Looking for the middle on Mercer Island

Published 7:20 pm Monday, November 24, 2008

By Mark Berejka

Island Forum

Several weeks ago, the Reporter’s editorial board complained about the nastiness that can permeate the Island’s political dialogue. Citing the lack of civility at recent City Council and School Board meetings, the Reporter asked us to “pledge as a community to attack policies, not people.”

Yet, in the same edition of the paper and again the next week, the Reporter ran letters-to-the-editor laying out the latest, highly personalized debate between a handful of Island residents and Councilman Dan Grausz. The issue was I-90, but the letters focused on the tone of the discussion not the substance.

Squabbles like this appear at regular intervals in the Reporter, and apparently they are commonplace at other public venues. The Reporter is right to point out how unproductive they are. But I think we need a broader solution than encouraging words.

As I see it, the Island’s public stage has been captured by an outspoken minority. The Island on the whole is a politically centrist community. In the recent election, Christine Gregoire beat Dino Rossi by 4 percentage points on the Island. Across King County, the gap was 18 points. But in the local dialogue, this centrist perspective does not come through to lend balance to the picture. The Reporter and the city could improve the public debate if they more actively sought out this balance — if they were more diligent about seeking the views of the comparatively quiet middle.

Without a new approach, I do not see the nature of the public dialogue changing any time soon. Free speech is one of our most cherished rights. And residents of the Northwest proudly exercise it. While we can encourage people to behave more civilly in our public discourse, we shouldn’t expect those who are most passionate to check their own enthusiasm. On the other hand, just because the majority of Islanders opt out of the day-to-day debates does not mean they are indifferent. In my experience, most Islanders care very deeply about the community’s future. Most of us simply work too many long hours to even think about attending city meetings or writing letters to the editor. When we have free time, we invest it in our children. Within this context, the nastiness of the public dialogue should come as no surprise. Our leaders vote for what they believe is best for the entire Island. Meanwhile, the vocal minority grows frustrated that they cannot, through jawboning and verbal cuts, prevail upon the council to heed all of their concerns.

But the negative political dynamic has downsides beyond the noise it makes. For example, according to the other week’s Reporter, Mayor Merkle told ire-filled attendees at a recent council meeting, “Let me assure you. There aren’t going to be any restaurants or marinas at Luther Burbank Park.” In my own unscientific polling of the middle, there is strong sentiment that the park should have just these types of amenities. Many in the middle would love a marina, a restaurant with a water view, or some other facility that would give them a real reason to visit Luther Burbank.

Here, a vocal minority apparently has gotten its way with the council. The Luther Burbank public-hearing process was geared toward the more activist among us from the start. Public fora were the main vehicle for collecting community input. As Mayor Merkle indicates now, little change for the park is expected.

I am not completely without hope. We might have the chance to improve the quality of governmental deliberations if the broader community’s views were sought out more creatively. For instance, both the council and the Reporter could make better use of the fact that most of the Island is connected. Better publicized and crafted Web surveys could coax a broader array of citizens to express their views. Even though many will not break from their routines, at a minimum, this strategy would be a more productive way of discerning Islanders’ opinions on key issues than playing out the Dan Akroyd and Jane Curtain-like debates at city meetings or in the local newspaper.

Mark Berejka and his family have lived on the south end of the Island for just over two years.