GOLDEN TENNIS SHOE Islander receives award for gay rights work. Page 4
Inside This Issue: See pages 13-24 for special section
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2016
Vol. 61, No. 13
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
County to present transit options at open house
Court victory: Friends of Mukai gain access to historic home and garden
By SUSAN RIEMER
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
By SUSAN RIEMER
After working to learn about and address some of the transportation challenges on Vashon, King County officials will host an open house next week to review a slate of recommendations intended to make it easier for island residents to get around. The possibilities include two different van services for pre-arranged rides, a ride-share option that could be used for both planned and spur-of-the moment carpool trips and a transportation information hub. The open house, set for next Tuesday, will include information stations with details about each concept along with notepads for public input. King County will also launch a survey that day to gather further information about the ideas and will provide laptops to access the survey as well as paper survey forms. The county’s Dan Anderson, a Metro community relations planner who has helped lead this project, said he hopes islanders will attend and share their thoughts. “We strive for community-driven decision making, and we want people to interact with us in person and with their neighbors and ask questions and get answers in a group setting,” he said. “We also want to raise the visibility of the project and can familiarize people with the program. If these concepts move forward, we will have already had some of the important conversations with people who end up using them down the road.” If implemented, the transportation options would be part of a two-year demonstration project through Metro’s Alternative Services, which brings transportation services to communities where traditional bus services may not be effective or possible. King County staff based their recommendations on
The local group that has been fighting a prolonged legal battle to take control of the Mukai House and Garden scored a legal victory in court on Friday and for the first time has possession of the historic property. King County Superior Court judge Monica Benton awarded the home and garden to the island’s nonprofit group Friends of Mukai when she vacated a “stay of enforcement” that had been in place since last April, but the legal fight is not over, Lynn Greiner, the group’s attorney, cautioned. The State Court of Appeals has yet to determine that the Friends group is the lawful board of Island Landmarks, which owns the property. While waiting for that decision, which Greiner said she expects within the next few months, the Friends’ board will have access to the property and will be able to make restoration plans. Most members of the Friends of Mukai board gathered at the home on Saturday and held a small celebration, complete with champagne toast, after walking through the home, which was built by B.D. Mukai, a Japanese-American
SEE TRANSIT, 30
SEE MUKAI, 31
Susan Riemer/Staff Photo
Members of the Friends of Mukai board celebrate on the steps of the Mukai home Saturday. After years of legal battles, the group has gained access to the historic property.
Hundreds of islanders caucus as majority rally behind Sanders By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
Susan Riemer/Staff Photo
Voters show their patriotic spirit at Saturday’s caucus.
Island Democrats turned out in droves on Saturday for the Democratic caucus, where they gave impassioned speeches, listened to their neighbors weigh in and cast their votes for who they believe will be the best person to lead the country forward. The official results from Vashon will not be available for a few weeks while they are being reviewed by the Washington State Democrats, according to party spokesman Jamal Raad, but caucus organizer March Twisdale confirmed that
Vashon voted in line with the rest of Washington. “The island likes Bernie,” she said. “While there were passionate Hillary supporters, the island was leaning toward Bernie.” The caucus, which Twisdale estimates drew about 1,800 people, was the largest event the Open Space for Arts & Community has ever hosted, according to Maria Glanz, its development and communication director, who participated in the event as a voter, not as an employee. The proceedings, which took the better part of two hours, drew high praise from some, including Glanz, and critical remarks from others, although the
criticism typically centered on the caucus process itself, not how it was carried out on Vashon. Glanz, among the many islanders who weighed in on social media afterward, participated on Saturday with her 11-year-old son, who is extremely interested in politics and chose to stay until the very end. On Facebook and in a later conversation, she said she was so moved by the event she teared up. “There was something about being there with 1,000 or more people to talk about our political process and what we wanted that was SEE CAUCUS, 29