In announcing her intention to seek the mayor’s office on Bainbridge Island, Chris Llewellyn, who is the current chair of the Bainbridge Island park board, pledged to continue and extend Dwight Sutton’s work as a conciliator and mediator.

Llewellyn is the first candidate to publicly announce her intention to succeed Sutton, who will not seek re-election.

She was quoted as saying she believes that Bainbridge is facing a unique mix of challenges and opportunities.

Llewellyn sees the challenges involving pressures from growth, and believes that growth can be easily dealt with by implementing severe land use restrictions and policies.

She sees opportunities in the proposed $8 million bond issue to purchase park lands and open space, which she strongly supports, and in the acquisition of the Wyckoff Superfund cleanup site on the south shore of Eagle Harbor.

She also strongly supports the Japanese internment memorial proposed at the site of the old Eagledale ferry dock — the spot from where the island’s Japanese-Americans were evacuated during World War II.

Llewellyn believes non-motorized transportation and making pedestrian and bicycle travel safe on the island’s narrow roads is a critical issue, favoring bike and pedestrian paths separated from roadways, or following different alignments altogether.

Llewellyn is a Bainbridge native who graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in clothing and textiles, and went to work in the apparel industry in Seattle.

When she and her husband Jim, who is also a member of the Bainbridge Island City Council, started their family, she abandoned the Seattle commute, and started Custom Sport, a company that manufactures and sells specialized sportswear, including hiking and ski clothes and protective equestrian gear.

She and her husband are also ski instructors, and ran a ski school at Crystal Mountain for a number of years.

She admits her husband’s position on the Bainbridge Island City Council and his re-election plans have created an unusual situation, but not a real problem.

Llewellyn said she doesn’t have any specific proposals or programs in mind, but just wants to preserve what she thinks is special about Bainbridge.