Reporter Central Kitsap
ON A ROLL Bremerton & Olympic bowling teams advance to state tourney Page 8
FRIDAY, FEBRuary 1, 2013 | Vol. 28, No. 21 | www.CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.com | 50¢
Incorporation backers, foes look forward to Feb. 12 vote By Leslie Kelly
lkelly@soundpublishing.com Kevan Moore/Staff Photo
The five finalists to be Bremerton’s next police chief gathered at city hall on Monday night.
Bremerton police chief finalists meet at city hall By KEVAN MOORE kmoore@soundpublishing.com
The public had its one and only chance to meet Bremerton’s five finalists to be the city’s next police chief Monday night. The finalists — which include a sheriff, a former sheriff, two Washington State Patrol captains and a former police chief — had a chance to mingle with the crowd throughout the evening. At one point, all five men were called to the front of the council chambers at the Norm Dicks Government Center
and spoke briefly about their careers and shared their most embarrassing moment as a police officer. The finalists include former King County Sheriff Steven Strachan, Jefferson County Sheriff Anthony Hernandez, Washington State Patrol Capt. Robert Johnson, former Santa Paula, Calif. Chief Stephen MacKinnon and WSP Capt. Stephen Sutton. Three of the men — Hernandez, Johnson and Sutton — have Bremerton connections. MacKinnon and Sutton are also finalists for See FINALISTS, A9
City refuses to release council applications By KEVAN MOORE kmoore@soundpublishing.com
The City of Bremerton refused this week to release city council applications for the District 4 vacancy created by Roy Runyon’s resignation. Despite repeated requests by the Bremerton Patriot and the Central Kitsap Reporter to the mayor, the city council’s legislative assistant and council president, the documents were not turned over in time for publication. The deadline for application was Jan. 25 and as of Tuesday the applications had also not been shared with sitting city council members. Five District 4 residents have applied to fill Runyon’s seat. They include Anita
Lynn Albright, Jerald A. McDonald, Wendy Priest, Dino T. Davis and Michael Goodnow. City Council Legislative Assistant Lori Smith said Tuesday that she wasn’t comfortable releasing the applications because city councilors had not yet seen them. She insisted on checking with City Attorney Roger Lubovich who had not weighed in on the matter by mid-morning on Wednesday. On Wednesday, Smith said she asked Lubovich to make sure the applications weren’t exempt from public disclosure for personnel reasons. Tim Ford, an Assistant Attorney General for See COUNCIL, A12
With less than two weeks to go until a vote on incorporation, both proponents and opponents are forecasting victory. “We’re very happy with the message that is out there,” said Rob MacDermid, an attorney who is working with the efforts to incorporate. “We feel really good about what we’re hearing on the streets. There hasn’t been any official polling, and you never know until it’s over, but we think people do understand the advantages of becoming a city and that that will be reflected in the vote on Feb. 12.” But Jerry Vanfossen, a retired federal employee who opposes the incorporation, said he thinks the measure will be defeated. “A lot of the people I talk to just don’t see the positives to becoming a city,” Vanfossen said. “I don’t expect it to pass.” Silverdale’s incorporation will be decided by voters in the proposed incorporation area in a mail-in only ballot. Ballots have been mailed to voters and are due back to the county Feb. 12. An expected 50 percent turnout could mean as many as 4,500 votes will be cast. The Kitsap County Auditor’s office said the Silverdale incorporation ballot measure will cost taxpayers about $35,000. While Silverdale has tried to incor-
Courtesy graphic
The proposed area of incorporation includes all the areas outlined in green. Two small parts of the Urban Growth Area are not included (outlined in gold.)
See INCORPORATION, A9
Seabeck man charged with child assault By WES MORROW wmorrow@soundpublishing.com
A Seabeck man was charged with the assault of a child after his girlfriend’s 4-year-old daughter sustained serious injuries Monday night. Jason Reeser, 34, had been living with the family since September. His bail is set at $750,000. As of Wednesday, Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Scott Wilson said the girl was not expected to survive her injuries. “She is still in critical condition and still on life support,” Wilson said. Paramedics responded to a call in the Lake Symington area at 2:41 p.m. When
they arrived the girl was experiencing seizure-like activity. Reeser told responders on the way to the hospital that he found the girl lying in her crib not acting right. When they arrived at the hospital, Reeser told medics the girl was eating a pistachio cookie, suddenly stopped eating, then vomited and went into seizure activity, according to court documents. The medical history obtained at the hospital indicated she did not have any allergies and had never experienced a seizure. Emergency room doctor’s at Harrison Medical Center in Silverdale determined the girl had a sub-dermal hematoma and
needed to be airlifted to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma. A subdural hematoma occurs after the brain suffers a traumatic injury, leading to bleeding underneath the outer layer of the brain. It is a life-threatening injury. Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office dispatched detectives to Mary Bridge to interview the family. According to Wilson, it is sheriff’s office policy to bring out detectives in the case of serious injury to a minor whether it is believed to be an accident or assault. Doctors at Mary Bridge advised detectives the girl had likely suffered an acute See ASSAULT, A12