Vashon Islanders Organize to Save Themselves from King County

Monday, August 12th, 2024

I understand why people who “want what they want” with little to no regard for the will of the community would do all they can to (1) control messaging and (2) prevent islanders from knowing what’s going down.

Over the past few weeks, that carefully placed lid has been blown off, revealing a sneaky attempt to push zoning changes (of all things) through without our island residents noticing.

I get it! If you and your little group of like-thinking buddies are sure your ideas are best, and you don’t want any push back, of course you’re going to try to keep our island residents in the dark. My question is, “How did you think you would succeed?”

Our island is filled to the brim with bright, successful, motivated, and capable individuals who are more than willing to dive deep and come up with facts, figures, quotes, definitions, maps, graphs, and relevant codes of law — and we’re going to shout what we’ve learned from the rooftops!

To my deep relief, such individuals have been “turned on” and they are getting the job done, with aplomb, respect, dignity, self-control, the assistance of hired lawyers, well-designed websites, and polite but firm advocacy for ISLAND VOICES TO BE HEARD.

Three days ago, I received a “letter” in my email inbox that was clearly being sent to many people, asking that they give this critical zoning catastrophe their attention, and I was moved to become a member of the Vashon Maury Community Council. This will allow me to “vote” this coming Thursday, on a proposal for King County to follow the law, give us 30 days notice, and then provide islanders with a meeting for public comment, hosted and attended by our elected King County Council Members.

By the way, when I raised my concerns on our local Facebook Groups, a surprising number of old islanders, new islanders, and potential islanders began to share all that they’d read, learned, investigated, and some were even in conversation with friends and ex-husbands in other states who were lawyers or real estate agents who could help shed light on the shenanigans we’re experiencing…!

As I said before, “Yes, I get it why you want to hoodwink the entire island. Because we aren’t going to like what you’re proposing and we are more than capable of explaining exactly why we’re against it.” And, my dear islanders who sought to push an agenda on the rest of us — you’ll be remembered for this.

Not an Islander? I hope this story will inspire you to believe that you and your community voices can also be powerful when raised together!

And now, my letter…

Dear Fellow Vashon Islanders,

When I express my perspective on community topics, I do so in an engaging way — writing articles that invite community participation and encourage conversation. I share information in hopes that people’s personal decisions will reflect their deeper understanding of the issue at hand.

I may use a persuasive argument to make my point, but I never try to shut down conversation or tell others they are wrong unless they agree with me.

Not everyone thinks this way.
Not everyone truly trusts in the Democratic System.
Not everyone values minority voices.

But I — and a growing number of islanders — do value minority voices. Our own, and yours!

This is why so many of us are reaching out to friends and neighbors, to ask for your attention at this crucial time.

In short, the King County Council proposed (back in May) a list of Zoning Changes that would bring the problems of downtown Seattle right to our doorsteps.

Straight from “goodneighborvashon.org" here is a partial list of what the New Zoning Allows in Residential Neighborhoods:

• Drug Rehab Hospitals

• Psychiatric Hospitals

• Car Camping (homeless and recreational)

• No Conditions Cottage Housing

• 12 units per acre

• Drug Stores

• Lot Splitting 

• Drug Rehab Outpatient 

• Micro Shelter Villages 

• Department And Variety Stores

• New Rural Neighborhood Commercial Centers

• Mixed-Use Development In Rural Neighborhoods 

• And more…

To the best of my understanding — way back in May — the King County Council decided to skip a crucial legally guaranteed part of our county’s version of a “legislative process,” by offering the island barely 24 hours notice before holding a brief meeting to accept islander feedback (sparse to none, with so little notice), and then they approved the zoning proposal (as it was) and moved on.

Yes, there are still public comment periods scheduled, but those are not public meetings, nor do they carry the same weight as in person meetings (with adequate advance warning, so we can prepare and plan to show up) where dozens or hundreds of islanders show up to share their concerns.

Public Meetings are powerful.

Back in the day, when the Army Corp of Engineers was planning to build a bridge to Vashon, roughly 1/3 of the island showed up to say, “Oh no you don’t!” You’ll notice, we have no bridge. Similarly, during the 2016 Democratic Primary, our island hosted a Democratic Caucus that saw over 1,800 islanders gathered in one space at one time.

