The topic of the Vashon-Maury Island Community Council, and specifically the board, is undeniably a hot one right now.

Not to be lost in the hubbub surrounding mass resignations, elections, subsequent acrimony and further resignations is the fact that the council and its board are now dealing with some very substantial issues, not just in terms of procedure (compliance with the Public Records Act or proper use of parliamentary procedure, for example) or internal issues (the frustration felt from the resignations and the seemingly endless sniping from many sides), but sizable external ones — such as those concerning ferries, service cutbacks and proposed revisions in how the county funds and relates to the Unincorporated Area Councils (UAC).

Now more than ever, we need to find constructive, consensus-building ways to effectively deal with all of these challenges. With 10 percent of our residents using our food bank, who dislikes whom seems rather petty in comparison.

Lately, I’ve heard a lot of calls to just scrap our UAC altogether. The Vashon-Maury Island Community Council (VMICC) is one of six UACs in King County. I’d like to take a moment to defend our council as an important, if fragile, entity going forward into troubling times and issues. That the council exists — representing as it does a rural area and, even more unique, an island — is a rarity in our political system. With our tiny population, our votes — while individually important — collectively comprise a small fraction of those cast for county executives and legislators. We will never take overall precedence in the policies of County Councilman Joe McDermott or County Executive Dow Constantine, no matter how fair or helpful they may be. It would be unfair to even expect them to scour our Island looking for things to do on our behalf, given their full plates.

It falls to us, through our collective voice, the VMICC, to seek, investigate, debate, vote on and diligently fight for the ideas that are important to us.

I joined the board for exactly that reason. My goal is to help strengthen the council and to help it achieve more productive activity. I’m relatively new here, so I don’t claim to know what is most important or to even fully understand all of the issues, but because of that, I believe I’m less inclined to take a staunch “side” regarding issues and people and am more concerned with making sure that every view is voiced, heard and debated and that the majority will prevails. I’m not here to tell you what’s what, but for you to tell me.

One thing I do know is that I don’t support scrapping the system. Not without a legitimate replacement. I’m open to hearing ideas for change (and will even work hard to assist such ideas in being heard), but I would challenge those raising such a suggestion to also provide a detailed plan of a replacement system, complete with substantive evidence of how that system will better serve the community. If such a plan is fully explained, debated and becomes the will of the majority, I will not only gladly step aside but will throw such energy, time and skill as I have to help it succeed. But it would be foolish to scrap our council without a proper replacement, and we should resist such a backward move from occurring.

A recent challenge to the legality of our governance system has arisen, based on an interpretation (and a rational, well-researched one at that) of laws governing required notifications to voting members. This is a serious issue and must be addressed forthwith, in my opinion. But I urge that this, like the issues of transparency, which caused so much furor, be an opportunity for us to ensure our council is operating at the highest levels of legal and ethical standards and not be used as an excuse to shut it down and hope the winds of change blow us in a satisfactory direction, without our collective participation.

Too often, participatory democracy is left to the people with the strongest personalities or the most extreme position because they are the most motivated to show up and fight through acrimony and dissension.

The way to moderate such extreme push-and-pull is for more people to participate and to politely, but resolutely, work to require and achieve orderly consensus. It can seem like a daunting, impossible battle at times, but if we believe in and act on this sense of inertia, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I want us to see us fight beside each other instead of with each other. I think we can do that, as we seem to possess vast reservoirs of passion and energy and goodwill when we choose to.

Now, what do you think? More importantly, what are you willing to do?

— Tim Johnson, a former military policeman and operations, sales

and brand development executive in the organic food industry, was recently appointed to the community council’s board. He moved to the Island a year ago.

The Vashon-Maury Island Community Council meets at 7 p.m. the third Monday of each month at McMurray Middle School. The next council meeting is Feb. 21.