CONGRESSIONAL RUN County councilman announces 2016 run. Page 4
NEWS | Isola restaurant closes doors after six months. [3] COMMENTARY | Both sides of the Prop. 1 argument [6, 7] ARTS | Island choreographer opens mobile studio. [12]
FOOD BANK LIBRARY Local students share love of reading. Page 17
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2016
Vol. 61, No. 4
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
Methanol plant meeting draws hundreds in Tacoma of frustrated people calling for future meetings to be better organized. For many Tacoma residents, the capacity An estimated 1,000 people descended on the Tacoma Convention Center Thursday issue was a snapshot of the larger picture night to voice their opinions about a of frustration about transparency among proposed methanol production plant in the public, the city and the Port of Tacoma. Tacoma, and two clear sides of the issue Many residents said they felt authorities were not transparent in the decision to emerged. The meeting was called with the inten- bring the plant to the port. One such resident is Ellen Moore, a tion to collect public input about the scope of the environmental study to be conducted commissioner with the city’s Sustainable by the city of Tacoma during an expected Tacoma Commission (STC). Before announcing her resignation from STC, she yearlong process. said she found out about the However, only some of the plant through social media. public speakers suggested “As a resident of Her speech brought cheers factors to be addressed in the Vashon, I don’t believe and applause from hundreds study. Most voiced opinions a scoping process that in the room. on why the plant should or “Methanol was never should not be built. doesn’t include us is brought to STC’s attenOpponents of the plant adequate.” tion,” Moore said. “As a cited pollution and other Bill Moyer, commissioner, I and others, environmental concerns Executive Director, the Backbone found out about the plant along with potentially Campaign on Facebook, which is troudecreased home values bling given that we were creand health issues as reaated by the city of Tacoma sons the plant should not to advise it on matters of sustainability,” be built. Proponents, largely representing the International Brotherhood of Moore said. “STC’s role is incredibly limElectrical Workers (IBEW) Commission ited. While it should act as a watchdog for and Boilermakers Local 502 unions, said sustainability matters, it has little power, the plant would bring desperately needed and the city rarely, if ever, seeks us out to advise it on environmental matters. That living-wage jobs to the area. A crowd had packed the convention cen- important (advising) job is left to (the) ter’s 400-seat room by 5:30 p.m., one hour planning and development (departments), before the meeting was set to begin, forc- which is a complete conflict of interest. ing hundreds into an overflow room and Convince us this is not a done deal.” The 125-acre, $3.4 billion methanol even more left standing in the hallway. production plant is being proposed by The meeting started early as Tacoma Fire Department firefighters told the crowd that Northwest Innovation Works (NWIW), the room was at capacity, leaving hundreds
By ANNELI FOGT Editor
Roxy Murray Photo
Anneli Fogt / Staff Photos
Top: Bill Moyer, executive director of Vashon’s environmental activist organization the Backbone Campaign, voices his concerns about a methanol production plant’s environmental impact. Bottom left: Carbonado residents Kayla, Elijah and Alison Niemeyer hold signs advocating for the plant and its job creation opportunities that could give their mother, a union worker, a job. Bottom right: Port of Tacoma Senior Project Manager Tony Warfield voices his opinions about the scope of the environmental impact survey for the proposed methanol plant.
SEE MEETING, 23
King County seeks volunteers to craft long-range plan for Vashon Members of committee will provide advice, recommendations to county about official planning document By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
King County will begin the process of updating the Vashon Town and Community Plans this spring and is looking for islanders to participate in an advisory group to help lead that effort and assist in creating a new Community Service Area Plan for the island.
The plan will help chart the course for the future of Vashon and is expected to cover a variety of issues and topics, ranging from demographics and climate change to zoning and major land use changes, as well as smaller, targeted issues that would affect residents within a defined area, especially the town core. The plan will help guide King County’s development and capital improvement decisions over the next 20 years, according to officials from the county’s Department of Permitting and Environmental Review (DPER), which is spearheading the planning process. They are hoping to select 12 to 15 islanders who represent a variety of interests and community needs for the committee, which
will meet monthly from March through September. DPER’s Bradley Clark will lead the effort on Vashon, and he indicated there will be several opportunities for all islanders to participate: at public meetings — with the first one slated for mid-March — as well as through social media, face-to-face conversations and in writing. Islanders’ input will be essential to the process, he stressed. “No one knows best what the issues are but the people who live there,” Clark said. As part of the process, members of the group will SEE PLAN, 24