Conversation about our future on Vashon

Last week, I urged all of you to attend The People’s Climate March to show our leaders, and us, how many of us are really committed to doing something now.

Today, we have to admit that the world has some pretty intractable problems relating to limited resources, harmful practices that degrade and imperil our world, overpopulation, and shocking inequalities resulting in political instability. It is hard not to admit that perhaps we may need to make some radical adjustments in the way we do things. We will need both sweeping policy changes at the top and comprehensive and creative engagement at the grass roots to succeed in limiting further damage.

The turnout for the march was impressive even if it got very little press. It represents a hopeful uptick in demand for action, and we can only hope that this will be the catalyst we have been waiting for.

What we on Vashon need to take away from this is that our future will be essentially different from the present, so it is incumbent on us to be proactive and create the optimum future for ourselves. As humans, we have the capability to plan for changes that we can’t avoid, but also for changes that we desire. With planning, we have a better chance of entering a future that is both workable and desirable.

I don’t think that most of us realize how malleable the structure and character of our community can be. For instance, we live in a car created community. We chose this at a time of cheap and plentiful fuel and no awareness of the consequences of burning it. Does it still represent the optimum solution for us? At one time, Vashon was a group of small communities connected by water. The character and structure of a place reflect assets, limits, and choices. We have the ability to change the character of our community if we so choose.

So, at this critical time, more informed and conscientious planning of our community here on Vashon is not only a necessity, it is also a rare opportunity to create the world we want to live in. The planning process is an opportunity to get to know our neighbors better, explore our common needs, and to understand the dynamics that are operating in our community. Historically, we on Vashon have had very low participation in the planning process. In part, this is because we, as US citizens, have come to expect our government to take care of things and to see that our future is much like the present only more and better. Another factor limiting participation here is that many of us commute long hours and then live far enough from town that attending meetings represents too great a toll on our time. However, we now know that the future is likely to be very different, and we need everybody’s input to determine how we are going to address it.
The Vashon Maury Community Council is offering you the opportunity to become involved in a discussion that could result in a plan that truly represents a large cross section of our community.

We recognize that work commitments and travel distances across the island present significant obstacles to attending meetings. Rather than asking all of you to come in person to ongoing meetings, we will have discussions started online on the different areas we will need to address in a plan. Hopefully, you will be able to follow and add to the discussions on topics in which you are interested while in the comfort of your own home and at a time of your choosing. We will facilitate these discussions and try to keep the dialogue on a productive course. We also will be looking for individuals and critical organizations that may be interested in helping to design, oversee and coordinate this project.

If this seems important and promising to you, please attend the meeting of the VMICC at the McMurray common room on October 20. John Starbard and other King County comprehensive plan development staff will be present to familiarize us with the planning process and the timelines we will need to be aware of, and will answer any questions you may have. We will need to know how much time we have to finalize results of our own independent discussions so that they may be translated into elements of the official plan. The County has indicated that they will be able to provide staff at some point to help us do this.

The county, as our governing body, will enforce the plan, but I want to emphasize that the plan, if we participate in making it, will be our vision of the future.