Vashon residents talked crime and the community’s needs at the Oct. 19 Vashon community council meeting.

Deputies asked to increase presence

A rash of break-ins and robberies this summer and fall has vexed business owners around the uptown area. Durong, behind The Sugar Shack, was just broken into in early October.

Sergeant Kiersten S. Whitacre, lead sheriff’s office deputy for Vashon Island, addressed some of those concerns at Thursday’s meeting. He acknowledged that attendees at the previous meeting had shared concerns that the sheriff’s deputies weren’t as visible or as actively patrolling on the island as they could be.

“Generally, you wanted to see a little more visibility, you were afraid the cops were … not visually present enough or moving around, and I kind of concur with you,” Whitacre said. “It was something that I set a goal to try to address. We had some training and … I made sure they understand the new priority … to ensure a little more visibility in the areas that have had problems.”

Whitacre said he’s asked the midnight shift deputies to hang out and walk around the downtown area more often, he said. He said there’s also been an increase in radar patrols and traffic stops in light of complaints over speeding motorcyclists and other speeding motorists.

He encouraged anyone having trouble with a specific person in town to call the sheriff’s non-emergency line: 206-296-3311. In an emergency, call 911.

Community needs survey

Vashon islanders continue to hone their list of needs and wants for King County’s upcoming budgeting cycle.

The highlights of a community needs survey were discussed with Danielle de Clercq, the deputy director of King County’s Department of Local Services.

The survey, returned by 321 islanders, unsurprisingly laid out public transportation (buoyed by ferries) and housing / land use as residents’ most important policy areas, with health services, homelessness and parks also scoring high.

Attendees at Thursday’s meeting pointed out, and de Clercq acknowledged, a weakness with the survey: It tended to privilege the voice of those most well-off on the island.

Vashon has more than 10,000 residents and the voices of 321 islanders alone can’t capture all that matters here, said Lilian Abelha.

“We have a little bit more work to do,” de Clercq said. “This is more just initial feedback, initial data analysis.”

Vashon’s respondents to the survey were 81% white, according to data from King Count, and an additional 10.6% did not give their race or declined to do so. Most respondents were 55 years of age or older. The survey does skew older and more toward white participants, de Clercq said.

Vashon Health Care District superintendent Tim Johnson suggested the county pay attention to not simply the volume of people asking for a given service, but how many people it will actually help.

“A lot of the people who are most impacted by community services, or lack thereof, are people who will not fill out the survey,” he said. “… These surveys are great, but balance that need. If I don’t get an extra ferry ride, for somebody else to get fed, I’m pretty good with that.”

Nonetheless, the survey is important. It represents Vashon’s “asks” as the county budgets for the future. Because cities tend to have more sway and ability to bend the county’s ear, the Local Services department seeks unincorporated perspectives via the survey.

de Clercq said the next step is to take the survey results to the community — whether through local experts, non-profits or even direct focus groups with disenfranchised people — to hone down what matters and what can be practically done to improve life on the island.

“We’re not happy with what we got so far,” she said. “We don’t have the best answer.”

The final lists will be submitted to the executive’s office in the summer of 2025, county spokesperson Brent Champaco said in an email, for the county council to set the 2026-2027 budget.

The full initial survey results are attached to this article online. To learn more about the survey process, go here.

Council seeks new members

The community council is seeking applicants for its all-volunteer board of directors. Those interested should be good listeners, reasonable thinkers and lovers of Vashon island, according to the board. The role brings a minimum weekly time commitment of three to five hours.

The board has six openings, and the positions are for two years. For more information and to apply, visit online or reach out to council president Diane Emerson at dianeemerson@yahoo.com, or any current or past board members.