Once again, Islanders rally to keep our community trash and toxin free. On May 19, the City of Mercer Island held another one of its popular community recycle and collection events behind City Hall. It is an opportunity for Islanders to load up the family SUV and haul away accumulated junk and waste — some stuff that is difficult to get rid of these days. More than a thousand vehicles snaked down Gallagher Hill Road to drop off items both unwanted and potentially harmful.
With White House support, the U.S. Senate is seriously debating comprehensive immigration reform this week. The central compromise of this “Grand Bargain” (S.1348) is a path to permanent residence for an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in exchange for huge cutbacks in future family-based immigration.
Fifteen months ago, the Mercer Island Clergy Association (MICA) began conversations with the City of Mercer Island about the probability that Tent City 4 (the Eastside Tent City) would eventually come to Mercer Island for a temporary stay of approximately 90 days. Over several meetings, we talked to city officials, including the city manager, the city attorney, and the police chief. We then broadened our meetings to include SHARE/WHEEL, one of the largest providers of adult shelter in Seattle and the supervisor of Tent City 4, leaders of Eastside congregations that have previously hosted Tent City 4, and the resident leaders of Tent City 4 themselves.
Along with the benefits of living in the very center of a prosperous and desirable metropolitan area comes social responsibility. Yet, the Mercer Island Clergy Association’s plans to bring the homeless encampment of Tent City 4 to a church on the Island for 90 days is sure to make us a bit uncomfortable in meeting that responsibility. Even if we wish to end homelessness, offering our own backyard is another concept entirely. Concerns about safety and myths about the homeless will no doubt cause a good deal of controversy. It is a proposal that has the potential to bring out the very best in us or the very worst.
There is something special about being a part of Mercer Island. I moved here when I was 9 months old because my parents wanted me to grow up in a place that values education, family and community. Reflecting back on the past 18 years, I realize they selected the ideal place. It is because of the love, support and guidance we receive from our families, teachers and friends that we, the Class of 2007, move forward with confidence and strength, ready to reach for our dreams.
If someone told you she had a proven way to curb crime, trim welfare rolls, curtail illiteracy, lower school dropout rates, decrease teen pregnancy and reduce child abuse — all while producing a return of $13 on each dollar spent in the effort — would you be interested? No, it’s not too good to be true. These are the actual benefits of early childhood education.
School is out. Finally. Eight days were missed this school year due to bad weather and power outages. Even though the number of days to be made up were reduced by three, (waived by the State Superintendent of Schools) having five extra days of school in late June seems like forever.
Dozens of citizens converged upon the Design Commission meeting regarding the proposal to build the Boys and Girls Club PEAK facility near the high school. Yet less than a handful attended another commission meeting held just two weeks earlier on the Arterra development in the Town Center — a project more than four times the size of PEAK.
The return of a lost dog is hardly front page news. But as I considered the part I played in the return of a frightened Yorkshire terrier to her grateful owner this week, I felt compelled to write about it. In fact, this might be the most important story of my year.
The Forum piece this week (reprinted from The Bellingham Herald below) is about a couple who lived on Mercer Island for many years, Ron Queisser and Cindi Williamson, who now live in Bellingham. When they lived here, the couple, despite the pressures of family, jobs and household made a decision to stick their necks out on the war in Iraq. Not long after Shock and Awe, they began tallying the loss of life in Iraq by posting the number of dead on a sign in their backyard. Posted at the corner of 78th Avenue S.E. and S.E. 37th Street, the sign was very visible to the hundreds of motorists driving past each day.
We often read in the newspapers or hear from friends about someone who was injured or killed by a drunk driver. Throughout middle and high school, our children are constantly educated by the local D.A.R.E. and M.A.D.D. programs about the important issue of drug and alcohol abuse and of driving while intoxicated.
It was another smashing success for the Island’s Summer Celebration! It was the 17th summer of the weekend party. The weather was perfect, the food tasty and the crowd happy. The pirates scared and delighted revelers, although the cannon fire just might have been a tiny bit excessive. The fireworks were spectacular and the addition of Metro transportation to ferry people back and forth from the park, brilliant (and sustainable).
It’s time for the yearly spate of letters to the Reporter objecting to the proliferating political campaign signs. In my seven years on the Island, residents have made some excellent points in their letters-to-the-editor, protesting the signs on aesthetic, waste and even moral grounds. Alas, I can only recall one such letter last year, from a very bright Middle School girl.
