Darcy Burner
Island Forum
Many read the Seattle Times editorial on June 8 regarding Tent City coming to Mercer Island. Many forwarded the piece to neighbors, members of the City Council and to the Reporter offices. The Times editorial said that tent cities are “pointless,” that their purpose as an effective means to show the plight of the poor is outdated and that “tent cities are not acceptable in a modern city.”
Julia Patterson
Island Forum
Mayor Jim Pearman
Island Forum
Grace Byrkit, Alicia Corea
Kristina Mosley
Arshan Ghassemi
Phillip Foster
Eric Tootill
Jean Rohrschneider
The election is finally over, and although we would be naïve to think that the economic forecast will change dramatically right away, I am suddenly filled with hope for the future. As I tackle my role as the Capital Campaign Director for the Mercer Island Boys & Girls Club, the thought of leading the efforts to raise the final dollars needed to break ground on a new club in this challenging financial climate is lofty, if not overwhelming. But then I remember that I am among friends in a place where good people make amazing things happen.
Initiative 985 says it will address congestion, which is a very tempting idea. It reports that focus groups said congestion is a major problem and we should do something about it. Since transportation funding was starved all during the ’90s in a period of substantial growth in population and in jobs, it is true that we accumulated a congestion deficit. The Transportation Commission recommended every year after 1993 that the legislature find funding to accommodate our growth, but a political philosophy prevailed that there would be no tax increase for any reason, no way, no how.
