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Record of Proceedings

Special City Council Meeting - January 20, 2026: City Manager Recruitment Contract Terminated and Next Steps Determined

City Council — Tuesday, January 20, 2026
BodyBainbridge Island, Washington
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, January 20, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 12:19

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
0:25

Recording in progress.

0:34

Pardon me.

0:36

That's my point.

0:37

God no.

0:44

All right.

0:46

Now I call the special meeting, special city council meeting for Tuesday, January 20th to order.

0:52

And uh clerk, will you please give the roll call?

0:56

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

0:57

Christine Brown, City Clerk.

0:59

Please state for the record if you're present after I call your name.

1:01

Mayor Moramockey.

1:03

Present.

1:03

Deputy Mayor Hytopolis.

1:06

Present.

1:07

Councilmember Matthews.

1:09

Present.

1:09

Councilmember Fantmarie Johnson.

1:11

Present.

1:12

Councilmember Nelson.

1:13

Present.

1:14

Councilmember Land.

1:15

Present.

1:16

Councilmember Schneider.

1:17

Present.

1:18

Thank you.

1:20

All are present.

1:21

7-0.

1:22

I would entertain a motion to approve tonight's agenda.

1:26

Don't all jump at once.

1:28

So moved.

1:30

Second.

1:31

Thank you.

1:31

It's moved and second approved the agenda.

1:33

All in favor say aye.

1:34

Aye.

1:35

Aye.

1:35

All opposed.

1:38

Did I hear an A?

1:39

No.

1:40

And and the chair votes A, so that is 7-0.

1:44

Conflict of interest.

1:44

There's any uh issue or appearance of conflict of interest any council member would like to reveal pertaining to tonight's agenda.

1:53

See none move on to public comment.

1:55

And each comment will have three minutes if there if there are names, are there names?

2:00

Uh no names.

2:01

So no one signed up for public comment, so I guess I don't have to give the rules.

2:06

Moving on.

2:07

Okay, move to regular business and before us.

2:13

Would you like to speak?

2:14

Oh, yeah, sure.

2:15

Um I just asked everyone in the written, yeah.

2:17

Please uh keep it to three minutes and address the council.

2:21

Um these are simply comments received by council.

2:24

We have no response, and we cannot deliberate on any items that are not on the agenda.

2:28

And the lack of comment is not an endorsement or denial of the comment.

2:32

So would you please introduce yourself and where you in?

2:35

Okay.

2:37

Once again, I have a hard time with the acoustics in this room.

2:39

I'd never heard the question about I heard I heard public comment, but I didn't hear you're invited to give public comment.

2:46

But anyway, um Charlie Kratzer, I live on the South End.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural███████████████████████████████████35%
Personnel Matters███████████████████████████27%
Public Engagement███████████████████19%
Transportation Safety███████████████████19%
Summary of Proceedings

Special City Council Meeting - January 20, 2026

The Bainbridge Island City Council held a special meeting on January 20, 2026, to consider modifying the contract with Prothman Company for city manager recruitment. The meeting was called to order at 7:38 p.m. with all seven council members present. The council approved the agenda unanimously and heard public comments before taking action.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Charlie Kratzer (South End resident) expressed concerns about a lack of transparency in recent years. He proposed earlier public involvement in reviewing city manager candidates, noting that the previous search had narrowed from 60 candidates to three, leaving the public unaware of the other 57. He also urged restarting ward meetings and highlighted the downgrading of advisory committees like eTAC, suggesting the city should utilize volunteer expertise rather than hiring consultants.
  • Dennis Gawlik (North End resident) requested better communication from the council regarding the proposed high school road roundabout. He noted 29 intersection-related crashes (2015–2021), including one fatality and multiple pedestrian incidents, and warned that without proactive communication, misinformation could create controversy similar to the "625" project.

Discussion Items

  • Contract Termination with Prothman Company: Deputy Mayor Hytopoulos moved to terminate the contract with Prothman Company. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously (7–0).
  • Selection of Successor Firm: Councilmember Nelson moved to reconvene the subcommittee (Deputy Mayor Hytopoulos, Councilmembers Nelson, and Fantroy-Johnson) to create a recommendation for the full council regarding a successor executive recruiting firm. Councilmember Schneider seconded. Discussion included the desire to move quickly, with the subcommittee planning to bring a recommendation to the next council meeting on January 27. Councilmember Schneider noted that the process would set the timeline back but that public presentations by two firms could be part of the recommendation. The motion passed unanimously (7–0).

Key Outcomes

  1. The city council voted 7–0 to terminate the contract with Prothman Company.
  2. The council voted 7–0 to reconvene the subcommittee to recommend a successor firm; a recommendation is expected at the January 27 council meeting.
  3. The meeting adjourned at 7:51 p.m.

Meeting Transcript

Recording in progress. Pardon me. That's my point. God no. All right. Now I call the special meeting, special city council meeting for Tuesday, January 20th to order. And uh clerk, will you please give the roll call? Yes, thank you, Mayor. Christine Brown, City Clerk. Please state for the record if you're present after I call your name. Mayor Moramockey. Present. Deputy Mayor Hytopolis. Present. Councilmember Matthews. Present. Councilmember Fantmarie Johnson. Present. Councilmember Nelson. Present. Councilmember Land. Present. Councilmember Schneider. Present. Thank you. All are present. 7-0. I would entertain a motion to approve tonight's agenda. Don't all jump at once. So moved. Second. Thank you. It's moved and second approved the agenda. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. All opposed. Did I hear an A? No. And and the chair votes A, so that is 7-0. Conflict of interest. There's any uh issue or appearance of conflict of interest any council member would like to reveal pertaining to tonight's agenda. See none move on to public comment. And each comment will have three minutes if there if there are names, are there names? Uh no names. So no one signed up for public comment, so I guess I don't have to give the rules. Moving on. Okay, move to regular business and before us. Would you like to speak? Oh, yeah, sure.

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