Should unlicensed staffers call themselves geologists?

Consulting reports from licensed professionals are utilized and relied upon in public and the private sector for the purpose of making land use decisions. In some instances, unlicensed Department of Ecology staff members are participating in the very important decision making process.

Please consider signing the petition that is attached via the link below. This petition is sponsored by Ed Kilduff, a member of Common Sense Alliance and an environmental professional with over 20 years experience in geology, hydrogeology and engineering geology. He holds seven licenses in two states.

Jane Cable, Board Member, Common Sense Alliance

Let’s make a new park at 305 and Winslow Way.

The Citizens Park Task Force is an informal group of community volunteers
who have come together for a single purpose — to convert the ugly vacant
lot on the corner of Highway 305 and Winslow Way into an attractive and
welcoming gateway to Bainbridge Island.  Our vision is to make this former
Unocal gas station site into a source of pride for our entire community.

In connection with this campaign, we are committed to four key principals:
(A) No public funds will be spent to create this park; (B) Every step of the
project will be subject to the approval of the City and Kitsap Transit (the
current owners of the parcel), and the Parks and Recreation District (the
future managers of the park); (C) the design of the park will integrate
broad public input and ideas; and (D) the park will be environmentally safe
and responsible.

Comments on buffer guidance in Ecology’s SMP handbook.

Comes now buffer guidance intended to “…assist local government planners…” in meeting requirements of the Shoreline Management Act and the Department’s SMP Guidelines, drawing on “a vast body of scientific knowledge”. Having spent several years reviewing some 4,000 references on buffering and related subjects, and several decades in the company of buffer research, I would like to be impressed by DOE’s present command of tidewater buffer science, informed by the agency’s antecedent attention to wetland buffer scholarship. I’m disappointed; here’s why.

Chapter 11 is “Vegetation Conservation, Buffers and Setbacks”, whose scientific foundation is, in my opinion, ill-derived and misleading to the point of absurdity.

Read more comments on Chapter 11 of the Department of Ecology’s new SMP Handbook by Donald F. Flora, PhD below.

The high price of poor management decisions.

Last week, Arbitrator Michael Cavanaugh ruled that the City, under the direction of Brenda Bauer, violated the rights of four city employees when they were terminated in the fall of 2010. These four employees must now be rehired, or given the option of rehire, along with over a year of back wages and benefits.

This is worth your readers’ attention for a few reasons. There is quite a bit of money—our money—involved in this case: you do the math in terms of back pay, staff time, and lawyers’ fees. The human cost is also high. Layoffs are bad enough—many of us have been through them—but now it is established that Ms. Bauer’s were in violation of a collective bargaining agreement. People have been treated unfairly, and now more people—at least two—may be “bumped” out of their positions. This does not bode well for morale at City Hall.

Kitsap Alliance challenges county-wide planning policies.

To Mayors, Matthes, Erickson, Lester and Lent,

Each of the Cities with membership in the KRCC are required to ratify the Ordinance (attached) passed by Kitsap County on November 14, 2011 adopting the Amendments to the County-wide Planning Policies. As I understand the rules the Cities have 90 days in which to take that action. According to my calculations the 90 days is up on or about February 14, 2012.

Perhaps the Cities have endorsed the County’s ordinance already. If not this e-mail will serve the advisory purpose to inform each of you that Jack Hamilton and I have filed a “Petition For Review” with the Growth Management Hearings Board in Tumwater. We did so last Friday January 13, 2012.

Questions about new shoreline buffer regulations.

General recommendations for buffer width.

Small-lot residential development in highly developed areas provides some ecological functions. Buffers or setbacks with vegetation conservation requirements of roughly 30 to 60 feet may be appropriate. If these areas include critical areas, larger buffers likely will be needed.

Department of Ecology, Shoreline Master Program Handbook
Chapter 11 – page 30 (attached below)

What is the Legislature up to?

They’re baaaaaaaaaack. In addition to major budget issues, our elected representatives are considering the following bills which should be of interest to landowners and water users in Washington:

Who are we as a community?

Who are we as a community? The answer to this question affects not only our image of ourselves but the priorities we set for public services and how we connect the community to itself.

Recently I had cause to look at the U.S. Census statistics for the island and the numbers are interesting. They show that we are much more of a “move to” place than we might have thought, that two-thirds of the households here do not have children in them, and that most of the population growth the last decade has come from those over 60.

Two questions to ask about proposed regulations.

Teresa Osinski is the executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Kitsap County. She suggests that all citizens interested in good government encourage their elected representatives to ask two questions as a filter for any and all proposed regulations:

1. How does this proposal improve the health, safety and welfare of the public?
2. How does this proposal move the economy forward?

If the answer to #1 is, “it doesn’t, or we don’t know” then the answer to number two had better be that “yes it will, and here’s how.”

Call for citizen participation.

The city of Bainbridge Island is currently seeking volunteers for the Planning Commission and the Utility Advisory Committee. If interested, please complete the application and return it to the city no later than January 11, 2012. Contact the Executive department with any questions (842-2545).