An island town hall event featuring Vashon’s state legislators will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, June 3, at the Methodist church.

State Rep. Eileen Cody (D- West Seattle), the House Health Care & Wellness committee chair, will be joined by Sen. Joe Nguyen (D-West Seattle), a Senate Transportation committee member, to discuss climate, healthcare, housing and ferry issues.

Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D- West Seattle) was planning to attend but will send a proxy due to scheduling conflicts.

The forum is being presented by Indivisible Vashon and Unifying for Democracy and is cosponsored by the Backbone Campaign.

“I think what people really want is, they want to be able to feel engaged with what’s going on,” said Art Chippendale, one of the organizers, who noted that the latest legislative session was especially productive in passing a number of crucial environmental protections.

He named Gov. Jay Inslee’s clean energy bill, signed earlier this month, as a model progressive measure aiming to roll back carbon emissions in the state to zero by 2045. He said he is also encouraged by a law passed last month to gradually phase out hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, a greenhouse gas most often used as a chemical in refrigeration products such as air conditioners.

That bill, HB 1112, was sponsored by Fitzgibbon.

“I praise what the Legislature has done this year,” said Chippendale.

But he added that lawmakers did not accomplish everything they set out to do, leaving some work remaining for the next legislative session. Specifically, he named an effort to establish a capital gains tax — failing in the Senate in the eleventh hour — as a missed opportunity.

Chippendale also said he is concerned for the future of Washington State Ferries (WSF) and the number of ferry captains who are approaching retirement. He wonders if there will be enough personnel who can be brought in to replace them in time.

Chippendale also said he expects that islanders will likely press Cody and Nguyen on WSF’s new schedule with questions about it and other ferry issues at the town hall.

“They’ve increased money for ferries, but a lot of us aren’t sure just how that money is going to be spent,” he said.

Debby Jackson, who arranged for a venue to host the event, said that it was not an easy task to find a date when all three legislators would be able to come to Vashon.

“The challenge was figuring [it] out,” she said. “During the middle of the session is when we started planning this and getting the attention of our legislators, (when they were) doing their most important job.”

Jackson said she is curious about matters related to ferries as well as legislation vacating convictions for adults who were arrested for possessing marijuana, signed by the Gov. earlier this month. That effort could reduce barriers for people seeking employment or housing in the state, she said.

“Hopefully, there will be a big crowd from Vashon,” said Jackson.

Kevin Jones, who is also organizing the event, said that largely, progressives in attendance would not have to look hard to recognize the successes that Democratic legislators had in 2019.

“There are some pretty amazing laws that were passed. … We also understand that they didn’t get everything done that they wanted to,” he said.

Jones added that the island needs to continue playing an active role in the advancement of laws that seek to improve the quality of life for all Washington residents, as well as the health of the environment.

“How can we as Vashon islanders work to make sure that those progressive potential victories in 2020 happen? So how can we help? What do we need to do to continue the success that 2019 brought?”

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The Methodist church is ADA accessible.