In the wide realm of issues affecting the Island, residents should pay close attention to our ferry service. We should write letters, sign petitions, stay informed and find creative ways to press our case.
The reason is that this is an area of great vulnerability for us, an issue with wide-ranging ramifications. If ferry service continues to climb in cost or is significantly reduced, the Island will increasingly become a place out of reach to young families and people of modest incomes.
That, in turn, would profoundly affect our social fabric — from the health and well-being of our public school system to the very feel of daily life on Vashon.
What’s more, we have a legitimate logistical concern. The ferry system — much like a two-lane highway in a rural outpost in Eastern Washington — is our lifeline. In the social compact at the heart of our democracy, we have a right to expect our elected officials to fully understand and support this lifeline — as well as a right to consistently and even forcefully remind them, should they forget.
Islanders, it seems, have a tendency to complain about Vashon’s lack of government service and support. We want a better library, adequate police coverage, roads in good repair. But we believe a careful analysis of the way King County dollars are distributed would show that Vashon measures up quite well in terms of per-capita resources.
We’re an unincorporated area with a rural sensibility. Our complaints, when it comes to county service, sometimes seem unrealistic, even petulant.
Ferries, however, are a different matter. Indeed, this is the issue that could make or break us. Simply put, we have so much to lose if the crisis facing the ferry system is not adequately addressed in Olympia.
That’s why it’s encouraging to see some new energy dedicated to the issue.
For the last couple of years, two people — Kari Ulatoski and Greg Beardsley — have carried this issue virtually single-handedly. Recently, however, after Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said several ferry routes could be axed altogether, Ulatoski and Beardsley’s Ferry Advisory Committee got an influx of energy.
Several new people have begun attending their meetings, bringing new energy to this critical issue.
That latest threat — the possibility of completely suspending service on five routes, including two of Vashon’s three ferry runs — seems sidestepped for now. Once again, lawmakers found Band-Aids — not a cure — to address our ailing ferry system.
But the issue will hardly go away anytime soon. Until Olympia finds the political will for a real fix, our ferry system will continue to limp along from crisis to crisis and our Island’s way of life will be at risk.
