More and more families and workers on our island are forced to move to Kitsap or Tacoma because affordable housing is becoming ever more scarce. People who have lived here many, many years are forced to leave their friends and community support networks. What are we going to do about this as a community?

The Community Council is beginning by gathering people’s thoughts and ideas, and forming a committee to work on this vitally important, and thorny, issue.  We are beginning by having a conversation at the March 15 meeting. Send your thoughts, ideas, concerns, questions, and possible solutions to dianeemerson@yahoo.com. All will be gathered for the new committee to review. Are you willing to help do research and work on this issue? Please let Diane know this, too.

2020 was a year we will always remember, for many reasons. For the Community Council, it was the year David Vogel sparked our community to come together and re-create an improved Community Council. We now have a forum for us all to come together and discuss Island-wide issues, and see what we can accomplish together to solve them.

Many people worked together long and hard to make this happen. Thank you!!!

The minutes from the December meeting can be found on the meeting minutes page. Here are some highlights:

1. Our board is complete, we have officers, and all the board members have identified sectors they wish to connect with.

2. Major Jeffrey Flohr of the King County Sheriff’s office gave us an update and answered questions from the community.

3. We are forming a Traffic Safety Committee to address issues like flashing lights at major pedestrian crosswalks, and a traffic light at the 4 way stop in Vashon town.

4. Additional issues brought up by community members include the desire for a leash-free dog park, more affordable Internet access, and helping Puget Sound Energy move more quickly down the path to remove all carbon sources from our electrical grid by 2035.

Please put in your new 2021 calendar the date for our next meeting: Monday, January 18, beginning at 7pm.

See you then!

Camille Reeves and Diane Emerson Co-chairs, Communications Committee VMICC

Join the Board!

Here is a list of the 7 current board members, officers, and the Island sectors they will connect with:

President: David Vogel – Affordable Housing, Business, Culture (art) and history, Food

Vice-President: Diane Emerson – Environment, Business

Secretary: Camille Reeves – Business, Culture and History, Environment, Faith, Food

Treasurer: Nicholas Simmons – Environment, Recreation, Safety

Clerk: Kyle Britz – Affordable Housing, Education, Health and Human Services, LGBTQ, Youth

Board Member: C. Hunter Davis – Culture (art) and history, Faith

Board Member: Gavin Kovite – Education, Youth, Old Time Vashon

Our meetings of the Community Council take place on the 3rd Monday of every month, so you can plan ahead.

The meetings will be on Webex for the time being, and instructions will be posted each month.  Meetings will normally start at 7pm and end around 9pm.