Friends, Good Neighbor Vashon has spent countless hours doing research through public records requests, a zoom call and emails with Jim Chan, a zoom call and emails with Teresa Mosqueda and hiring seasoned land use attorneys.  It is quite clear that Friends of Thunderbird has not done their homework.    

Good Neighbor Vashon in bold.

Friends of Thunderbird in italics.

IN RESPONSE TO FRIENDS OF THUNDERBIRD'S WEBSITE:

A motion will come before the Vashon-Maury Community Council that 
we believe is misleading and harmful. 

The motion is to allow the people to be heard.  All people.  No matter where they stand on an issue.  Allowing people to be heard is part of a healthy democracy.  

Please become a voting member of the Community Council, 
attend the meeting via Zoom, and vote NO.

A NO vote is an attempt to silence the people and this is against everything this community and this country stands for.   Why on earth would someone stand in the way of others who want an opportunity to learn more by having a public meeting with King County officials?

The motion—made by the islander leading the effort to keep the Thunderbird Treatment Center from opening on Vashon—asks the community council to “inform King County Councilmembers and the Executive that Vashon residents must be given their legal right to a public forum about this new zoning that would allow drug rehab and psychiatric hospitals in any residential neighborhood on Vashon.”

Why oppose this motion? Because we believe it is an attempt to raise fear, mislead islanders, and sow confusion.

The motion's intent is to give relief from fear, misinformation and confusion.  Why would anyone want to suppress the truth and clarity?
 

• A transparent and public process is ALREADY in place. By demanding a “legal right to a public forum,” the motion suggests the County Council is illegally denying us that opportunity. That is not true. Here are the facts:
   

April 4, 2024, the King County Councilmember Committee came to the island to discuss the comprehensive plan striking amendment.  Two islanders tried to ask about the VCC building.  They were shut down and not allowed to talk about it and told it was outside Vashon Rural Town and not part of the discussion.  YET other properties outside of Vashon Rural Town were freely discussed.

The KC Councilmembers who were at the Vashon meeting did NOT allow islanders' right to proper public process before their committee vote.  On the KC website it is referred to as the "Key Vote" in passing the striking amendment. 

See excerpt from our attorney's letter to the KC committee:

The striking amendment was introduced on May 14, 2024, and the committee is holding a vote on whether to advance the amendment a mere 3-weeks after it was first released. This is less than the 30 days required. To make matters worse, the striking amendment document is over 700 pages long, yet the only public meetings discussing the amendment were held on May 15th and May 16th -- one and two days after its release. This means the county expected the public to review the 700-page document in one night and then provide meaningful comments the next morning. Furthermore, the May 16th meeting was not even open to call-ins, so only in-person testimony was allowed. Such a process is entirely inconsistent with principles of transparency and public engagement and does nothing to encourage open, public discussion.   

Read entire letter on GoodNeighborVashon.Org

• • The King County Council is CURRENTLY CONSIDERING changes it has made to the Executive’s proposed 2024 comprehensive plan, which updates zoning throughout unincorporated King County. Public comment is now open.

  • The County Council committee charged with amending the Executive’s plan voted on its proposed changes on June 5, 2024. A final vote before the whole council is scheduled for Dec. 10, 2024. That gives constituents SIX MONTHS to weigh in on the County Council’s proposed plan.

  • The County Council has ALREADY scheduled a public hearing on the plan for Nov. 19, 2024. See its schedule, published nearly a year ago. 

Agree there is a public process but the timing of the next public hearing is too late for meaningful input into the plan.    

• 
  The motion implies that the treatment center is a drug rehab hospital or a psychiatric hospital. It is neither. 
   

The motion states drug rehab hospitals and psychiatric hospitals in any Vashon neighborhood, which is what the new zoning would allow.  

VASHON: PAY ATTENTION TO ALL THE NEW ZONING.  

The prior process has not been inclusive nor convenient for islanders (see comment above), and thus the request for the KC Councilmembers to come back to Vashon to hear from all islanders and on all positions.  

Remember Vashon has a huge retirement population along with parents and working folks who cannot get downtown easily.  And some do not have access to a computer or technology is confusing to them.
 

• The center will be a residential treatment facility, permissable under King County’s current zoning laws. It will not include a detox facility; it is not a medical facility. People entering the program will already be clean and sober and on the path of recovery. 
   

This is a blatant lie.  We have confirmed again and again, including this week with Jim Chan, head of permitting, that SIHB CANNOT get a residential treatment facility permit without new zoning.  

SIHB is not a done deal. THIS IS A FACT. 
 

• The motion takes aim at proposed changes to the 2024 comprehensive plan—but these are countywide changes, not specific to Vashon or the treatement center.  The implication is that zoning changes are needed for the treatment facility. This is not true. The Seattle Indian Health Board has applied for permits to open in 2025 under current zoning laws.
   

Yes, they have applied under current laws and have been told they CANNOT open as a residential treatment facility under current zoning.  THIS IS A FACT.