Everyone Wants to Save the World!
But, sometimes you're just battling overpriced, unsightly, unnecessary trash cans and local government intractability on an island where people feel increasingly disempowered.
Wednsday, May 29th, 2024
First, on a side note…I’m learning Korean!
A year ago, I fell in love with the language, and now I intensely study Korean 10-15 hours a week (minimum). It helps that I have a good friend who is tutoring me in the language. It also helps that I’ve decided to situate my third novel in South Korea, for a dozen excellent reasons! One side effect is my upcoming trip (next spring) to research locations, sounds, ambiance, history, and more! I’ve discovered that Korea, while more expensive than Thailand, is far less expensive that all of Western Europe, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, and the USA. Yay!
Today I was learning about “counting categories” which allow you to count bottled items, people, flat things, animals, bunched items, pairs of things, and so much more! So, tell me — what’s your current hobby?
And now, on to the trash cans! If I can get anyone to pay attention…
Below, you will find my most recent attempt to wake up my sleepy island community. Or, rather, to inspire people to want to be involved in what’s happening to the public spaces we share. After four years of intense Covid warfare (what else can you call it, when you’re being fired, not hired, excluded from society, insulted by your own governor repeatedly, and coerced in every way possible “other than” physical force?
Anyway — over the past forty years, our primary local paper offered “Letters to the Editor” featuring battles over every topic imaginable. Hot topics came up, people wrote in, others responded, and the readership would enjoy debates and conversations that went on for weeks and weeks, only to quiet down and then rekindle back to life years later.
Our “letters to the editor” section provided this community service because of a promise made to us by the local owners of the paper, back in the 1980’s, when they sold out to Sound Publishing. Aghast at the idea that our local paper would no longer be locally owned, the community rebelled and the sellers soothed concerns by wrestling a promise from the new owners: “We will publish any and every letter written to the editors, even if it criticizes the paper, so long as it’s under 300 words and doesn’t break the law or grossly malign another person, etc.”
In other words, we were all guaranteed publication. This is extremely rare, and the results were golden. Then, along came Covid.
At the beginning of 2020, our primary local paper (The Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber) was no longer controlled by the local state conglomerate (Sound Publishing). They had sold out to Black Press Media — the largest private newspaper publisher in Canada, including 75 titles in British Columbia, as well as papers in Alberta, Sound Publishing in Washington, and newspapers in ten other states of our union.
And, Black Press Media didn’t care about that promise from so many years ago.
According to several emails received from the editor at the time, The Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber decided to limit all content regarding Covid to that which was reviewed and approved by a local group comprised of a dozen or so medical experts in strong alignment with Washington State’s Democratic Governor, Jay Inslee.
This included “letters to the editor,” where typically minority voices chime in, loud and clear! When your community still believes they can write letters to the editor and expect them to be printed — and there are ZERO such letters being published — it creates a strong impression that there must BE no alternative voices.
Islanders spent several years reading a newspaper that suppressed those valuable minority voices (my letter was refused in June of 2022, inspiring me and my friends to revitalize a long-beloved second newspaper on the island which now offers islanders much more diverse content). And, by intentionally refusing publication to viewpoints differing from our state government, islanders were effectively lied to, as it created the impression that everyone was in agreement.
This is how my home state deserted democracy in favor of a dangerous form of totalitarianism, without hesitation or complaint.
So why would I expect such people to give a damn about trash cans?
Probably because I remember how it used to be. Before Covid, the sudden appearance of ugly, industrial trash cans all over town (without advance notice or a request for community input/permission) would have been a happily (and angrily) discussed topic! People had energy and resources, time and curiosity. We weren’t so exhausted by four years of emotionally draining “civil warfare” forced upon us by a violent government tyranny never expected to occur again after the tragedy and shame of what was done to Japanese Immigrants and Japanese Americans during WWII.
But, we humans are fickle creatures, with short memories, and so — here we are.
Yet, hope springs eternal! Below is my attempt to get islanders to care. Maybe they will? Either way, if you find yourself battling the same unwillingness to engage, exhaustion, lethargy, or avoidance habits in your local community — know you are not alone.
It is my belief that we have a blessedly brief window of time in which to shift this.
