What if it fails? Well I guess our community is going to find out the hard way. We had before us a remarkable opportunity—an elegant plan that was carefully crafted by a smart, dedicated group of citizen volunteers that gave a year of their life to our community. Their recommendation was strategic, cost-effective and community-minded. And it failed.
There’s a million reasons why which I’m sure will be discussed at length over the coming months, but mostly today I feel sad.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the advantages that passing this bond will have on not only our school community, but also our broader Island community. I’m excited about what the passage of this bond will do for our City: Continue reading
I look forward to the tradition of Mercer Island Fine Arts Showcase every year. Held at Mercer Island High School, Showcase is a fundraiser for the arts that “celebrates all the fine arts performed and created in the Mercer Island School District.” The work shown there is indeed impressive. If you attend you’ll see music, art, drama and dance created and performed by our talented Island youth. As I bought my tickets, I began to think about both the vulnerability of our Fine Arts programs if the April School bond is not passed, and the fabulous possibilities that come available if it is.
In my “real job,” I work with early stage companies, many of them technology related. I find the work fascinating, and I always learn something from each of them along the way. One of my current sells a “Life Game” that uses gamification technology to help make life improvement accessible to everyone so I’ve recently been immersed in the science behind behavioral change and life improvement concepts in general.
One concept that I’ve learned about is this idea of setting an “affirmation”—which is basically visualizing the positive outcome that you’re looking for as a forgone conclusion. It started to make me think, maybe we’ve been fighting so hard about what is so wrong or not wrong about this School Bond, that we’ve forgotten to notice what’s so right about it. I’m definitely not an expert at this idea of affirmation, but here’s my attempt at painting the picture that I can imagine in relation to this school bond passing:
In talking with folks about this bond, there seems to be four main questions/concerns that come up again and again.
Last night, I did a CMIPs update to young moms at the Mercer Island Preschool Association meeting. What a pleasure. This group is amazing—full of energy, positive and interested in everything. Made me feel old, but great about our next set of Island leaders. As I waited to speak as they wrapped up their “safety talk,” I reflected on how quickly things change. It seemed like yesterday when I was debating whether my son was ready to stay at home with his little sister while I ran to the grocery store (he wasn’t) and wondering if my daughter would notice that I always requested the “boy’s toy” at McDonald’s to avoid giving her a dreaded Barbie to play with (she didn’t until she was 13 and called me on it.) Continue reading
Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a huge park lover. Right after the short commute to Seattle, the other reason I moved to Mercer Island is the parks and open space. I even wrote a book about walking in them because I love these trails so much and want others to appreciate and use them as much as I do. So consider me completely biased on this topic. I love our parks. In my opinion, if we don’t get this bond passed in April, we park lovers better get ready to rumble.
Emmett and Sandy Maloof’s recent letter in the Mecer Island Reporter reminded me of the deep conversations that the 21st Century Facilities Planning Committee had about earthquake safety and our schools.
Earthquake safety is and should a huge concern for the community of Mercer Island and must not be dimissed lightly. We live on an Island and in the event of a significant “event” our bridges will likely be disabled and emergency priorities will go to other cities. That’s why the City of Mercer Island has focused their effort to be self-sufficient for 7-days unlike the 3-days that other communities strive for. Continue reading
Mr. Jensen’s letter in the Mercer Island Reporter on March 16th brings up a legitimate concern for our Island seniors. “Will I be able to afford this on my fixed income?”
The bad news for seniors, like Mr. Jensen, is that he lives in a community that must invest in new schools. The good news is that this bond approach has the lowest and most predictable impact on our seniors, than any other approach.
A second of the NO CAMPAIGN Website owners has come clean with Robert Brown claiming ownership of https://sites.google.com/site/nomischoolsbond. You can see his comments to the original post here.
