REVIEW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
INSIDE: BHS returns to title game, A12
Friday, May 22, 2015 | Vol. 90, No. 21 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢
Market, restaurant planned at Rolling Bay
RIGHT ON THE MONEY:
Bainbridge Islander is top economic advisor to VP Joe Biden
BY SERAINE PAGE
Bainbridge Island Review
Q&A
with Ben Harris
Official White House photo by David Lienemann
Vice President Joe Biden walks across West Executive Avenue with Ben Harris and Don Graves on Dec. 17, 2014.
BY LESLIE KELLY Contributing Writer
Ben Harris grew up on Bainbridge Island and graduated from Bainbridge High School in 1995. He is currently the Chief Economist and Economic Adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. We recently checked in with him to find out more about what he’s been doing since leaving Bainbridge Island. Here’s what we learned:
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: Tell me about yourself. How long were you on Bainbridge Island? : I moved to Bainbridge Island with my mom and younger brother in 1986 from a suburb of Seattle. We lived in a turn-of-the-century farmhouse in Rolling Bay on three acres of land with a big lawn. It was the perfect place to grow up. My mom now lives on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. My dad still lives on Bainbridge, having spent the last 25 years on the Island. I have a younger brother who is a professor of linguistics at UCLA. With me living in D.C., our whole family
is spread across the country. I’m married with three little girls. I’ve taken my older two daughters back to Bainbridge a few times, but my youngest has never been there. I know the population has grown a bit since I left 20 years ago, but to me it feels like it’s hardly changed. : What year did you graduate from high school? : I graduated in 1995. My class in celebrating its 20th reunion this summer. I would love to attend, but probably won’t have the time to fly out. (He also added that he thought his education on Bainbridge Island prepared him well for college and beyond.) : Were you in politics at all during high school? What were your interests? : I suspect that my friends from my youth are not surprised that I work at the White House. In high school I spent a fair amount of time engaged in public policy and politics. I was the student body treasurer. I spent my sopho-
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more summer studying leadership and public policy at Seattle University. After my junior year, I went to D.C. for a few weeks as part of a program called Boy’s Nation where I met President Clinton in the White House. Whenever I walk by the spot where I shook Clinton’s hand, I remember how exciting it was to be in the White House for the first time. In high school I also spent a lot of time playing sports — lacrosse, football, and basketball my freshman year and tennis as a senior. All in all, I had a great time in high school. I still keep in touch with many of the graduates from BHS. A few of my good friends live in the D.C. area and we get together every so often. And every now and then an old classmate will send me an email when they come through D.C. and we’ll grab a drink. With Facebook, it’s much easier to stay in touch.
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TURN TO Q&A | A22
Rolling Bay may have a roll-out of new businesses in the upcoming months. Bainbridge Island Design Review board members met Monday to discuss a proposed roughly 2-acre development that includes a restaurant, bakery, market and office complex on Sunrise Drive NE just north of the Jiffy Mart in Rolling Bay. Studio Hamlet Architects are designing the project. Board members said they were impressed by the early look at the proposal. “I think they did a good job, considering this was a pre-application [meeting],” said Jim McNett, a Design Review Board member. Officials with Rolling Bay Land Co. met earlier this year with city planners to explore the possibility of building the mixed-use project, which also includes four housing units, some on the second floor above retail or office spaces. During Monday’s meeting, board members were presented with design plans for the 2.09-acre property, including landscaping TURN TO ROLLING | A17
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