REVIEW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
TASTE OF LYNWOOD: The historic
neighborhood celebrates with music, food, fun.
Page A13
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2011 | Vol. 111, No. 37 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢
Winslow fétes Civil service controversy continues a fresh start Jessica Hoch/Staff Photos | Top image composite
Islanders covered “Winslow in White” for a late-summer celebration of the downtown community and a newly opened street. Top: tables dressed in white linens spread from the Christian Science Monitor to the Madison Avenue intersection. From left to write: (left and middle) tables were adorned picnic-style by attendees who purchased tables or got free tickets to the event; Singer Victoria Robertson (right) volunteered to sing the National Anthem, which served especially poignant as the event was held on Sept. 11.
Stakes higher for commission with the alleged violations.
BOD_GinAd_3.pdf
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9/13/11
By JESSICA HOCH Staff Writer
The controversy involving the city’s Civil Service Commission was elevated this week after former Secretary/Chief Examiner Kim Hendrickson filed an ethics complaint and a petition to remove two of the commission’s three sitting members. The commission’s continuing drama was triggered by the termination of Hendrickson’s indepen-
dent contract with the city in August. Commission 1:35 PM Chair David Hand and Commissioner George McKinney. both of whom had resigned earlier in the month and later retracted their resignations, are the subject of the ethics violation and petition for removal. Hendrickson filed the ethics complaint before the CSC meeting on Friday, Sept. 9, and submitted the petition for removal on Monday. The documents charge the commissioners with malfeasance in office and dereliction of duty and alleges: violation of the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA); acting to limit public access to commission proceedings and information; attempting to manipulate records of commis-
sion proceedings, violating rules governing temporary appointments; and putting the city at increased risk for litigation. The commissioners clearly drew their lines in the sand at Friday’s meeting. The controversy has also split the City Council, which will now be charged with conducting a process to review the allegations, and to make any decisions related to appointing and removing commissioners. The council meeting set for Wednesday was cancelled within hours of the scheduled start time due to a lack of quorum. The volunteer citizen committee, which is responsible for independent oversight of police department hires and employment deci-
sions, has been under fire since last month. The prior role of the S/ CE was in the form of an “independent contractor” responsible for administrative duties, compliance with commission rules and other BIPD employment tasks including writing job descriptions and administering employment exams. The heart of the current dispute is over the vote to either retain the S/CE position as an independent contractor or to fill the position with a city employee. Hendrickson and the third commissioner, Robert Fernandez, claim that a vote was taken involving the proposed change in June and SEE CIVIL SERVICE, A5
Winslow celebrates with a sigh of relief, a pinch of grief and a show of belief in brighter days ahead.
By JESSICA HOCH Staff Writer
Donned in white and with a picnic dinner in hand, hundreds of islanders gathered in the late-summer glow to rekindle the downtown community in a picturesque celebration. It has been a long summer, especially for downtown merchants who had to fight for their customers through piles of dirt, bulldozers and delays from a city that promised the opening of Winslow Way by July 4 and delivered nearly two
months late. For husband and wife property owners Frank and Joann Burlingame it was a chance to honor their tenants, who survived the upheaval. “My husband came home from the event and we both agreed that it was a celebration all small communities ought to have,” said Joann. “It is a neat way to help build community, and that’s what it should really be about, supporting the local community.” SEE WINSLOW, A4