About Councilmember Schneider

Term expires 12/31/2027

I am honored to be representing residents of Bainbridge Island on city council since 2018. In that time, I served as “the pandemic mayor” of 2020, helped to select a new city manager (Blair King) in 2021,  supported the new Ted Spearman Justice Center through to its opening in 2023, and participated in the 2024 Association of Washington Cities’ inaugural program, the Collaborative Elected Leaders Institute. I fight extra hard for affordable housing and sustainable transportation, and 2025 will be the culmination of many years’ work to update our city’s Comprehensive Plan, with new requirements from our state legislature to comply with managing growth and planning for affordable housing. I serve on two regional transportation boards, I am a liaison to the Climate Change Advisory Committee and the Bainbridge Chamber of Commerce, I am a member of a subcommittee for the Comprehensive Plan public engagement and another for evaluating the Sustainable Transportation Plan and its funding (these details are always subject to change!).

Here is a link to an article about the City’s plans for sustainable transportation:

Bainbridge Island Creates Plan to Shift Visitors and Residents Out of Their Cars

And did you know that Bainbridge Island is on the Great American Rail Trail?

              200-Mile Puget Sound to Pacific Trail Will Jump Forward Thanks to Major Federal Grant

My background: I have been an active advocate for sustainability and local economy since 1992 when I started volunteering for Sustainable Seattle and later for the Business Alliance for Local Living Economy. I love how the design of physical space can encourage the growth of relationships in a community. In 1998 I became a founding member of Jackson Place Cohousing where I had leadership roles in the development and construction of 27 condominium units and common spaces, located just southeast of downtown Seattle. I lived there for 8 years until moving to Bainbridge Island. I volunteered for the Pomegranate Center (“Strengthening communities through collaborative placemaking”). I even went all the way to New York City to take a workshop on “How to turn a place around,” from one of my favorite organizations, the Project for Public Spaces.

“If you plan a city for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get people and places.”

Fred Kent, founder and former president of the Project for Public Spaces (opens in a new tab)

I moved to Bainbridge Island in 2009. My son started at Woodward Middle School, enjoyed a couple years at Eagle Harbor High School, and graduated from Bainbridge High School in 2015. I started a coworking business called OfficeXpats with my husband Jason Omens in 2011. OfficeXpats is a shared office space and collaborative hub for independent professionals and small businesses. I have also served on the boards of Sustainable Bainbridge and the Kitsap Regional Library Foundation.

For reference, if we’ve set up a virtual meeting, here is access to my Zoom account.  

https://zoom.us/j/2062004502?pwd=WmVjaWpsQXZkUXlyUEE4K2pGUC9SQT09

      Meeting ID: 206 200 4502, Password: 007964  

Conflict of Interest Declaration (PDF)

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