John Grinter's guest appearances

John Grinter

Community Cafe Bainbridge

The B.I.Stander Podcast

Jon Quitslund

Ron Peltier

Kol Medina

Chris Smith

Anthony McCann

Francis Fukuyama

Susan Rice

Jason McLennan

Stacey Abrams

Jennifer Dumpert

Scott Hamilton

John Koenig

Dennis Miller

John Ellis

Peter Jackson

OwlTail

This episode we talk to JOHN GRINTER Bainbridge Island Trails The B.I.STANDER PODCAST is a conversational podcast unique to Bainbridge Island and Seattle that covers culture, current events, humor, sports, technology, politics, island activities, environment, quality of life issues, wellness and just about everything else. The intent is to introduce interesting people, ideas, and conversations. We are not perfect and that's OK! Thank you for your understanding.  Our Podcast is brought to you by: Eagle Harbor Insurance Blue Canary That's a Some Pizza Sound Reprographics *NEW SPONSOR! Camino Journeys  Great Northern Electric Scott Lever RePointe real estate group Follow us on Facebook  Music performed by Band of Steves of The Island Music Guild. 206-780-6911 lessons@islandmusic.org  *additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com ABOUT: John Grinter Grew up in Jamaica and Miami Florida Graduate University South Florida 1985 Helped initiate and organize the successful grassroots campaign Against offshore oil drilling on Florida’s Gulf Coast.1984-1987. Moved to the PNW 1989 Photographer, Outdoor guide, Yacht Captain  Married 2000 Moved to Bainbridge 2000 Begin working with the park districts trails advisory committee 2002 Organized the petition drive that led to the creation of the Metropolitan Park district and stable funding in 2004 Joined the City’s Non Motorized Advisory Committee 2005 Member NMTAC for 7 years, Chaired it twice.   NMTAC Developed the Core 40 shoulder plan and enter Island Trail’s plan 2005 through 2006.  NMTAC at this time was greatly assisted by having a dedicated long-term planner, a representative from public works engineering, and staff support for note taking and minute preparation.  There was finding dedicated towards both the core 40, trails, other built into structure such as sidewalks, and there was a small budget for education and out reach. When the Recession began to impact city finances we saw major reductions in the cities budget and complete elimination of the trail budget ($500k was read directed by the public works director from trails to building a short section of guard rail, now gone, on Highway 305).  As the recession continued we saw the city budget for roadways reduced to zero.  Not just roadway improvements but basic roadway preservation like Chip seal and pothole repair was completely eliminated for three straight years.  We are still digging our selves out of this hole. As the economy has rebuilt and budgets have increased there have been modest increases in funding for roadways and transportation but by and large The roadway improvements we’ve seen over the past 10 years have been funded by federal and state grants. These grants, which require at least a partial match by the city, come with stringent design standards which may or may not be appropriate for the setting on Bainbridge. It’s really important for Islanders to understand the dilemmas of relying on grants as the primary source of funding for transportation improvements. For instance a project that may fit the grant requirements may get funded first even though it’s not the highest safety priority as recommended by the city and volunteer committee.  If people wonder why the STO was funded rather than badly needed Core 40 projects it’s because there has not been dedicated local funding for Core 40, interconnecting pathways and other pretty basic and obvious needs. What’s important for us to keep in mind is that we live in a geographically huge city with a very undiversified funding source – property taxes. It’s hard to deliver passing grades and basic infrastructure needs on the island/city this big.   The city has been successful in requiring roadway infrastructure improvements as a condition of large developments.  Our greatest needs for safety improvements lie on the narrow roads bordered by single family homes that are not required to build roadway improvements as a condition of development.  The major point of emphasis for the safe mobility ballot measure Is to provide the local funds to make these long overdue shoulder improvements.   Core 40 plan- The plan to connect the patchwork of shoulders on the island arterial roads so that there is a continuous, safe shoulder. 40 refers to the 40 miles of roadway Under this classification.   Intra-Island Trails Plan- designed to Make it possible to travel large parts of the island without ever needing to be on a busy road in the first place, the trails plan utilizes existing low traffic roads, dead ends, unopened city right of ways, wooded trails, and separated pathways.  The plan was developed in close coordination with the Bainbridge Park district to integrate with their trail systems so that islanders can reach destinations safely by foot or bike.   The Core 40 plan, sidewalk improvements, traffic calming and other roadway improvements are relatively straightforward and often obvious to islanders as we travel the roadways. Less obvious are the Opportunities presented by the trails plan. Perhaps the best way to visualize these opportunities Is to take a map of the island and highlight all of the publicly owned land.  Then highlight all of the quiet or Dead end road’s. This exercise reveals that Using assets that are already publicly owned we are only a few short segments away from long connections that will blow peoples minds and literally transform our options for travel on the island.

