Island resident and veteran investigator Maurine “Mo” Stich has joined the Bainbridge Police Department as a patrol officer.

Stich is a 17-year veteran of law enforcement, having spent her career to date with the Seattle Police Department.

There, she was a detective specializing in the investigation of financial crimes against senior citizens, experience that interim police chief Matt Haney cited in announcing her hiring this week.

“She has an outstanding background,” Haney said, “a varied background, with significant time in patrol and investigations. She fulfills a specific need in our department, with her background in investigating crimes involving older adults.”

Stich grew up in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood and earned a degree in social sciences at Seattle University in 1982.

She returns to police work after spending a year in Spain, while her husband, retired police officer Michael Chamness, worked as a civilian police officer for the United Nations in Kosovo.

The couple have a 10-year-old daughter, Mercé.

The family moved to Bainbridge Island from Ballard, and lived here for a year before going abroad in late 2002. Stich said she stayed in contact with the Bainbridge department while she was away, in hopes that there would be an opening when she returned.

“It’s a great place to live,” she said, “and to not have to make that commute every day doesn’t hurt my feelings.”

Stich said she looks forward to going back to patrol duties, which she enjoyed early in her career, and to working for Haney.

“He appears to be a very innovative administrator, and I wanted to be a part of that,” she said.

Stich fills a vacancy left when officer Brett Lockhart departed for a post with a department in Texas.

– Douglas Crist

Endresen to seek third term

Chris Endresen will seek a third term on the Kitsap County Commission, she announced this week.

Endresen, a Poulsbo resident, cited her record working with business and community leaders to create familywage jobs, getting Kitsap County and cities to work cooperatively, and her efforts to provide more parks, trails, and ball fields.

“I enjoy representing Kitsap County, and we have a lot more work to do,” Endresen said Tuesday.

Endresen, who has enjoyed strong support on Bainbridge in the past, was on the island Tuesday morning for groundbreaking ceremonies for the Japanese American internment memorial and Pritchard Park fund-raising kickoff.

She cited her work securing support and funding for several local projects, including the Vincent Road landfill reclamation, Blakely Harbor Park and the proposed Pritchard Park.

“I love Bainbridge,” she said.

A longtime member of the Economic Development Council, Endresen is touting her work creating financing tools for small businesses and larger manufacturers to make doing business in Kitsap more attractive.

“I’m especially proud of being part of the team that developed an innovative private/public partnership with Paladin Data Systems of Poulsbo,” she said in a campaign statement. “Working with Paladin, the county created a more efficient permitting system and have shared that with Kitsap’s four cities, saving thousands of taxpayer dollars.”

Endresen also touted her work to preserve Kitsap County’s lifestyle and environment as population increases and the economy grows.

“Kitsap County is a special place because of its diversity and natural beauty,” Endresen said. “That’s why I’ve worked hard to help local communities preserve open space, parks, trails and ball fields.”

Before being elected to the county commission in 1997, Endresen was a business owner for 13 years. She served as a Poulsbo city councilmember for eight years, and has served on the boards of Big Brothers and Big Sisters and the Kitsap County Land Trust, and is a member of Poulsbo/North Kitsap Rotary.

She lives in Poulsbo with her husband Rick and children Jessica and Quinn, who attend North Kitsap public schools.

– Douglas Crist

New highway signal in 2005

Bainbridge Island will get its fifth traffic signal next year, the Washington State Department of Transportation says.

WSDOT plans to install a four-way light at the intersection of SR-305 and Madison Avenue, near the fire hall.

The intersection was tabbed for signalization because of a high accident rate there from 2001-2003, spokesman Lloyd Brown said.

New turn lanes are planned in each direction to complement what will become a four-way stop.

Project cost is estimated at $550,000.

Bainbridge city officials had previously been told that the signal would be installed this coming summer; instead, Brown said, it will go out to bid next February, with construction slated for spring or early summer 2005.

– Douglas Crist