Community Cafe Bainbridge

In this 25-minute podcast conversation, Hilary Franz looks back to her favorite community accomplishments during her four years of service on the Bainbridge City Council, from 2008-11. She tells about the farm on the north end of the Island that attracted her to move here in 2000. And there's a story about sheep and roosters. She explains that, even though her years on City Council were burdened by the severe national recession and a collapse of the local economy and local government funding, it was also a time of innovation and working for shared island values. She discusses favorite memories of those years such as: improving the Winslow downtown by repairing the pipes of Winslow Way, widening sidewalks and creating bike lanes; protecting the harbor and Puget Sound from stormwater runoff; honoring the historic home in Eagle Harbor for the liveaboard community; creating incentives for greener building and more affordable housing; updating the zoning code to preserve local farming; taking action to resist cli

In this 23-minute podcast, our new Superintendent of the Bainbridge Island School District, Peter Bang-Knudsen, responds to questions about his personal background -- such as his discovery of his passion for helping kids -- and his forwarding-looking goals and vision for our public schools, teachers and students. Our elected School Board conducted a national search and chose Peter, who graduated from Bainbridge High School, has children in our schools, knows our community well, and has been serving as Assistant Superintendent since 2010. He was hired by our much-admired outgoing Superintendent Faith Chapel, who found Peter in a leadership role in the Bellevue school district. Faith is retiring after a long career in education and about 8 years service to BISD as superintendent. Peter officially takes on his new role on July 1st. In this conversation recorded on June 23rd, he responds to questions about: Experiences during this transition period How his interest in education arose Examples of early formative

In this 28-minute conversation, Bainbridge residents Ellin Spenser, Alice Mendoza and Andre Kamber describe their personal experiences traveling overseas recently to care for refugee families arriving from war-torn Syria. What can the rest of us do to help? This Saturday, as Ellin and Alice explain, we can bring contributions of used clothing, shoes, bikes, sports equipment, baby carriers and strollers for refugee families, for donation to Salaam Cultural Museum, the organization that helped our 3 Bainbridge guests travel to comfort the fleeing refugees, as described on this podcast. Please drop off donated items this Saturday, May 21st, between 9am and 4pm, at the garage of the home on 589 Grow Ave., Bainbridge. In this podcast, Ellin describes how she went to the island of Lesbos in Greece -- the homeland of two grandparents -- and put her professional realty career on hold while she personally cared for refugee adults and children arriving in unseaworthy boats from Turkey. Andre likewise paused his profess

In this 20-minute podcast, two Bainbridge retirees - David Harrison and Elaine Von Rosenstiel - explain how they and other islanders (most of them over 65) have created a nonprofit startup company that has an idea and an app to enable Seniors to express their generosity. In the podcast, they tell stories and anecdotes about the fun they had developing this inventive idea. They describe their website and new smartphone app that enables a Senior to keep track of the dollar amount of senior discounts they receive from day to day. Then, the app allows the Senior to generously earmark those discounts to a nonprofit charitable organization of their choice. So, if a Senior today receives a $4 discount for a ferry ride, track it in the Boomerang Giving app. If, tomorrow, you get a movie discount of $5, track it in the app. When it adds up to, say, $20, use the app to forward those discounts to your favorite charity that you can choose on the Boomerang Giving website. The mission of this new startup is straightforward

In this 15-minute podcast, we meet the new Planning and Community Development Director of the City of Bainbridge Island, Gary Christensen. Gary started in his new leadership position with COBI in April. Gary is a listener and is reaching out to meet Bainbridge community members and hear their views and suggestions for the City. He walks to work from his new home in downtown Winslow. He's interested in encouraging citizen involvement in the ongoing 2-year project to update the City's long-term Comprehensive Plan. Gary has 29 years of local government experience, most recently as the manager of the Skagit County planning and development department, and participated in that county's comp plan update and in administration of shoreline issues. Gary has a masters in regional planning from WSU. City Manager Doug Schulze conducted a national search for a successor to Kathy Cook, a 20-year City staff veteran who looked back on her City career in a recent BCB podcast. Several citizen volunteers participated in the revi

