-range planner.

Carr is currently a senior member of the land-use review team for the city of Seattle’s Department of Construction and Inspections.

Beyond the COVID-19 outbreak, she said the biggest issues facing the city are climate change, affordable housing, and sustainable transportation.

“I am a nearly 20-year island resident with a strong record of community service,” she wrote in her application. “I have no specific or personal agenda beyond raising my hand to help the city council achieve the community’s vision.”

Interested South Ward residents have until 4 p.m. Friday, April 17 to submit an application.