This episode we talk to JOHN GRINTER <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BITrails/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bainbridge Island Trails</a> The B.I.STANDER PODCAST is a conversational podcast unique to Bainbridge Island and Seattle that covers culture, current events, humor, sports, technology, politics, island activities, environment, quality of life issues, wellness and just about everything else. The intent is to introduce interesting people, ideas, and conversations. We are not perfect and that's OK! Thank you for your understanding.  Our Podcast is brought to you by: <a href="http://www.eagleharborinsurance.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eagle Harbor Insurance</a> <a href="http://www.bluecanary.biz%20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Blue Canary</a> <a href="http://www.thatsasome.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">That's a Some Pizza</a> <a href="http://www.soundrepro.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sound Reprographics</a> <a href="http://caminojourneys.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">*NEW SPONSOR! Camino Journeys </a> <a href="http://greatnorthernelectric.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Great Northern Electric</a> <a href="http://www.repointe.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Scott Lever RePointe real estate group</a> Follow us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bistanderpodcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook </a> Music performed by Band of Steves of <a href="https://http//www.islandmusic.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Island Music Guild.</a> 206-780-6911 <a href="mailto:lessons@islandmusic.org">lessons@islandmusic.org</a> *additional sound effects from <a href="https://www.zapsplat.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.zapsplat.com</a> ABOUT: John Grinter Grew up in Jamaica and Miami Florida Graduate University South Florida 1985 Helped initiate and organize the successful grassroots campaign Against offshore oil drilling on Florida’s Gulf Coast.1984-1987. Moved to the PNW 1989 Photographer, Outdoor guide, Yacht Captain  Married 2000 Moved to Bainbridge 2000 Begin working with the park districts trails advisory committee 2002 Organized the petition drive that led to the creation of the Metropolitan Park district and stable funding in 2004 Joined the City’s Non Motorized Advisory Committee 2005 Member NMTAC for 7 years, Chaired it twice. NMTAC Developed the Core 40 shoulder plan and enter Island Trail’s plan 2005 through 2006.  NMTAC at this time was greatly assisted by having a dedicated long-term planner, a representative from public works engineering, and staff support for note taking and minute preparation.  There was finding dedicated towards both the core 40, trails, other built into structure such as sidewalks, and there was a small budget for education and out reach. When the Recession began to impact city finances we saw major reductions in the cities budget and complete elimination of the trail budget ($500k was read directed by the public works director from trails to building a short section of guard rail, now gone, on Highway 305).  As the recession continued we saw the city budget for roadways reduced to zero.  Not just roadway improvements but basic roadway preservation like Chip seal and pothole repair was completely eliminated for three straight years.  We are still digging our selves out of this hole. As the economy has rebuilt and budgets have increased there have been modest increases in funding for roadways and transportation but by and large The roadway improvements we’ve seen over the past 10 years have been funded by federal and state grants. These grants, which require at least a partial match by the city, come with stringent design standards which may or may not be appropriate for the setting on Bainbridge. It’s really important for Islanders to understand the dilemmas of relying on grants as the primary source of funding for transportation improvements. For instance a project that may fit the grant requirements may get funded first even though it’s not the highest safety priority as recommended by the city and volunteer committee.  If people wonder why the STO was funded rather than badly needed Core 40 projects it’s because there has not been dedicated local funding for Core 40, interconnecting pathways and other pretty basic and obvious needs. What’s important for us to keep in mind is that we live in a geographically huge city with a very undiversified funding source – property taxes. It’s hard to deliver passing grades and basic infrastructure needs on the island/city this big.   The city has been successful in requiring roadway infrastructure improvements as a condition of large developments.  Our greatest needs for safety improvements lie on the narrow roads bordered by single family homes that are not required to build roadway improvements as a condition of development.  The major point of emphasis for the safe mobility ballot measure Is to provide the local funds to make these long overdue shoulder improvements. Core 40 plan- The plan to connect the patchwork of shoulders on the island arterial roads so that there is a continuous, safe shoulder. 40 refers to the 40 miles of roadway Under this classification. Intra-Island Trails Plan- designed to Make it possible to travel large parts of the island without ever needing to be on a busy road in the first place, the trails plan utilizes existing low traffic roads, dead ends, unopened city right of ways, wooded trails, and separated pathways.  The plan was developed in close coordination with the Bainbridge Park district to integrate with their trail systems so that islanders can reach destinations safely by foot or bike. The Core 40 plan, sidewalk improvements, traffic calming and other roadway improvements are relatively straightforward and often obvious to islanders as we travel the roadways. Less obvious are the Opportunities presented by the trails plan. Perhaps the best way to visualize these opportunities Is to take a map of the island and highlight all of the publicly owned land.  Then highlight all of the quiet or Dead end road’s. This exercise reveals that Using assets that are already publicly owned we are only a few short segments away from long connections that will blow peoples minds and literally transform our options for travel on the island.

