POULSBO — She said she doesn’t want anything to stand in the city’s way, and won’t take the chance of jeopardizing a major public funding advancement.

They say they fear the open nature of government has been tainted, that transparency is in question and interests are conflicting.

This is a situation the city of Poulsbo faced days ago, ultimately leading to a request from Councilwoman Linda Berry-Maraist, asking she be removed from her posts on regional transportation funding committees. It is a choice meant to assure money potentially intended for Poulsbo’s Viking Way improvements isn’t lost in a shuffle of ethical concern.

The problem: For a decade, Berry-Maraist has owned property along south Viking Way, leading some citizens — on more than just this occasion — to question her motives when it comes to government-funded projects in that area.

But in small-city politics, in such limited geographical boundaries and tight leadership circles, can conflicting interests be avoided? Or is this a gray area, a line made fuzzy as if in the soft focus lens of a camera, that is unique to those with sway in towns like Poulsbo?

For Jan Wold and Molly Lee, the line is clear. These women, both vocal proponents of the natural habitat along the Johnson Creek Corridor, bear binders full of densely pertinent information; a brief glance through the pages is like entering a political hall of mirrors.

Their concern stems from a proposed project on the southern portion of Poulsbo’s Viking Way, which Berry-Maraist’s property fronts. Already, $3.8 million in stimulus funds will go to improve Viking north from the McDonald’s to State Route 305. The city presented the road’s southern portion before the Puget Sound Regional Council in hopes of earning $1.3 million for more roadway improvements, but the dollars were instead allocated to the Port of Tacoma. Poulsbo is now hoping the south Viking work will gain attention in the second round of stimulus funding allocation.

Lee, along with her husband John, submitted a letter to the PSRC detailing what they see as a conflict of interest.

“We believe that because Ms. Berry-Maraist is holding a position of authority as a public servant, there exists an expectation ‘to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.’ She should be held accountable for appearing to promote the S. Viking Avenue development thus providing services to develop her private property,” they wrote. “Adding bike lanes, turn lanes, ‘green’ water management, sidewalks, landscaping and extension of sewer and water utilities will add substantial value to Ms. Berry-Maraist’s real property holdings on Poulsbo’s Viking Avenue.”

Wold, who has numerous environmental concerns about the widening of south Viking, worries the good of the public isn’t first and foremost and believes the project would ease the infrastructural duties of area developers on the taxpayers’ dime.

“This whole ‘development pays for development’? No,” Wold said. “And everyone thinks the stimulus is free money. No, it isn’t. We all have to pay for it.”

She recalled Berry-Maraist’s previous efforts to have the land annexed (which occurred successfully in 2005) and to have sewer and storm water systems extended into the area. Public documents show those efforts were made by Berry-Maraist years before she served on Poulsbo’s city council.

“‘Feather your nest,’” Wold said, recalling a common saying. “That’s what she does.”

Wold and Lee weren’t alone in their concern for the public’s best interest: Berry-Maraist cited the same topic in her explanation for why she chose to recuse herself from the funding committees.

“Once (Viking) was our top priority project I felt that my presence on those committees was going to attract trouble that we didn’t need.

“I feel actually bad stepping out of the way at a very key time, because it’s a very complex process, but as long as south Viking is our top priority I don’t think I should be the one representing the city,” she said.

“I don’t want to be the problem,” she added. “We won’t lose the funding because of accusations about me.”

To Berry-Maraist, the issue isn’t one of conflicting interests, but of growth.

“There’s a no-growth fight going on over Johnson Creek and Viking happens to be the road, and I own property in the wrong place,” she said. “The fact that I own property there, it confuses the issue.

“Is it a conflict of interest,” she questioned, “or a conflict of opinion?”

This isn’t the first time she’s had to respond to accusations in regard to the appearance of fairness. In the past, she has abstained from voting on some issues. On a number of topics she has faced numerous challengers, and has conferred with the city attorney for each. In many of those cases, she has continued with legal approval.

(Berry-Maraist pointed out in one instance, a citizen postulated she would inappropriately benefit from a new all-way stop in Poulsbo sited a half-mile from her house. The allegations were made against her alone, despite another council member living half a block from the same contested intersection.)

“It’s an easy accusation for people to throw around, and I feel pretty strongly that just because people want to throw mud at you that doesn’t mean you don’t do the job that people elected you to do,” she said.

Berry-Maraist stepped into her committee roles in the footsteps of former Councilman Jim Henry.

She said she believes stepping down in this case will improve the city’s chances for south Viking funds. Because it is Poulsbo’s only non-highway principle arterial, and because the city – before she was on council – already spent funds on preparatory project work, she said she’s not about to let a conflict of interest get in the way, be it real or perceived.

In response to the Lee’s letter, Poulsbo Mayor Kathryn Quade wrote to the PSRC on behalf of the city’s north Viking project, calling the accusations “completely false.”

“Improvements for the Viking Avenue Corridor have been a high priority for the City of Poulsbo since at least 1994, well before Ms. Berry-Maraist was elected to the Poulsbo City Council,” she wrote. (Lee would counter this, pointing out the section of south Viking slated for improvements was not annexed into the city until 2005, during a process in which Berry-Maraist was vocal.)

“She (Berry-Maraist) really has no conflict, as has been supported by the city attorney’s opinion,” Quade noted.

Because there is a high need for municipal governments to always appear above reproach, identifying objective leaders capable of gathering facts and making informed decisions is paramount, Quade said. Whether it’s a gray area or not, potential conflicts often mean publicly and proactively addressing issues before they fester into unwanted problems.

“Every project in town will affect every elected official in town and I believe that’s the way it should be,” contended Quade. In a town of 4.5 square miles, she said opportunities for conflict are many, though potential conflicts have only arisen ‘periodically.’ She recalled her own time as a councilwoman, during which State Route 305 construction decisions were being made that had the potential to benefit her and her neighbors.

“You try and be as impartial as you can,” she said. “I think honesty, laying out all the facts and letting people decide is the best way. … I would rather give people more information than less.”

What do the rules say?

According to the Poulsbo City Council Rules of Procedure:

“… Councilmembers will also attempt to avoid even the appearance of impropriety in all of our actions. When we are aware of an issue that might reasonably be perceived as a conflict, and even if we are in doubt as to its relevance, we will reveal that issue for the record. We pledge that we will step down when required by the Appearance of Fairness Doctrine, that is, when an objective person at a Council meeting would have reasonable cause to believe that we could not fairly participate.”