On Oct. 16, 2009, the Bainbridge Review printed claims by Dee DuMont against myself and my wife, Debbi Lester, implying that Debbi is running for office to benefit us financially due to my “working in development.” Thanks to the Review I now have the unenviable task of refuting an unfounded accusation as if it were truth. My response is:

I have no clients who are benefitting from the Winslow Way Project. The majority of my land-use legal work has been to assist citizen groups who are advocating conservation and environmental protection. I have represented only three “developers” during my seven years of practice. I assisted these clients against unfair attacks from the city and/or other individuals to preserve my client’s legal rights, and not to gain something for my client at a cost to the community or the environment. None of that work was in any way related to Winslow Way.

I have never worked for the City of Bainbridge Island, and never will work for the city. I have never been paid a single dollar by the city for any work I have done, and never will be.

Finally, “thanks but no thanks” – I do not need my wife to run for office for my practice to flourish. I do just fine without any help, and in fact most of my work is not on Bainbridge Island but in other parts of the county and state.

Ms. DuMont should run a campaign based on her own merits instead of making baseless accusations to play on people’s fears. This is not the type of leadership our community needs.

Ryan Vancil

Bainbridge Island