While newly elected Bremerton mayor Cary Bozeman is intent on making massive changes, it seems that his Bainbridge Island counterpart, Darlene Kordonowy, is doing the exact opposite. While Bozeman’s mantra of change is music to the ears in Bremerton, the newly elected Kordonowy says her mission is preserving the status quo.

“The biggest challenges facing Bainbridge are preserving the community we all value in the face of population growth in all of the state,” she said. “People are moving here at a rapid rate, and preserving the community we all love and moved here for is our biggest challenge.”

Kordonowy says she has some changes in mind, but they are all on the order of improving communication and making government more responsive to the people of Bainbridge.

“The citizens of Bainbridge love ourselves and love our island. My job is to be sure the city is functioning as well as it should be. Government is here to serve the people, it shouldn’t be an obstacle to creating and preserving the community we want,” she says. “Because we have the kind of population growth we do, the city has become the focus of people’s attention and in some cases the scapegoat for people’s frustrations. By improving the way our local government functions, that will eliminate, or at least diminish, the frustration people have in the way our community is growing. By eliminating that frustration, it allows us to focus on the positive attributes of this community and to build on those.”

Kordonowy says she intends to accomplish that by improving communication internally between the city council staff and the mayor’s office, shortening the list of priorities, and doing a better job of communicating with the citizens about the priorities, the issues and how public decisions are made.

“I’m examining the communication tools we use in the city and budget dollars we allocate to that, as well as the technology available in city hall — the database systems that help us manage our communication systems.”

In what was a bitterly fought race, Kordonowy also said she thought opponent Chris Llwellyn had some good ideas she’d like to adopt, including bringing the business community in to the decision making process earlier, and involving the young students in the community and the school system. “I heard her say we need to go to the public and not wait until the public comes to us. I’d like to look at a volunteer coordinator in city hall. I don’t know a school system that doesn’t have one. If we just think about all the public commissions — planning, harbor, etc. and soon we’ll be adding an open space commission. Those could be managed under a volunteer coordinator. I think it’s a good idea.”

What does she see for the business community on Bainbridge in terms of economic growth, especially in the way of e-commerce? “I look at that quite differently, she answered. “I believe Bainbridge Islanders want to understand the economic base and add telecom infrastructure so the home-based business sector can flourish. That’s a different strategy than Bremerton. Our agriculture and arts community are also parts our economic base that we want to enhance and support.”

How much more economic development and industry does she feel is acceptable to residents of Bainbridge?

“In the years I’ve been involved in planning with our city government, what I’ve heard from the people is that the 30+ acres we have out at Day Road and the 35 more we have zoned are enough for Bainbridge Island. They generate the tax revenue we need.”

Kordonowy says she has economic development objectives that can be viewed as complimentary to the rest of the county, even though they’re not necessarily the same. “...if we think of the county as a large corporation with lots of subsidiaries.”

Kordonowy makes no bones about the fact she believes strongly in public process. She also feels Bainbridge can sit at the table with the rest of the county and help solve regional problems like transportation — and economic development. “I think the Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council (KRCC) is doing a good job. I believe at the elected official level, people come together and provide some choices for people moving here.”

Acknowledging the perception that Bainbridge prefers isolation from the rest of Kitsap County, she feels there are more and more opportunities available for Bainbridge to connect with the rest of the county. She cites Harrison Hospital as a prime example.

Does Bainbridge Island support the county’s pursuit of 4(d) exemption in spite of what it will do to the private property rights of owners of the most expensive land in the county?

“Bainbridge Island has always deferred its compliance to however the county has chosen to go forward,” she answered. Saying that, she then admitted she wasn’t all that familiar with the 4(d) situation and her opinion could change once she familiarized herself with the process and its objectives.

The Homebuilders Association and the Building Industry Association of Washington have won several recent lawsuits against the city relating to how it interprets and applies development regulations. The cases proved some blatant abuse of, and disregard for, the law. What will be her position as mayor on those issues — perhaps the thorniest in terms of politics on the island?

“Bainbridge Island is going to comply with the law,” she said without hesitation. “We need to look at our laws for consistency and interpretation as well as enforcement. We’ve already started work on correcting the inconsistencies in our codes.”

Kordonowy says she’s impressed with the work being done for the city by a Poulsbo firm, Treefarm Center Consultants. “They have been working with the city to streamline the permit process and recently presented phase one of the review. Sixty percent of the permits are now going through in under 30 days,” she said proudly.

Kordonowy has a much thinner, more treacherous political tightrope to walk than Bozeman does. Bremerton yearns for growth while Island residents for the most part are fearful of it and at best find it inconvenient and destructive.

How well Kordonowy can walk that tightrope is the question. Because unlike Bremerton, on Bainbridge, there is no political safety net where the issue of growth is concerned.