As a recent convert to the wonderful life that is Vashon Island, I’d like to forward an outsider’s take on “Tom Bangasser vs. The Community Council.” The Vashon-Maury Island Community Council’s board, while unpaid, not elected in the same manner as some other volunteer positions and lacking legislative or executive authority, nonetheless officially serves the interests of the citizens and has some measure of influence through its advisory duties. It follows that if members of the council advised a developer or county officials regarding the K2 re-zoning, that advice could indeed have an effect on the process and ultimate outcome.

It appears that the council was at least peripherally involved in the process and that the process was neither terribly transparent nor particularly typical of this type of transaction. Thus, it is fair and in the public interest to question if, what, by whom and why actions were taken within the council in this matter. The council performs a real and meaningful function for and within the community, something I doubt the now former board members would deny. It is also capable of both proper and improper activities, and those activities can have real impact. It is responsible to the community for transparency about what it does, and how, specifically to avoid an environment conducive to secretive corruption.

Divining or impugning Bangasser’s agenda, while certainly fascinating coffee talk, does nothing to address the questions he is asking — questions for which there is both a valid reason and legal right to ask. I don’t assume any or all of the council’s board members are guilty of anything, and I sympathize with them for the sometimes awful messiness that is democracy. But better to shine a light on the innocent than leave everyone guessing what goes on in the dark.

— Tim Johnson