These in-person events offer a full, publicly witnessed view of island opinion, and perform remarkably well as information swapping events, as islanders are able to listen to one another, learning more with each speaker’s comments.

Who could possibly be against such a public meeting, to give islanders a chance to voice their thoughts and concerns about the above list of proposed zoning changes? These changes — if accepted and finalized — will deeply and irrevocably change the tenor of life on Vashon. What islander could possible wish to prevent their fellow islanders from engaging in a meaningful way with such a serious topic?

Apparently, a small handful of islanders who have gathered together to form a group known as “Friends of Thunderbird.” This group, which exists to support an off-island organization called the Seattle Indian Health Board, even paid for a booth at the Strawberry Festival, where they handed out flyers stating:

A motion will come before the Vashon-Maury Community Council that we believe is an attempt to raise fear, mislead islanders, and sow confusion.

Please become a voting member of the Community Council, attend the meeting via Zoom, and vote NO.

The motion they’re talking about will ask King County’s Council to give islanders our rightful 30 days notice, and then host/attend a public meeting where islanders can speak up about that long list of proposed zoning changes.

The “Friends of Thunderbird” group is, in effect, actively working to suppress island voices, by stuffing the VMCC voting box, and they’re using “fear and misleading/confusing information” to do so.

Why?

What could possibly be so bad about islanders having a voice re: proposed zoning that (if approved) will drasticly alter the future development and day to day lived experience on our island?

I am personally appalled and deeply disappointed in these individuals, one of whom is a board member of the Vashon Maury Community Council. How’s that for a conflict of interest?

Which brings me to my “ask” for all who read this letter.

While I personally have serious reservations about the VMCC, there will be a meeting this Thursday and there will be a proposal for the VMCC to officially request that the King County Council give Vashon Islanders a minimum of 30 days notice before holding a public meeting (on the island) where public comments can be offered re: the proposed zoning changes.

That’s it. We just want to be heard. In public. In our community. And we want the obligatory minimum 30 days notice, so we can raise awareness, educate ourselves, and put the date on our calendar!

This is what the “Friends of Thunderbird” are desperately trying to prevent from happening, and I think I know why. It’s because the Thunderbird Treatment Center is not what people think it is going to be, and it’s development (into the fullness of what the Seattle Indian Health Board wants to do) is absolutely dependent upon specially crafted zoning changes.

Apparently, fellow islanders who want the Thunderbird facility to exist, are willing to shut the rest of us up, using our own VMCC to advocate for us to NOT be heard.

This is wrong. It’s alien to what Vashon stand for. It’s anti-American and anti-Democratic. Who, in their right mind, actively advocates for American citizens to be idle, to disengage, to not step up, and to practice governmental lethargy? Who advocates against citizen engagement?

People who have decided they know what’s best for the rest of us and they just want us to look the other way, be distracted, or care too little to get involved — so they can get what they want, whether the rest of us want it or not.

Whatever your opinion of the above list of proposed zoning changes, please give this issue some of your time and attention.

I get it — zoning sounds boring or complicated. I have personally, for 20 years, ignored all previous conversations about zoning. This time, I’m paying attention, because these changes? They will alter our island dramatically, and not necessarily for the better.

Consider joining the VMCC so you can vote on August 15th (it’s free): https://www.v-mcc.org/contact

Consider participating in the Aug 15th Meeting (in person or on zoom): https://www.v-mcc.org/event

Consider checking out GoodNeighborVashon.Org!

“Good Neighbor Vashon is a non-profit formed by Island residents concerned about King County Councilmembers' proposed new zoning that will have a detrimental high impact on the island. For instance, legalizing car camping in Vashon Rural Town and neighborhood business zones and radically expanding the zoning for drug rehab or psychiatric hospitals in any Unincorporated King County neighborhood with certain acreage.

Good Neighbor Vashon cares deeply about people who need treatment, but this remote and under-resourced island is, according to multiple experts, an unsafe facility site for vulnerable population of people struggling with addiction recovery. For example, by design, not one Betty Ford Center is sited more than 8 minutes from a full hospital.”

And, consider signing the Good Neighbor Petition and writing to the King County Council! — https://www.goodneighborvashon.org/

From a previous “I don’t want to think about zoning” islander, to all of you, I thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and I hope you will join me in a brief sojourn into the land of the zoning! Who knows? It might be fun!”

Warmly,
March Twisdale