Snow named council chair
The City Council chose a diplomat as its leader as it tries to ease relations with the city administration.
Councilman Chris Snow, a former diplomat with the United States Information Agency, was chosen as the new council chair Thursday.
Snow, who is serving his first term, takes over from Councilman Bob Scales. The council plans to formally vote Snow into the chairmanship before the end of the month.
Snow promised “a more collaborative process” with the mayor, city administrators and among councilors.
The council and mayor spent much of Thursday at a retreat with mediators to improve communication and better define their roles after a divisive budget process and months of conflict between officials.
“I think that’s one of the reasons they selected me,” Snow said. “It’s a funny thing, because diplomats are called in as a last resort in a difficult situation.”
The council formed a subcommittee with the mayor on Thursday to further hash out their positions’ responsibilities and how to improve relations between the two branches of city government. The committee will likely meet once a month.
Snow said he can’t mend the city’s problems alone.
“I have no magic bullet,” he said. “Improving the situation we’re in requires active participation among all involved and a willingness to find ways to accommodate.”
– Tristan Baurick
Rudder ills waylay ferry
Ferry service is on schedule, but car space will continue to be scarcer than usual on the Bainbridge-Seattle run, following mechanical problems that forced the ferry system to shuffle its fleet.
The Tacoma, one of two large ferries that normally serve the route, suffered rudder damage Tuesday afternoon and won’t return to service until, at the earliest, next month.
The ferry system has to wait until Feb. 5 for available dry dock space to repair the 460-foot vessel.
Meanwhile, the 144-car Hyak, which usually serves the Bremerton-Seattle route, is sailing in place of the 202-car Tacoma on the Bainbridge-Seattle run. Because of the impact to car space, WSF is encouraging passengers to walk-on and use public transportation. Passenger space has not been impacted by the shuffle.
WSF is working to accelerate the return to the fleet of Tacoma’s sister ship, Wenatchee, which is undergoing annual maintenance.
WSF issued an apology to ferry riders, who during rush hour Tuesday endured wait times that were twice as long as usual before the Hyak restored normal service, beginning with the 9 p.m. sailing from Seattle.
Service updates will be posted at the WSF website, www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries.
– Chad Schuster