We must, somehow, snap people out of their malaise, and I don’t think huge, planet shattering, life ending issues (like “climate change”) are the best place to start. Maybe, people need some low hanging fruit to practice on? After all, everything that occurs in the macrocosm also occurs in the microcosm. They are the same thing, differing only in size, and so — let’s practice on the mole hills, so one day soon, we’re ready to tackle a few mountains!
Dear Islanders, Please Care Enough to Engage:
When you ask the government to take care of your business for you, you lose control over how that business is managed. The new trash cans installed last summer on Vashon Island are an excellent example of handing over responsibility for a basic community need to King county local services.
When I moved to Vashon Island, the general attitude was that if you have an issue, you do NOT call King County. I know of a couple of stories, where new arrivals to the island called King County to complain about a neighbor, and really bad things happened to the neighbor. The island ethos is not simply live and let live, but it is one of independence and adult responsibility when working with your neighbors and managing Island affairs.
However, over the years, some people have given into the temptation to reach into the deep pockets of King county, and ask that our responsibilities be managed from afar, or they’ve used the government to put pressure on neighbors to try to get what they want out of them.
The trash can fiasco is an example of what shouldn’t be done.
A very small number of people, who you can count on two hands, had the idea that inviting King county into our lives and asking them to use our tax dollars to manage a cluster of outdoor trash cans in downtown Vashon was a good idea.
The project was then set in motion, and the cans were installed, with zero public notice.
Since then, King County local services “claims” everyone is thrilled and happy, because the Chamber and a scant few members of the Vashon Maury Community Council say we are, but I’ve spoken to more than a dozen island business owners and they’re not happy. They’re just keeping their mouths shut, because it never goes well to argue with the Chamber of Commerce.
King County Local Services knows this, but even after a number of people spoke up against the trash can trial, sent emails, and concerned articles were published in a local newspaper — our voices are apparently weighted less, and the “trash can trial” has been approved for another year in our King County 2024 budget.
These photos illustrate what that “trial period” looked like, and it’s not pretty.
Please note! Prior to last summer — Vashon had NO litter problem.
We have a very clean town, with trash being naturally disposed of in myriad “indoor” trash cans offered by businesses all over downtown Vashon. Today, we have the same amount of trash as always, but now (especially during the busy tourist season) — thanks to these publicly placed cans — trash previously disposed of neatly and unseen, now piles up on our beautiful sidewalks in front of our beloved businesses.
About 10 trash cans were installed on Vashon Island for this “trial,” and for most of the year they are empty eyesores serving no purpose. Nine months out of the year, no one is desperately looking for a trashcan for their coffee cup or their soda pop bottle or the paper waste from eating a donut.
Yet, we are paying for empty cans to be emptied every week. By who? Good question! Another good question relates to the busy season (which on Vashon is the summer and the Christmas holiday). During these times, the company contracted by King County local services clearly hasn’t been emptying them frequently enough to prevent overflow. So, back to the question of WHO GETS PAID TO DO THIS?
Does King County pay Islanders to collect this trash and take it to our transfer station 3 1/2 miles away from town?
No. An island company is not being hired and paid to do the job.
Instead, King County local services has contracted with an off-Island company, so now we have a company that drives onto the ferry to get to our island once a week during the slow season and twice a week during the busy season so they can empty our trash for us.
Does that make economic and ecological sense? I thought islanders cared about island jobs, the environment, fiscal responsibility and reducing waste?
And, because King County is in charge, we have ceded our authority and control over the program to this distant behemoth of a government system. Keep in mind that King county has revenue greater than 44 states of the union. Our little trash project is a drop in the swimming pool when it comes to what King county really cares about, and that means it’s easy for us to get lost in the wash.
The result is that during the busy season, as you’ve seen, the trash cans become overflowing piles of garbage that we all have to see and walk past and sit next to — and remember, up until last summer, trash was not an issue on Vashon.
This “trash can trial” has made the trash experience in downtown Vashon worse — not better. And we need to care about this enough to say something!
One of these cans is directly in front of the Vashon Island Bakery (Bob’s Bakery), so if you want to sit on their beautiful carved wooden bench and enjoy coffee and cookies with your grandchildren, this is what you’re going to be staring at…
One of them is next to the bus stop at Bank and the Vashon Highway, so apparently people who wait for the bus are also likely to throw litter on the ground? Now we have a can right next to the bench so that in the summer, when predatory bees and wasps and hornets are attracted to whatever spoiled meat and sticky sugary drinks dumped into that trashcan, the people waiting for a bus are going to have to stand there and hope they don’t get stung. Or they’re going to smell garbage while they’re waiting for their bus.
