In this 25-minute podcast conversation, Hilary Franz looks back to her favorite community accomplishments during her four years of service on the Bainbridge City Council, from 2008-11. She tells about the farm on the north end of the Island that attracted her to move here in 2000. And there’s a story about sheep and roosters.

She explains that, even though her years on City Council were burdened by the severe national recession and a collapse of the local economy and local government funding, it was also a time of innovation and working for shared island values.

She discusses favorite memories of those years such as:

  • improving the Winslow downtown by repairing the pipes of Winslow Way, widening sidewalks and creating bike lanes;
  • protecting the harbor and Puget Sound from stormwater runoff;
  • honoring the historic home in Eagle Harbor for the liveaboard community;
  • creating incentives for greener building and more affordable housing;
  • updating the zoning code to preserve local farming;
  • taking action to resist climate change by working on home energy audits and energy efficiency refits;
  • innovating with a public-private partnership to put solar panels on the City Hall roof; and
  • looking for projects to allow community members and local government to be more effective together.

Credits: BCB host, audio editor and social media publisher: Barry Peters