Bainbridge Mayor Val Tollefson won’t step down from a vote on the future of the publicly owned Suzuki property.

Instead, Tollefson is seeking changes to the city’s ethics program that will remove any question about his participation in a council vote over the undeveloped land.

The city is currently reviewing four proposals — three for housing developments, and one for a public park — for the 13.83-acre property at the southeast corner of New Brooklyn and Sportsman Club roads.

In early December, resident Herb Hethcote asked Tollefson to step aside during the upcoming council discussions of the Suzuki property.

Tollefson is a board member for Housing Kitsap, a public housing authority, and the organization is a partner in three of the development options that have been submitted for the Suzuki land.

“With all due respect, I request that Councilmember Tollefson recuse himself from any discussion or decisions regarding the selection of a developer for the Suzuki property,” Hethcote asked the council at its meeting in early December. “I’m not questioning Councilmember Tollefson’s integrity, but this sale of city property should be free of even the appearance of conflicts of interest.”

Tollefson said he has since contacted Hethcote and told him he did not plan on recusing himself from the council vote or discussion.

In an email to the Review, Tollefson said the city’s conflict of interest policy was “in my view ambiguous.”

Tollefson said the policy appears to allow him the chance to talk about the Suzuki issue, but not to cast a vote.

He called that approach “unreasonable.”

“My reasoning is that I have no financial or family interest at stake, and that no council member should find him or herself disqualified from voting on an issue by reason of serving on boards, commissions or committees which require council representation,” Tollefson added.

The board of commissioners for Housing Kitsap is made up of the three Kitsap County Commissioners and the mayors or appointees of Bainbridge Island, Poulsbo and Port Orchard.

The city’s conflict of interest policy, however, states that elected officials who hold “a position of trustee, director, employee or officer in such non-governmental entity with which the city has a proposed transaction, then he or she must make full disclosure of such an interest before any discussion or negotiation of such transaction, and shall abstain from any vote in connection with the matter.”

Tollefson said he has since talked about the conflict of interest policy with Councilwoman Sarah Blossom, who agreed with his interpretation.

The city attorney shares the same opinion, he added.

“The change I am proposing is intended to bring the language of the policy in line with what I believe the intent of the policy has been all along,” Tollefson said.

“I do not believe it was the intent of some prior council to create a situation where a member would be conflicted out of participation by reason of fulfilling one of the duties of the office,” he explained.

Tollefson said dealing with issues such as those posed by the Suzuki situation were part of the job of an elected official.

His participation in the Suzuki decision was important for another reason, as well.

“The subject of affordable housing is important to me. I have not made any secret of this,” Tollefson said. “I believe that if we decide to sell Suzuki for development, that development should include an affordable housing element.”

Hethcote, the resident who raised concerns over Tollefson’s involvement on the Suzuki issue, declined to comment this week.

The council will discuss amending its ethics program during the “new business” portion of this week’s council meeting.

The council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19 at city hall.

Development of the Suzuki property has long raised the concerns of nearby neighbors and other islanders, who are worried about increased traffic, environmental impacts and dense development on Bainbridge.

The Suzuki land is currently zoned R-2, which would allow roughly 30 homes on the property.

The three development proposals submitted to the city range from projects with 52 to 75 homes.

Three meetings will be held in coming weeks to go over the park and development proposals.