But, the handful of people who promoted this idea don’t want to accept that their idea has problems. And, King County of local services doesn’t want to back down from a project they supported and have funded. Egos and reputation are on the line! So, both groups are clinging to the idea in the face of obvious evidence that the cans are a problem.
Unintended problem, but a problem nonetheless.
One can was placed on the corner in front of the Vashon Center for the Arts and it is either completely empty or jam-packed full of illegally dumped garbage. No one stands on that corner and puts legitimate trash in that can, but at least once if not, two or three times a week, unscrupulous Islanders swinging by and unload their garbage, which almost always includes illegal, toxic waste they can’t even be taken to the dump.
I have dozens and dozens of photos of these illegal dumps.
Another can leans in front of the Vashon theater, having been slightly tilted since it was installed. That was a year ago, and King county local services hasn’t seen fit to fix the problem. Now, the can is practically lying on its side, definitely reducing the public image and the beauty of our iconic local Vashon Island theater.
We’re handy folks! We can just fix it, right? Technically, no!
These trash cans belong to King County, they are only to be managed by King County, and so this is what happens when we don’t want to be adults on our island and manage our own trash. We want mommy and daddy “government” to come in and do it for us. Well, what happens when they do a crappy job? We have to just sit there and stare at it because we gave up our right to do anything about it.
Now let’s talk about money!
How much of our money does King county spend to remove our 10 bags of trash every week?
First, let’s evaluate what it would’ve cost if we were doing it ourselves? What does it COST to empty 10 trash cans a week, on Vashon?
Given that the cans are empty for at least nine months out of the year, we’d only have to take trash to the dump maybe twice a month. But, let’s round up! Let’s assume one dump run a week, year round! And throw in an extra 10 dump runs for the busy season. At $30 a pop, we’re looking at $1,860.
If the people who came up with this idea had conducted a public review, encouraged public comment, and solicited additional ideas from some of the other 10,800 islanders — we might have asked KCLS for vouchers to offset the dump fees. Maybe this relatively easy job could be done by good old boy volunteers who care about our town looking good? Or, maybe with “charitable volunteer hours,” as high school students need to log in community service to graduate. Or, maybe the VMCC could form a team devoted to a trashless downtown Vashon? Or, maybe the Chamber could include this 2-3 hour a week task in the job description of their Executive Manager?
Instead (drum roll please) …
King County is paying OVER $20,000 a year for us (and two other small unincorporated communities) to have our garbage picked up.
Three small communities that could manage their trash for roughly $2000 a year, equaling $6000 total (if you’re rounding up). But, instead …
King County Local Services is spending $20,000 a year to force unwanted trash cans on a small town with clean, simple, sweet sidewalks and a uniquely rural, old fashioned feeling. Plus, islanders “care about the environment,” right? So, how are we okay with all of the environmental damage caused by big trucks, catching ferries 1-2 times a week and driving all over King County in order to pick up small trash bags in three scattered unincorporated regions?
When people talk about government being the more expensive option, this is exactly what they’re talking about.
So now…
We have industrial trash cans.
We have unmanaged, toppling, trash cans.
We have poorly placed unnecessary cans.
We have ferry fees, wasted gasoline, and excess pollution.
We have criminal illegal dumping.
We have infrequently emptied trash cans during the busy season & overflowing mountains of garbage in front of some of our beloved favorite businesses.
We have created an attractant for yellow jackets and other aggressive stinging insects (and rats!) in the summer and early fall so those towering piles of garbage now present a significant risk for those allergic.
AND we do not have the right or the power to manage these cans ourselves, leaving us (for example) with this embarrassing lopsided can in front of the Vashon theater for an entire year and who knows how long it will be until they actually come and fix it?
All for $20,000+ which is almost 10 TIMES what it would cost to simply pick up our own trash and take it to our own local station!
PLEASE THINK ON THIS AND SPEAK UP.
If enough of us do, we can reclaim community control over waste management in Vashon Town, and/or MAYBE we can convince KCLS to cover our transfer station fees or (if the stupid cans stay) at least pay an islander to empty our trash cans!