Bainbridge island Review
Councilman leaves amid email controversy: David Ward submitted his resignation letter to the city Dec. 10.
In it, the former Central Ward councilman made no mention of the public records lawsuit and settlement that forced his departure from the city council. Instead, he cited “health reasons” for quitting his post on the council.
“Dear Council Members: I need to memorialize my resignation to city council. To this point, it has just been conveyed to you verbally. Effective immediately, I am resigning my position on the council for health reasons. While I have enjoyed serving the citizens of the Island, I need to give my full attention to my recovery.”
Ward, who was three years into a four-year term, was forced to step down as part of a settlement agreement that ended a public records lawsuit against the city.
Bainbridge agreed last week to pay a settlement totaling $487,790 to Althea Paulson and Bob Fortner, who filed a public records lawsuit against the city last year after the city failed to provide emails that were sent between council members Ward, Councilman Steve Bonkowski and then-councilwoman Debbi Lester that focused on city business.
A Superior Court judge ruled in May that the city did not do an adequate job of searching for the public records that were requested, and the decision including a scathing rebuke of Ward and Bonkowski for deleting emails from their personal email accounts that were public records. The judge also said the personal email accounts of Ward and Bonkowski could be searched for missing records, along with the hard drives of their personal computers.
In the agreement, Ward agreed to step down while Bonkowski was spared from having to turn over his computer and email account for further inspection.
Before the agreement was signed, Ward also admitted that evidence in the court case had been destroyed. His attorney said the computer that he had been using for his personal email account was owned by his employer, and the laptop had been returned upon his retirement and had since been wiped clean.
His lawyer also noted that Ward had given false information while under oath in the court case about his search for missing records.
The city’s total cost of the lawsuit in legal fees and the settlement is $752,627. That amount does not include staff time at city hall and other internal costs for the court case. The settlement is expected to be paid early next year and will not be covered by the city’s insurance.
Paulson again said Dec. 10 that she and Fortner are not planning to keep the settlement money.
“We intend to give the proceeds to island nonprofits,” Paulson said.
— BainbridgeReview.com
Bremerton Patriot
Humane Society awarded grant: It was just six weeks ago that Kitsap Humane Society celebrated a record-breaking 198 adoptions in just three days during the ASPCA Mega Match Adopt-a-thon.
Now, the society is celebrating a $5,000 “bonus” grant, according to Rachel Lee Bearbower, Kitsap Humane Society marketing and event manager.
Kitsap Humane Society became eligible for the prize when it cruised past its goal of 111 adoptions on day two of the three-day event. The ASPCA presented this prize to one organization in each category that exceeded its adoption goal by the greatest percentage in that category. Categories were based on shelter size and size of adoption goal.
Kitsap Humane Society’s goal of 111 adoptions was chosen as it was three times the number of adoptions completed over the same weekend the year before.
And even after that, record-breaking weekends haven’t slowed as the county’s shelter closed out Black Friday with 91 adoptions, said Bearbower.
“We are in the business of saving lives and it is our goal to make it easy and fun for people to rescue,” said Natalie Smith, director of animal welfare. “Our community is doing the rest.”
The bonus grant money will be used to support Kitsap Humane Society’s growing adoptions and other lifesaving programs.
Kitsap Humane Society is a private, non-profit, charitable organization that has been caring for animals in need since 1908. KHS admits almost 5,000 animals per year and has a 95 percent lives saved rate.
— BremertonPatriot.com
Central Kitsap Reporter
Teachers appreciated, but stressed out: Teachers and staff at Central Kitsap schools are highly appreciated but feel overworked, according to the results from the “Thoughtexchange” online survey which the district sponsored this year.
Using the Thoughtexchange process, 4,104 people submitted 9,074 comments via a district web page.
Later, they voted on their own ideas or for ideas submitted by other people by allocating “stars” to the submissions they liked best. A total of 115,924 stars were allocated.
The data collection phase is over and final results will be posted on the district’s web site (www.cksd.wednet.edu) by the next CK school board meeting Jan. 14.
But school board members got an early peek at the Thoughtexchange results last week.
The summary showed that parents and guardians accounted for 65 percent of the responses. School staff accounted for 23 percent, students for six percent, citizens for four percent and “other” for one percent.
According to the data, around 40 percent of the total stars showed appreciation for teachers staff and leadership.
“School environment” received the second-highest marks with around seven percent of the total stars.
Teachers and staff “truly care about the children,” the report stated.
The data also showed where the district needed improvement. Example: teachers and staff felt overworked.
“All staff are overwhelmed,” according to the report. The issue was a top-scorer across nine different schools.
About 11 percent of the stars regarded concerns about curriculum and extra-curricular activities, especially with Common Core and Common Core math.
Class size, school safety, healthy eating, trouble with parking were also among the top concerns.
— CentralKitsapReporter.com
North Kitsap Herald
105-foot-boat beaches in Liberty Bay: Ray Diehl woke to a stormy morning Dec. 9 at his waterfront home on the western shore of Liberty Bay.
Diehl focused further off shore, though, and noticed the storm was at odds with the Queen of Sheba, a 105-foot wooden yacht anchored in Liberty Bay. And the boat was losing.
The record high wind of the morning of Dec. 9 was 37 miles per hour, at around 7:53 a.m. High tide was nearly 12 feet at 7:33 a.m. It was around that time that the Queen of Sheba’s anchor broke loose from the bay’s floor.
The boat collided with a sailboat anchored in the bay, knocking that boat’s anchor loose. The sailboat was soon blowing in the wind as well, trailing behind the Queen of Sheba.
By 11:33 a.m., the yacht had dragged its anchor from south of the Port of Poulsbo’s marina, to the north of it, and it wasn’t slowing down. By 12:30 p.m., it had struck the muddy bottom of the bay, near Bovela Lane on the western shoreline.
Poulsbo police officers went out in the police boat on Dec. 10 to check on the vessel, as the Queen of Sheba was still at the north end of Liberty Bay. Officers towed the boat out of Liberty Bay, under the impression that friends of the Queen of Sheba were coming to tow it further, ultimately to Port Townsend. Police took the vessel as far at Lemolo, just across from Keyport.
But on the morning of Dec. 11, the Queen of Sheba was still off the shores of Lemolo, laying on its port side during low tide.
On Dec. 12, the state’s Department of Natural Resources took control of the boat and towed it to the Port of Poulsbo.
— NorthKitsapHerald.com
Port Orchard Independent
Mayor points to Bainbridge as lesson for emails: During the Dec. 9 Port Orchard City Council meeting, Mayor Tim Matthes asked council members to not use their business or personal email accounts for city business.
The mayor said the city can’t maintain control over council communications if council members are using business or personal email accounts. He urged council members to use their city email accounts for city business only.
“We can’t afford not to — in my opinion — if we get a $500,000 judgment thrown at us for doing the various things we’ve done in the past,” Matthes said, referencing a case on Bainbridge Island where a councilman was forced to resign and the city had to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Bainbridge Review reported city officials signed a settlement agreement on Dec. 9 with two activists to end their public records lawsuit against the city in exchange for a nearly $500,000 payout and the resignation of Councilman David Ward.
— PortOrchardIndependent.com