In this 25-minute podcast conversation, we meet Jason McLennan, who moved to Bainbridge in 2006 and is an internationally celebrated green architect who pioneered the concept of the "living building challenge". As Jason explains, a "living building" is one that is not only trying to do less harm to the world around it, but is designed to improve the environment in and around it. Jason is in the midst of many ground-breaking projects. He is designing and building his home as a living building on Bainbridge. He is starting a school to bring more students to his breakthrough design philosophy, and is growing a new architecture practice. A new book is near publication. Questions answered by Jason in this conversation include: what's the origin of your commitment to green building design what was your role in helping to develop LEED green-building standards what's a living building, and how did you develop that concept describe the greenest building in Seattle...the Bullitt Center building what's so valuable abou

From BCB... http://bestofbcb.org/cafe-038-culture-and-climate-change/ Yes! Magazine Editor at Large Sarah van Gelder recently hosted University of Montana Professor George Price on Bainbridge, and they sat down with BCB host Reed Price for a discussion about climate and culture. Sarah not long ago took a road trip to investigate how the efforts at creating positive futures that her magazine reports on are playing out in the field. Sarah focused not on big urban areas or the coasts, but on what she called ‘the edges,’ less populated, more gritty and often-overlooked regions of the country. She called it the “Edge of Change Road Trip,” and you can investigate her blog on the journey here: https://edgeofchange.yesmagazine.org/ One of the people she met was George Price, who lives in Northwest Montana. In this podcast, they talk about the kind of change George and the people he lives with have been a part of, and how that relates to some of the other things that Sarah experienced during her four-month long journe

Long-time local residents Steve Johnson and Jane Lindley explain in this 28-minute podcast what their nonprofit "Island Power" considers to be four key advantages of replacing PSE with a local public electric utility for Bainbridge: cleaner power; community economic benefit; local control over decisions and rates; and potential broadband internet service. Jane Lindley, a retired software company manager, explains that she discovered the problem of dirty coal-fueled electric power when she considered purchasing an electric car to take a stand against climate change. She points out that a local public utility could replace PSE's coal-fired power for Bainbridge and obtain clean power, mostly from hydroelectric and other renewable sources. Steve Johnson recently retired from more than 20 years as executive director of an association of public utilities throughout Washington State. He explains that his knowledge of the advantages of public utilities, compared to private corporate utilities like PSE, came from year

T&C's Sustainability Director Tony D'Onofrio explains the good news about the completely redesigned Town & Country Market in Bainbridge that earned a gold award for green features that make a difference for the environment and climate ... and for the enjoyment of the food shopping experience. In this 21-minute podcast in BCB's "Going Greener" series, Tony explains how this award for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design follows from the company's values and commitment to sustainability. Some highlights of T&C's rebuild achievements are: 120 rooftop solar panels 50 percent reduction in total electricity use (even though the square footage increased) Purchase of green energy LED lighting inside and outside Use of natural day light Low-VOC materials, so you can smell the fresh food and not the paints and finishes Maximum filtration of interior air Low-flow toilets and sinks Refrigeration that uses half the greenhouse gases of traditional refrigeration Storm water filtration Vestibule entry l

In this 20-minute podcast, long-time island resident Jon Quitslund reflects on why he volunteers for public service roles like serving on the Planning Commission. Jon describes his recent experience participating in the public process of selecting the new Community Development Director for the City of Bainbridge Island. He points to the cross-section of citizens who engaged in that interview and selection process, and describes why he's so pleased at the City Manager's selection of Gary Christensen. Christensen had been the unanimous first choice of all five members of the citizen panel of interviewers, including Jon. During this podcast conversation, Jon says that he feels the new planning director is particularly attuned to listening to citizen visions and concerns, and has the skills and qualities to build trust in the City and its planning processes. Jon also describes the importance of the ongoing public process to update the City's Comprehensive Plan, which was last updated in 2004. Jon describes the im

