REPORTER
Mercer Island
Wednesday, October 3, 2012 | 75¢
Serving the Mercer Island community since 1947
Few caution lights on city’s ‘dashboard’
Doggy paddle
Fall community dinner is Oct. 4 The fall Mercer Island community dinner will be held on Thursday, Oct. 4, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, located at 3605 84th Ave. S.E. Chef Tom from Experience Food Project will be creating the menu for the event, and there will be entertainment by Mercer Island’s Sophie Feldman. The suggestion donation is $10. To learn more, contact Amy Wolff at amyposnerwolff@gmail. com.
City to televise study sessions, releases first sustainability report Mary L. Grady
editor@mi-reporter.com
CB Bain daffodil giveaway is Oct. 6 For the 24th year, the Mercer Island branch of Coldwell Banker Bain will be giving away daffodil bulbs on Saturday, Oct. 6, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Island grocery stores and their Island Square office. The annual event helps the Island bloom with color each spring. Learn more at cbbain.com/ Mercer Island.
Online voter registration deadline Oct. 6 and Oct. 8 Saturday, Oct. 6, and Monday, Oct. 8, are the deadlines to update registration and to register to vote for the Nov. 6 general election. Ballots will be sent out on Oct. 19. Visit www.sos.wa.gov/elections to learn more.
Kim Walker Stanberry/Contributed Photo
Casey Shea and her dog, Amos, enjoy a trip on the paddle board in the early October sunshine on Lake Washington near Seward Park on Monday, Oct. 1.
School options narrowed to five School district set to hire two consultants for public outreach By Megan Managan
mmanagan@mi-reporter.com
Now that the Mercer Island School District Board of Directors has decided to put five options before the community, the district has hired Triangle Associates and TranspoGroup to help them get through the process. Triangle Associates is a company that will look at the information that the board wants to share and figure out how best to communicate the information correctly and accurately to the public. This type of project is
something the company does frequently. “We do this a lot,” said Triangle’s Bob Wheeler, a senior facilitator with the company. “We’re a neutral third party to help get information out to the public.” He added that the company will be very interactive with the district, meeting with team members throughout the process and doing a final report of their findings. As Superintendent Gary Plano said, Triangle will help the district reach more people and help the community understand not only why a new school is needed but also help people understand the various options. “We’re well connected to people in the school community, but there are those that we don’t reach,
and they are harder to reach,” said board member Brian Emanuels. “It sounds like you have the techniques to get to them.” Wheeler said some of the group’s initial work will be to identify the various groups on the Island to speak with, even to arrange small meetings to get a feel for where the people on Mercer Island are with the issue. “It’s hard to get people to go to meetings,” said Wheeler. “Smaller settings are something we do a lot of with this type of thing.” Board member Pat Braman said she’s concerned with making sure that people have the facts and not misinformation about the schools or the options. “I’m concerned about misinformation, and as a neutral group, are you prepared to say, time out, this is what is correct?” she asked of Wheeler. Wheeler answered by saying because the company has no stake in the outcome, and none of them live on Mercer Island, they are there to provide
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REPORTER
The Mercer Island Visual Arts League will host a special wine and cheese reception on Friday, Oct. 5, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the MIVAL Gallery on 78th Avenue S.E. The reception will feature Leslie West, a Mercer Island artist, who will be showing her unique artwork at the gallery through October.
Data on city services and the views of Island residents show the city is performing well in maintaining, sustaining and improving the life of Islanders. The city’s annual Dashboard Report takes public services data regarding everything from crime, finances, and the reliability of key public services and compares them to similar data from other cities. City Finance Director Chip Corder takes those results and adds in how residents perceive the delivery of city services by looking at results from the city’s
Mercer Island
MIVAL art reception Friday, Oct. 5
One year $39, two years just $59
MI | THIS WEEK
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