Bainbridge Island still doesn’t have a new council member.

After many hours of interviews with possible candidates the City Council deadlocked Tuesday night, so there still isn’t a replacement in the North Ward for Kol Medina, who resigned and moved to Walla Walla.

Christy Carr, Mayor Leslie Schneider and Kirsten Hytopoulos voted for Jane Lindley, and Deputy Mayor Joe Deets, Rasham Nassar and Michael Pollock voted for Brenda Fantroy-Johnson.

Since it was a tie, the council will again look at the decision at a future meeting.

Prior to the vote, each council member asked the finalists one question. Lindley tried to focus that she is not just an environmental candidate and Fantroy-Johnson did the same regarding racial equity.

The 3-3 vote was so close that the council actually discussed asking the public for a non-binding advisory vote to help them decide. The three who voted for Fantroy-Johnson voted for that, while the three who voted for Lindley did not. The motion died because of that 3-3 tie.

“I can’t tell you the number of times I thought, ‘I wish this was going before the people to vote’,” Deets said, adding instead of 24,000 people deciding it’s just six.

Hytopoulos said an advisory vote was not needed because the council is elected to make tough decisions. Also, this is a temporary position as there will be an election on the position next year anyway.

“I’m incredibly opposed to this,” she said. “Please colleagues don’t support this.”

As for the votes for the two candidates, those who voted for Lindley did not explain theirs, but those who voted for Fantroy-Johnson did.

Nassar said Fantroy-Johnson received a large majority of the public support. “My role is to reflect the will of the people,” Nassar said. “She’s already bringing in people” for civic engagement. She added that the more voices the council has the more buy-in it will get from the public.

Pollock said the council already is top heavy when it comes to environmental advocates, including himself. But he said it’s important to bring different perspectives to the council that currently have no representation. “People of color hear our support,” but they don’t see anyone who looks like them on the council, he said, adding it’s important to enrich the council with someone who has lived with racial inequity.

Jane Lindley

During questioning, Lindley said she’s been working to reduce her carbon footprint “without becoming a monk living in the woods somewhere in a cabin.” On racial equity, she said she would support recommendations from the race equity task force.

Living on the island for 28 years, she said she’s been involved with the Rotary, Chamber, Arts Walk, Arms Around Bainbridge swim, Friends of Farms, Land Trust, Sustainable Bainbridge and more. Asked about city funding, she said helping businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic is No. 1. “We won’t have much of a small town atmosphere if we don’t have cute stores,” she said.

When asked about so much support for her opponent, she said, “I can’t argue against diversity. I’m in favor of it.” As for her leadership style, she said she used to be more opinionated, but has found that listening “works so much better.”

Brenda Fantroy-Johnson

Along with racial equity, she has been involved with sustainable transportation, parks and trails, arts and humanities, and climate change.

As for leadership style, she likes to boost up other people and give them a voice. She said she’s proud of the plan to help businesses, not just downtown but all over the island. She said the city should look at what others are doing too, such as in Poulsbo where parking spaces are used for outdoor dining.

Conflict resolution has been an issue on the council, and she said reframing questions so they are not as political and contentious can reduce tension. “Take the personality out of it,” she said, adding governing cannot be personal. She said decisions must benefit the community – not some personal agenda.

Moving from Detroit to here, she said she’s become a steward of the land. “It’s unforgiving. We have to take care of it,” she said, adding with the fragile ecosystem on BI it has to “grow without becoming overgrown.”

An advocate of affordable housing, she said places where houses are need to be looked at for future development as condos so people who work here can live here. She said co-housing is another option. “People can’t afford to live in their own house anymore, so we need to find ways people can live together.”