In this 42-minute conversation about the birth of the home-rule Bainbridge Island city in the 1990s, we hear stories from former officials from the old days. You'll hear: Andy Maron of the Home Rule Committee and the ensuing City Council of the 1990s, former council member and mayor Dwight Sutton, and Lynn Nordby who served as City Administrator from 1991 to 2003. Stories like these will be shared at City Hall at 5:30pm on Tuesday March 1st, at the public commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the all-island city. Hear the anecdotes and amusing stories that these three city founders share about: how it felt to start up an all-island City for 15,000 in place of the Winslow city for 2,500 creating the first Comprehensive Plan in 1991-94 life at the City prior to having a City Hall what it was like to apply for a top City job staffing a larger city, and the first-ever union contract of 1991 3 major road projects in 1991-94: High School Rd, Ferncliff, Brien/Bjune the challenges of an early Public Works site ne

In this podcast, three of the leading members of the 1991 "home rule" movement to form a Bainbridge island-wide city - Darlene Kordonowy, Vicki Johnson and Charles Schmid - reminisce about that transformative event on its 25th anniversary. Darlene describes the 1988 to 1991 home rule movement and recalls her role as its co-chair. She discusses the resilience of the 21-member home rule group as they persevered despite initial rejections by certain officials. Darlene also discusses her transition, after the victory on the November 1990 island-wide ballot, to the 7-member group that drafted the new city's first comprehensive plan. Vicki Johnson shares personal anecdotes from her vantage point as the chair of publicity and citizen education for the local home rule group. She reminisces about the talents of the small group, and how they continued to bounce back when a tactic or strategy seemed thwarted. Charles Schmid talks about his views of the process from the vantage point of being the pragmatic professional e

In this 36-minute podcast, BCB interviews the proponents of the four proposals for the use of the City's 14-acre Suzuki property in Winslow, and we hear an overview of the property, the zoning and our Comprehensive Plan priorities from the City's Interim Planning Director Joe Tovar. The City purchased the 14-acre Winslow property more than 15 years ago to potentially serve as a location for a police building and court. Now that the City has determined that the Suzuki neighborhood is too residential and too close to several schools to be well-suited for a police building, the City proposes to sell the property to help raise funds for public projects such as police and court buildings elsewhere. In 2014, our City Council invited proposals that it could judge for both community priorities and purchase price. Four proposals emerged from four sets of partnering organizations - a combination of local nonprofits, a County housing agency, and local property investers, architects and designers. On the timeline of this

In this podcast, Lara Hansen explains how climate change will impact Bainbridge Island. She's the chief scientist and executive director of local nonprofit EcoAdapt, and a board member of Sustainable Bainbridge. EcoAdapt has been funded by Bainbridge Community Foundation to help local citizens participate in the City's update of the local Comprehensive Plan and show how our island can plan to be more adaptive to climate change. Lara describes how climate change will impact the various elements of our island's Comprehensive Plan, including Land Use, Environment, Housing and Utilities. She points to opportunities to resist and adapt to climate change that are available if we plan ahead. For example, she describes opportunities for our island to draw cleaner renewable energy and carbon-free electric power for our local grid if we form a local public electric utility rather than continue relying on our current mix of power sources that include coal and natural gas. Lara answers the question: What can community me

In this podcast, we learn about the Smiles Partners nonprofit community service program providing dental care to kids and seniors. We hear from executive director Imbert Matthee and program coordinator Lisa Schulze. They talk about how they would like to grow the Smiles for Life program and reach out to more people eligible for their services, especially seniors in our community. Smiles for Life, a division of Smile Partners, is an oral hygiene program serving anyone over 60 years old. The services are provided by a registered dental hygienist in their facility in Waterfront Park Community Center. The program offers reduced fees for those who qualify by income. At each preventive care appointment, patients receive a blood pressure screening, a head, neck and oral cancer screening, an assessment for decay and gum disease, and a cleaning. Smile Partners works with local dentists and encourages clients to have regular examinations with their professional dentist. Smile Partners is dedicated to providing healthy

