Blair King is Leaving: What do we want in a new city manager?
Bainbridge Island City Manager Blair King recently announced his retirement, effective at the end of
January 2026. The process to replace him has begun.

Blair King has been our city manager for about 4-1/2 years. The process for bringing his
replacement on board has begun and is expected to take 90 to 120 days. The Prothman Company
has been hired to assist in that process.

Council members tasked with interviewing search 6irms reported in late December that Prothman
was recommended because of its experience with Paci3ic Northwest communities, its proposed
outreach, cost, DEI background, and the genuine authenticity of Cliff Moore, who subcommittee
members felt was experienced, 3lexible, and someone they could work with. Council member
Kirsten Hytopoulos encouraged Blair King to set up a meeting between the City Council and
Prothman in early January to provide input into the candidate development process. Hopefully
citizen input will be given serious consideration.

Looking Back on Blair King’s tenure as city manager
As we look forward to the city council’s search for a new city manager let’s 7irst take a quick look
back at the City of Bainbridge Island over the past 4-years with Blair King as city manager.

Signifcant room for improvement when it comes to good process
Under Blair King there’s been some bad process at the City of Bainbridge Island. Among the most
notable were instances of the city council presuming to change the municipal code when
ordinances—and the additional process they provide—were required. Those instances included:

1. Presuming to change the municipal code’s provisions regarding the Winslow subarea
planning process. In early 2022 the City Council approved a simple motion to remove the
requirement for appointing a citizen steering committee to oversee the Winslow subarea
planning process. This appeared to be done to remove citizen involvement from the process
and allow staff and consultants to work out of public view to grease the skids for massive
upzoning in Winslow. Because simple city council votes don’t legally change the municipal
code, the City essentially conducted an illegal Winslow subarea planning process for a year
before admitting their mistake and amending the municipal code with an ordinance in early
2023.
2. Presuming to change the process for appointing members of the Planning
Commission. In 2022 the City Council once again presumed to use a simple city council
motion and vote to change the selection process for planning commission applicants. A
representative of the Race Equity Advisory Committee was added to the selection
committee to help with the interview process. That process featured a new set of questions
emphasizing scrutiny of each applicant’s race equity credentials. One question asked
applicants if they agreed with a statement describing single-family zoning as racist. This
process was used to appoint new planning commissioners highly supportive of massive
upzoning.

Questionable process used for rezoning specific properties
The municipal code provides a process for rezoning specific properties: the site-specific rezone—
BIMC 2.16.140—a quasi-judicial process. To ensure that the process of rezoning a specific property
it not an illegal spot zone, the site-specific rezone requires application of the appearance of fairness
doctrine, disclosure of ex parte communications, and an analysis for consistency with the
comprehensive plan. Under Mr. King, the City dodged the transparency requirements of the site specific
rezone process by using simple ordinances to change the zoning regulations for two specific properties.

Fewer City Council meetings resulting in less public input
During City Manager King’s tenure there were fewer city council meetings with more items sent to
the consent agenda after fewer “touches”. There were also fewer ward meetings, with none in 2025.
At least one member of the City Council gave reasons for this departure from what was a longstanding
norm of having yearly ward meetings: 1) 2025 was an election year and ward meetings
would provide an advantage to councilmembers running for reelection, and; 2) ward meetings
require staff time and are expensive. These reasons were given with the implication that the
decision whether or not to conduct ward meeting had been made by City Manager King.

The decision not to conduct ward meetings in 2025 was not discussed and voted on during a public
meeting of the City Council, adding to concerns that Council has been making decisions outside of
public view. This could also be a case of the City Council allowing City Manager King to make
decisions for them outside of public meetings. That would be a violation of the City Manager’s
authority. Either way, a decision on ward meetings by the City Council outside of a public meeting—
whether they deferred to the city manager or not—would be a violation of the Open Public
Meetings Act.

The elimination of ward meetings was likely motivated by a desire to protect councilmembers from
uncomfortable questions from members of the public in the relatively intimate setting of ward
meetings where there is considerable back. Protecting council members from scrutiny, while also
exaggerating their accomplishments, was a hallmark of Blair King’s tenure as city manager. It
resulted in less accountability and less transparency.

Being fair to Blair King, blame for these instances of bad process, lack of transparency, and reduced
accountability, ultimately belongs to the City Council, which has willingly ceded some of its
authority to City Manager King.

The City’s Historic Preservation Program kicked to the curb for expediency
Under Blair King the City’s Historic Preservation Program was sidelined for being an obstacle to
demolishing the old police station where plans were being developed for an affordable housing
complex. This included abrogating the terms of the City’s certification as a Certified Local
Government Program for Historic Preservation. In protest, the City’s entire Historic Preservation
Commission resigned. The HPC was later impugned during a City Council meeting for being
“dysfunctional”.

The marginalization of the Environmental Technical Advisor Committee (ETAC)
Under Blair King members of City staff, along with members of the City Council, marginalized ETAC
by blocking interviews for new members and canceling all of their meetings over the span of two
years. Why would they do that: because ETAC members were critical of the City for attempting to
reverse-engineer Bainbridge Island’s new groundwater management plan to pave the way for
massive upzoning, by using questionable science and biased messaging.

Public records request obtained by a former ETAC member show that council members discussed
removing ETAC as a City advisory committee outside of public meetings.

Blair King’s weekly meetings with members of the city council
One of Mr. King’s practices has been to meet regularly with council members. Given the reduction in
public meetings, and what sometimes appears as a lack of discussion on important issues during
public meetings, the practice of regular private meetings between the city manager and council has
the appearance of backroom consensus building that’s reduced transparency and arguably violates
the spirit and purpose of the Open Public Meetings Act.

Preferred City Manager Qualities

Now that we’ve highlighted some of the undesirable aspects of Blair King’s tenure as city manager,
here are Bainbridge Conservation Coalition’s recommendations for a preferred city manager
candidate profile.
1. Will be diligent in promoting good governance and proper process. This includes strict
adherence to the City’s municipal code and State Law. City practice over the past 4-years has
included instances of the municipal code being ignored for expediency with attempts to
change it via simple City Council motions and votes (ordinances are required). The City has
also engaged in what many regard as spot zoning without observing proper process for
rezoning specific parcels of property. None of this should be repeated with our new city
manager;
2. A city manager who requires city staff and consultants to be honest and provide elected
officials with unbiased and accurate information and opinions;
3. Promotes transparency;
4. Will respect the spirit of the Open Public Meetings Act;
5. A city manager not prone to exceeding his or her authority: the city manager should not
be making decisions behind closed doors that are the legal purview of elected officials;
6. A city manager who values Bainbridge Island’s history and historic preservation, and
will actively support the City’s status as a local government with a certified historic
preservation program and Historic Preservation Commission;
7. Respects and promotes local control and will strive to unify the interests of City
government with the interests of the community.

Let the City Council Know What You Want in a City Manager

You can email the entire city council at council@bainbridgewa.gov or individual council members at
the following email addresses:
Ashley Mathews: amathews@bainbridgewa.gov
Brenda Fantroy-Johnson: bfantroy-johnson@bainbridgewa.gov
Clarence Moriwaki: cmoriwaki@bainbridgewa.gov
Kirsten Hytopoulos: khytopoulos@bainbridgewa.gov
Lara Lant: llant@bainbridgewa.gov
Leslie Schneider: lschneider@bainbridgewa.gov
Mike Nelson: mnelson@bainbridgewa.gov