How many people does it take to save a reasonably efficient ferry service for Vashon? More than nine willing and active participants! The Transportation Committee needs around 50 living, breathing bodies to help at times beginning the second week of February until about mid-March. Signing the ferry petition and writing letters are just the first steps in a tough campaign to save our ferry service.

Now we must move forward with the critical part of our strategy. Volunteers are needed to help lobby in Olympia and to testify in favor (or against) ferry-related bills that will be proposed in early February through mid-March. As successful as our first steps have been, Vashon residents, business owners and other stakeholders are needed to actively join the fight. We need real estate agents, retail business owners, PTSA and school board members, Vashon-Maury Island Community Council board members, those with medical and other special needs and commuters to step up.

Right now, we are creating a call list of people willing to testify in Olympia with two days notice or less and a list of people willing to lobby non-ferry lawmakers. We have about three weeks to prepare ourselves. We already have a volunteer to call and make appointments for us. All you need to do is show up. We will have a packet with the name, location of the legislator and talking points available for you at a designated pick-up point.

To that end, some members of the Transportation Committee are willing to donate their valuable time to teach Islanders the basics of how to lobby, increasing their comfort level in talking on ferry matters. Those interested can sign up for either a Saturday morning class or an evening class during a week; neither should take more than 90 minutes. We also need a volunteer to coordinate small groups of two to four people to carpool to Olympia or meet there and support each other. Volunteers will be contacted with particulars.

Vashon Island’s economy, perhaps even our survival as a vital community, is in jeopardy. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that there are many people who will be affected by further cuts in ferry service, and we all know the consequences.

Will people pay more taxes for schools if families leave the island and our student population decreases as people realize they don’t have reliable and timely access to jobs, medical appointments and services as well as other important activities? Teachers, could you work this into a civics class? Perhaps arrange for a small group to talk ferries to a legislator or two on how it would affect children attending school and activities on- and off-Island?

Think about it, and then sign up.

— Kari Ulatoski chairs the Vashon-Maury Island Community Council’s Transportation Committee.

To participate in the lobbying efforts sign up at the Chamber of Commerce office located in Vashon Village. Or contact Kari Ulatoski at kulatosk@fhcrc.org or at 567-0587. To sign the petition asking lawmakers to not cut our ferry service, go to www.petitiononline.com/sosferry/petition.html until Jan. 29.