In this podcast, City planning director Kathy Cook reflects back and reminisces about a remarkable 20-year career with the City of Bainbridge Island (COBI). Kathy is retiring this month from the important and publicly visible position of Director of Planning and Community Development. Kathy was hired by COBI as a part-time administrator twenty years ago, and her experiences and responsibilities grew as COBI evolved and changed over those two decades. You’ll hear the respect and appreciation she feels for the community members she’s served and the staff she’s worked with. The recording of this conversation, about six days prior to her last day at work, gave Kathy a chance to reflect and tell stories of a memorable career in a community she has always admired and appreciated. When asked about projects that were particularly satisfying, she recalls, for example: - Developing the ordinances that implemented the Winslow Master Plan of the 1990s - Participating in the revitalization of Winslow Way and the downtown

In this podcast interview, recorded in early January, State Senator Christine Rolfes shares some personal anecdotes and also previews the 2016 session of the State Legislature that starts on Monday January 11th. Topics explored for BCB listeners during this 25-minute podcast conversation include: 0:40 How is your family coping with your busy schedule as a State Senator? 2:05 What are some of your favorite activities and destinations around the island? 3:05 Reflections on the grass roots candlelight vigil on Dec 14th at the Japanese American Exclusion Memorial 5:15 Thoughts about the 25th anniversary in 2016 of home rule and all-island local government on Bainbridge 8:05 Issues that divide or unite the voters of the State -- eastern, West Sound and Seattle 9:56 Wildfires as a humanitarian - and forest management - concern that unites east and west 12:09 Senator Rolfes’ statewide listening tour focusing on the needs of public education, and responding to teacher shortages 13:56 Preview of this year’s legislativ

In this podcast, City employees Amber Richards and Heather Beckmann explain why they - and so many Bainbridge organizations and individuals - are working to make Bainbridge a safe haven again for bees, hummingbirds and other pollinators. In its first months, project partners have grown to include: ASANI and the Grow Community; Commodore Options School; Bay Hay and Feed (where bee hive education occurs); Bloedel Reserve; Friends of the Farms; beekeeper Charles Shafer (who educates on bees at the Farmers Market); Islandwood; Sustainable Bainbridge; Sweetlife Farm; and, now, BCB! Pollinators face a number of challenges in modern society and many species are in serious decline. Pesticide use, specifically the use of neonicotinoids, have caused massive die-offs. See this webpage for advice on how you can make a difference and avoid harmful pesticides in your home garden. Pollinators (bees, birds, moths, butterflies, and bats) are critical to human survival. Globally, pollinators account for pollination of approxim

In this podcast, newly re-elected School Board Director Tim Kinkead shares his thoughts about the key challenges and opportunities to preserving the quality of education for the students in the Bainbridge Island School District. By chance, Tim's BCB studio interview happened to occur on the day (Friday November 13th) that our community's much appreciated School Superintendent Faith Chapel publicly announced her planned retirement as of the end of this school year (see her press release, below). In this podcast, Tim speaks of his respect and appreciation for Faith, and notes some of her accomplishments. Tim also outlines four sets of issues that will be important to the future of the school district: - the need for community-approval in 2016 of capital bond funding for the reconstruction and repair of schools and facilities; - the importance of finding a successor to the retiring Superintendent; - the need to attract and retain the district's excellent teaching staff amidst a failure of the majority of the sta

From BCB... http://bestofbcb.org/cafe-025-etacs-frank-gremse/ In this podcast, retired scientist and engineer Frank Gremse talks about his volunteer service for the City’s Environmental Technical Advisory Committee (ETAC) and other public spirited organizations taking a stand on climate change. Frank Gremse (pronounced “Gremz”) is a 25-year Bainbridge resident who retired 1½ years ago from a professional career in science and engineering. Years ago, after seeing the Al Gore movie “An Inconvenient Truth” about the significance and impact of climate change, Frank traveled to Toronto Canada to participate with hundreds of other attendees from many nations in an Al Gore “Climate Reality Project” training and workshop.  Years later, as he approached his anticipated retirement, he sought out an idealistic group of professionals known as “Engineers Without Borders”.  Like the better-known “Doctors Without Borders”, the engineers group engages in humanitarian projects around the world. Frank currently serves as chair