John Grinter - Trailblazer

Ken DeWitt

This is the second episode in this Fall’s "Election 2015" series on BCB. It's an interview with the two local candidates for a position with a 6-year term on the 5-member board of the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Parks and Recreation District -- incumbent Ken DeWitt and challenger John Grinter. John Grinter describes himself as a stay-at-home dad of school-aged kids and a long-time proponent of non-motorized transportation. Ken, who has served on the Parks Board since 2000, describes himself as a dad and grandfather, a long-time community volunteer and a financial professional. In this podcast, BCB asked each candidate the following six questions, which had been provided to the candidates in advance:  Why did you decide to run (or run for re-election) for the position on the Parks Board? What relevant experience and skills do you bring to the position? How is the Parks and Recreation District doing? What is it doing well for the community? What are its unsolved problems? What are the key challenges or opportunities that you believe will face the Parks and Recreation District in the next six years? What are the most important outcomes you'd like to accomplish during your 6-year term from 2016 to 2021? What style of interaction do you plan to bring to the Parks and Recreation District - that is, with other Board members, with Park and Rec staff, and with community members?  After BCB’s questions, each candidate was offered a chance to ask the other one spontaneous question. Ken asked John: If you had the power to change just one thing about how the Park District manages its delivery of services and programs, what would it be and why? John then asked Ken about a proposal that John and other some other citizen volunteers have sought for several years -- a pathway behind the Sakai and Woodward schools to link Winslow to the Hilltop and Grand Forest properties -- and asked why the Parks Board hasn't taken up that proposal. Credits: BCB host, audio editor and publisher: Barry Peters.

This is the second episode in this Fall’s "Election 2015" series on BCB. It's an interview with the two local candidates for a position with a 6-year term on the 5-member board of the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Parks and Recreation District -- incumbent Ken DeWitt and challenger John Grinter. John Grinter describes himself as a stay-at-home dad of school-aged kids and a long-time proponent of non-motorized transportation. Ken, who has served on the Parks Board since 2000, describes himself as a dad and grandfather, a long-time community volunteer and a financial professional. In this podcast, BCB asked each candidate the following six questions, which had been provided to the candidates in advance: <ul> <li>Why did you decide to run (or run for re-election) for the position on the Parks Board?</li> <li>What relevant experience and skills do you bring to the position?</li> <li>How is the Parks and Recreation District doing? What is it doing well for the community? What are its unsolved problems?</li> <li>What are the key challenges or opportunities that you believe will face the Parks and Recreation District in the next six years?</li> <li>What are the most important outcomes you'd like to accomplish during your 6-year term from 2016 to 2021?</li> <li>What style of interaction do you plan to bring to the Parks and Recreation District - that is, with other Board members, with Park and Rec staff, and with community members?</li> </ul> After BCB’s questions, each candidate was offered a chance to ask the other one spontaneous question. Ken asked John: If you had the power to change just one thing about how the Park District manages its delivery of services and programs, what would it be and why? John then asked Ken about a proposal that John and other some other citizen volunteers have sought for several years -- a pathway behind the Sakai and Woodward schools to link Winslow to the Hilltop and Grand Forest properties -- and asked why the Parks Board hasn't taken up that proposal. Credits: BCB host, audio editor and publisher: Barry Peters.

Parks Board candidates Ken DeWitt and John Grinter (Cafe-020)