Despite the early hour, the wind-tossed hike up the steps (in high heels) from the Luther Burbank parking lot to our beautiful new Community Center was a worthwhile effort. The coffee was good, the company lively, and the sponsor of the early-morning fund-raising breakfast, Mercer Island Youth and Family Services, held a blessedly brief and informative program. Most innovative was the addition of Karen Campbell, the drama teacher from Mercer Island High School and Island attorney, Craig Wright, who performed rather than read a sampling of heartfelt comments and thanks from those the agency has helped.
The city and its citizens have geared up to challenge the City of Renton and its plans to upgrade and expand its municipal airport. Renton planners hoped to attract more planes and flights to the facility. However, Island officials and citizens want Renton to ensure that flights will not be routed directly over the Island at low altitude. Islanders had a taste of what might happen with more planes overhead last August when another south county runway was shut down sending extra flights directly over the Island. And many Islanders were stunned to find out just last fall that this expansion was nearly a done deal. The City of Renton had started the process to redevelop the airport as early as 2001.
Chris Harnish
Island Forum
Judy Clibborn
Island Forum
The proposed expansion of the Renton municipal airport and the potential for aircraft noise that would accompany it, recently brought Islanders out in droves to protest. Citizen shock over the scale of development in the Town Center is part of the push to modify building codes there. Islanders are fierce about protecting the tranquility of the Island and their way of life. Islanders are equally as fierce about protecting and enhancing the well-being of their children. The PEAK proposal by the Boys and Girls Club to build a teen center and field house near the high school has split these usually-aligned forces and has set them in direct opposition to each other. Neighbors near the high school are clearly, and we think correctly, concerned about the impact of this building on their streets and homes. Supporters of the project and the dedicated professionals of the Boys and Girls Club who are in the business of working with youth, are convinced that they can make it work. They want to peacefully co-exist with the people who live nearby. Their view, however, is that any impact from PEAK is a small price to pay for having a safe and enriching place for teens. It is hard to argue with them unless you live near the high school.
As an Islander, I have a good deal of faith in the workings of the staff at the City of Mercer Island, especially when people like Deb Symmonds are involved.
Julie Biggs
ISLAND FORUM
A story in this issue is about generations learning from each other. It is a story that starts out in a familiar way. A teen is searching for a service project suitable to meet the final requirements of his Eagle Scout award. A parent’s friend has an idea. The scout is not certain it will work at first, but takes it on. The project involved interviewing WWII veterans, some now into their 80s, about their war time experiences. The project yielded a set of memories now saved for future generations in the archives of the Library of Congress.
Ellie Gittelman
Island Forum
Patrick Paulich
Island Forum
Washington state voters now hold the key to doing away with the super-majority law after state lawmakers agreed last week to send the change to the ballot this fall. Voters will decide in November whether or not to change a 1944 amendment to the state constitution that imposed the super-majority rule to protect property owners from tax increases voted in by non-property owners — those who did not bear the burden of such taxes.
Marion Mohler
Island Forum
Last week the Mercer Island City Council and Renton officials agreed to delay any further decisions on the expansion of Renton’s municipal airport until further studies are conducted. It was a smart move.
