Calling island government “top heavy,” council members discussed possible cutbacks to the city administration at a budget workshop this week.

Squarely in the crosshairs were the jobs of city administrator Lynn Nordby and human resources administrator Kathleen Grauman.

“I’m going to be real frank about it – I don’t think we need a full-time city administrator,” said Deborah Vann, central ward councilwoman, after presenting a sheet comparing Bainbridge city government to other Washington cities.

The comparisons, which the administration later branded as inaccurate, suggested that like-sized cities with a mayor-council form of government get by without full-time administrators.

No formal proposal to eliminate Nordby’s position emerged, but the door was left open to re-evaluate the job, and the island’s form of government itself, at a later date.

“There is an argument that we’re putting a lot (of money) into the mayor-administrator combo,” said Michael Pollock, council chair.

The generally tense Tuesday evening session, the sixth in a series of workshops on the 2003 city budget, included several angry exchanges between Nordby and Mayor Darlene Kordonowy on one side and the council on the other.

When council members pressed for more details on the human resources manager’s position, and implied that Grauman herself could be called on for answers, Kordonowy took umbrage.

“I’m not as nice as Lynn,” the mayor told councilmembers. “I will not allow this council to bring a director here and make them defend what they do.”

Nordby said the position – created by a divided city council five years ago, and carrying a $69,000 per year salary – deals with hiring and firing, benefits, working conditions and other issues for the city’s 130 or so employees.

Cutting the position would leave department heads to pick up that work, which Nordby suggested would be inappropriate.

“We don’t hire a city engineer or a public works director to be a personnel manager,” he said.

Talk also turned to the mayor’s salary – $45,000 per year, for what is technically a three-quarter time position, but to which the last several mayors have contributed more than 40 hours a week.

Councilwoman Debbie Vancil suggested that it might time to re-evaluate the compensation for that and other positions.

“I also believe we have full-time council members,” Vancil said, “but that’s something the community isn’t ready to come on board for.”

Now before the council is a draft budget that lays out an operations spending of $17.01 million for 2003, up from $16.5 million this year.

A total “baseline” budget of $29.61 million including capital needs is proposed, to maintain city services at current levels.

While often referred to as “the mayor’s budget,” the document includes various add-ons identified by the council in its spring “goals and objectives” workshops.

In the previous budget session, Pollock noted that the group often was grilling the mayor for spending initiatives the council itself had called for. Nevertheless, the process has largely been one of addition by subtraction.

As the document now stands, most social service agencies would see the same or more financial support as in 2003.

The Health, Housing and Human Services council would see increased support of $97,000, to offset the loss of grant funding for its programs. New support is also likely for the Bainbridge Island Historical Society.

The council is also likely to boost the communications budget – specifically, for such “outreach” programs as mailings and advertisements – by $40,000.

At the same time, sharp differences have emerged among council members over how that money should be spent, and by whom.

Vann said Tuesday she favors giving the council a much freer hand in hiring publicists and putting out information, while Councilman Norm Wooldridge has argued that information should be coordinated by the mayor’s office.

“We should be thinking of communicating city activities and city business,” Wooldridge said at an earlier workshop.

Some proposals that have gone to the wayside include computers for the council ($20,000), and a formal study of the city hall building ($45,000) to gauge whether work spaces there should reorganized.

Tuesday, the council will tackle public works programs, and may move on to the planning and finance departments if time allows.

The council will hold a formal public hearing on the budget at its next meeting, 7 p.m. Nov. 20 in the council chambers.