Station too costly
To the editor:
The ethics complaints against outgoing Councilmember Kol Medina concerning undisclosed financial relationships with Harrison Hospital board members while he was advocating for purchase of the hospital property for a police station underscores how fiscally irresponsible the City Council can be when spending other people’s money.
Medina has been a staunch advocate of the $20 million Harrison project, which would convert the former hospital into an 18,000-square-foot police facility. The public record, including the recent ethics complaints, show that while he was mayor, he actively dissuaded the council from considering less-costly alternatives and steered them toward purchasing Harrison.
Notable among less costly alternatives is a city report indicating conversion of the existing police station into a modern 19,270-square-foot facility would cost about $8 million.
Worse still, the council voted 4-3 to purchase Harrison for just under $9 million, about $1.9 million over its appraised value. The appraisal itself was flawed, with Harrison being assessed as a medical facility rather than office space, inflating the price. A similar-sized office building sold for about $3.4 million around the time.
The council can correct this $20 million mistake by selling off Harrison and renovating the existing police station. That would free up millions for higher priority issues such as a non-motorized transportation plan, Senior Center renovations, fighting climate change, open space purchases and affordable housing.
Jim Halbrook, Bainbridge Island
Unethical move?
To the editor:
The Ethics Board recently considered a complaint against Councilmember Kol Medina. The board determined the complaint was credible and unanimously voted to move the process forward. A second 12-page complaint filed against Medina by a Seattle attorney is scheduled to be reviewed Nov. 27.
What is unprecedented, and most irregular, is Medina will be proposing changes to the Ethics Program Nov. 10 – the day before he resigns – to invalidate the complaints. Further, these changes are being proposed without public review.
Medina was the leader formulating the Ethics language. Coming at the 11th hour describing new flaws in the language and reasons why law should not apply to him is displaying the very unethical conduct of which he was accused. You can’t be judge and jury in your own trial, and you can’t use public powers to protect your private interests.
Validity of the complaints was affirmed twice by Deputy City Attorney Robbie Sepler. However, City Council will be considering retroactively applying amendments to the Ethics Program to nullify the complaints against Medina. The city has an obligation to
the public to see the ethics process through as intended.
The second ethics complaint identifies overpayment of at least $1.9 million for the Harrison/CHI Property. Bainbridge citizens never saw any final summary analysis of decisions relating to the Police Station alternatives. If irregularities were involved they need to be exposed.
Bottom Line: The process in place as prescribed by current city law must be allowed to proceed. Circumnavigating that process would be dereliction of duty by our City Council.
Richard Haugan, Bainbridge Island
Brunell lacks facts
To the editor:
Don Brunell has recently written two “Guest Viewpoints” for the Bainbridge Review, Sept. 12 and Oct. 30. Both pontificate with a notable lack of facts and understanding.
The most recent, “Defunding the police is one of the worst ideas ever”, is shocking in that he wrote a lengthy column ranting about the riots without once referring to systemic racism and police repeatedly murdering Black people with little provocation or accountability. He missed the point of the demonstrations entirely. The demonstrations were in response to a history of police brutality, largely against people of color. While some harm and property damage are lamentable, much of that was provoked by inappropriate actions by police and the administration, such as clearing a peaceful demonstration to stage a photo-op.
Refunding the police might be a better phrasing of what’s wanted. Police need indeed to be better trained, particularly in de-escalating violence and coping with mental breakdowns. Police departments need to have more counselors, therapists, social workers and experts,
rather than more bullets, teargas, clubs and paramilitary paraphernalia.
The previous article went on and on about forest mismanagement and advocated logging. The entire article never mentions global warming. Again (and evidently always on the side of big business), he has missed the point. Droughts, abnormal winds and high temperatures exacerbated these disastrous fires. In August “Death Valley reached 130 degrees Fahrenheit, the highest temperature ever measured on the planet” (New York Times 9-23). Sure, cutting down the forests will lessen forest fires-and increase global warming.
Jeannette Franks, Bainbridge Island
Good island things
To the editor:
I’m normally a “Negative Nancy” full of complaints, but today I have three positive comments on our island:
1 – My compliments to the city for the road patching. It was a pain during the work with all the detours but the end result is nice smooth patches instead of potholes and bumpy past patches.
2 – Thanks to PGE and the fire department for the quick fixes to the downed power lines due to the recent windstorms. I came home to a fire engine blocking the road to my house due to a downed line that was smoking on the side of the road. That firetruck kept me safe until PGE came to take down the line and replaced it the next day.
3 – Coronavirus: We couldn’t be quarantined in a better place than Bainbridge Island with all of its parks, walking trails, everyone wearing masks and lots of restaurants with spaced outside seating.
Gary Petterson, Bainbridge Island
