NEW ORCA FOR J POD Calf is eighth Southern Resident baby this year. Page 5
STINGRAYS COMPETE Swimmers set personal bests at competition. Page 15
NEWS | Islander opens new origami store in town. [4] COMMENTARY | Holiday “elfing” raises money for good cause. [6] ARTS | A year of the island’s arts by the numbers. [10]
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2015 Vol. 60, No. 51
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
WILL SING FOR FOOD
75¢
Island not actually nation’s most politically liberal area Island campaign donors caused inconsistency by listing Vashon and Vashon Island as hometowns By ANNELI FOGT Editor
Anneli Fogt / Staff Photo
The Parker Staczek Family Band performs at the third annual Will Sing For Food event at the Red Bike. The night of musical performances on Friday was a fundraiser for the Vashon-Maury Community Food Bank and brought in $1,600, the most so far.
Local organizations expecting successes in 2016 By ANNELI FOGT Editor
Editor’s Note: This is the third story in a series that will explore the state of nonprofits on Vashon, specifically how they fared in 2015 and what they have planned for 2016. It’s that time of year again, the time when we promise ourselves to make, and keep, our New Year’s resolutions. Most of us will pick resolutions like losing weight, eating healthy, exercising more or just being happier, healthier people. Meanwhile, members of the island’s dozens of nonprofits are also looking to 2016, but their thoughts aren’t concerned with only bettering themselves. Directors and members of Voice of Vashon (VoV), the DoVE Project, Friends of
Mukai and Rj’s Kids have their sights set on bettering Vashon and the lives of the people who live here. With 2016 expected to bring a new radio studio, improvements and public access to the Mukai house, expanded domestic violence prevention programs and programming to support Millenials, the island’s nonprofits are expecting the community to notice their work in 2016. VoV’s storefront studio, expected to open next door to Zombiez in early 2016, has been the most public of VoV’s developments this year. However, KVSH Station Manager Susan McCabe said plenty more happened this year. “2015 was our first full year of broadcasting on KVSH 101.9 FM,” she said last week. “It was the first year we instituted this great
amount of programming, all from volunteer producers.” She said that the opening of the storefront studio will determine what exactly 2016 will bring, but the goal is to hold more community forums and expand coverage of Vashon issues. She also explained that VoV is not abandoning its Sunrise Ridge space. “The Sunrise Ridge studio will remain as an infrastructure hub and production and instruction studio,” McCabe said. “We’re not moving; we’re expanding.” The new year will also mark the nonprofit’s expansion into the television world. VoV currently broadcasts some programming on Comcast channel 21, but McCabe said VoV’s SEE GROWTH, 20
Vashon is not the most liberal city in the nation. In fact, according to federal records of political donations, it’s not even close. Stories early last week in The Washington Post, Seattle Times and other publications reported that a California political startup called CrowdPac had used federal donation records dating back to 2002 to conclude that political donors from “Vashon Island” were the most left-leaning in the nation. In a sense, these stories were correct, as CrowdPac did report that “Vashon Island” has the nation’s most left-leaning record of donations But what CrowdPac’s study apparently failed to realize is that “Vashon” and “Vashon Island” are the same place and that the vast majority of donors on the island identified as being from “Vashon.” Crowdpac screen shots The donations from the “Vashon” crowd are only slightly more liberal than those CrowdPac lists two different rankings for from Seattle. Only a relative handful iden“Vashon” and “Vashon Island,” with the tified themselves as being from “Vashon Vashon ranking being more accurate. Island,” and their donations caused Vashon Island to be named the most lib- of those people made multiple donations eral place in America. to the ActBlue PAC, a democratic, proVashon Island came in at 9.9 out of 10 on gressive political action committee. One Crowdpac’s liberal spectrum, but search- of the donors not giving to the PAC suping for just “Vashon” on ported the democrat Patty the Crowdpac site yields a in her campaign “It’s kind of a data quirk. Murray far different result. Vashon for Senate; the other donor comes in at a 5.7 on It’s a fun story to play supported independent Crowdpac’s liberal scale, presidential candidate Jim around with at first, but putting it in 76th place Webb. then you look at it closer, and .7 more points liberal Meanwhile, the FEC and you realize it’s not reports than nearby Seattle. 1,468 donations A search through what it seems.” were made to political the Federal Election Mark A. Smith, campaigns this year from Commission’s (FEC) UW Political Science professor people listing Vashon as donation receipt database their city. A look at 300 tells the same story: There of the Vashon donations is a discrepancy with the city name donors made this year shows more than 200 were use. The FEC reports that between Jan. 1 in support of a democratic cause (Bernie and Oct. 31 of this year, there were only 2016, the Democratic Congressional 18 donations from six donors who listed their city as Vashon Island. All but two SEE POLITICS, 19