See the numbers online

In response to Al Lippert’s letter to the editor published on Jan. 9, “Don’t mislead with numbers,” the Mercer Island Center for the Arts (MICA) engaged the firm of Phinney Bischoff to listen to our community, discover what islanders wanted and report what they found.

In the forward to their report to MICA, Phinney Bischoff stated, “We heard from over 200 Islanders in person and nearly 1,000 online. We also have over 500 people (and growing), who have signed MICA’s statement of support.”

Phinney Bischoff’s online survey reported that 1,074 people responded with 932 islanders and 142 off-islanders.

Seventy-two (72) percent of the respondents strongly or somewhat strongly agreed that “Mercer Island would benefit from having a centralized location for the arts.” Twenty (20) percent strongly or somewhat strongly disagreed. Eight (8) percent were undecided. That’s a difference of over 50 percent in favor of an arts center.

You can read the report at http://mercerislandarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/MICA-Community-Visioning-Dialogue-Findings-Report.pdf.

Marilyn Strickland, former mayor of Tacoma and now president and CEO of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce stated, “Change is inevitable, you can resist it, or manage it, or plan for it.” Our community has the opportunity to plan for and create a future. Let’s make sure it happens.

Carol Friends

Mercer Island