Nearly 100 Islanders have signed a letter calling for a new representative body on Vashon, prompting organizers of the grassroots effort to suggest a meeting with King County leaders to discuss their ideas for a collaborative town hall-style organization.

Mary G.L. Shackelford, an Islander active in the nascent effort, said the loosely organized group seems to be gaining momentum and garnering more support. In an email she sent to County Executive Dow Constantine, County Coun-cilmember Joe McDermott and others last week, she noted the “growing commitment among Vashon-Maury Islanders to create a new form for a collaborative relationship with King County to meet the Island’s needs regarding issues affecting our community.”

Sometime soon, she added, “We would like to arrange a suitable date to meet with you to explore possibilities.”

Shackelford, who was elected to the Vashon-Maury Island Community Council’s board last fall then resigned a month later, said she and others hope to create a community-based organization that is less encumbered by procedural rules and open to a freer exchange of ideas than the current community council.

“We sent the letter to let them know there are a lot of people on the Island interested in pursuing this with them,” she said.

But at a meeting Monday night at the Quartermaster Inn, the 15 people who gathered to discuss the alternative group decided their goal is not to try to supplant the current community council. In a lively give-and-take facilitated by John Runyan, a Harvard-educated leadership consultant, the group decided its goal is to create “an effective, collaborative and participatory forum for community action and dialogue.”

“It’s not about getting rid of the community council,” said Islander Doug Dolstad, who put forward the proposal articulating the group’s purpose. Rather, he said, the group’s goal should be to provide a forum for “positive community dialogue.”

Several agreed with Dolstad, standing up in the room at various points along an axis to show whether they supported his proposal — a facilitation technique Runyan uses called a “standing, living, moving map.” Others, opting for different spots along the axis, questioned whether they could create a new forum while remaining open to the current community council.

“I think it’s disingenuous to think we could go to the VMICC and get a receptive hearing. … Negotiations are not going to happen,” said Jim Otis, who has attended numerous community council meetings.

The gathering was one of several that has taken place in the last several months in response to mounting concern over the state of Vashon’s often fractious community council. Some Islanders — including many who were at the Quartermaster Inn Monday night — have taken issue with the council’s current nine-member board, a group some say has gotten mired in procedure and made little progress on issues of import.

The current community council, Shackelford said in an interview prior to Monday night’s meeting, “is not really serving us. And my interest is service. That’s why I’m doing this.”

But some council board members question the alternative group’s motive. In a recent email to the community council’s board and a few others, board member Tom Bangasser said those involved with the alternative group “are intent on destroying this 78-year old Vashon-Maury Island community council” and are engaged in “group think … (that) is void of intellectual or practical content.”

Bangasser left the community council’s regularly scheduled board meeting early Monday night to attend the alternative group’s meeting. He sat in the back of the room and took notes.

Tim Johnson, who chairs the community council board, said Bangasser’s email doesn’t reflect the board’s stance. At the same time, he said, he’s disappointed about the new group’s efforts and questions whether it will be able to make a difference.

“I’m frustrated that people feel the need to start something different,” he said. “I don’t think our problems relate to rules. I think our problems relate to people.”

Johnson, who has helmed the board since December, said he’s not taking the effort personally. “I understand the frustrations on all sides,” he said.

Still, he said, he believes those who are active in Island politics should work to make the current council more effective.

“I wish those people would continue to try to find a way to make our current vehicle work. … If it was just as easy as going off and starting another group, it would have already happened,” he said.

Meanwhile, McDermott, who represents Vashon on the nine-member county council, says he’ll meet with the new group, which he said seems to be attempting to return the community council to its roots — before it became an Unincorporated Area Council nearly a decade ago. 

The group, he said, “is having a substantial conversation. … I encourage and respect them.”