Election is over, but important issue is not resolved

Published 11:25 am Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Families, neighbors and voters on a tiny island, in a tiny school district volunteer to help and ask each other for help all the time.

We don’t do it because we’re sign-waving, crazy-making, money-raising feeling manipulators and guilt trippers. We do it because it’s our obligation as citizens. It’s how we function successfully as a small unit in a large society.

The bond failed. The need for new athletic facilities at the high school remains. It’s a problem that requires, not desires, a solution.

And so, elected officials and impassioned volunteers will regroup and we’ll be back to offer you the opportunity to again participate in the process of resolving this very real educational deficit. Yes, a well-rounded athletic program with competitive, sustainable facilities is an educational asset.

We’ll listen, we’ll ask questions, we’ll debate, we’ll embrace the art of compromise where it makes sense and eventually the right people will formulate the best plan to replace our track and field and improve school facilities.

This plan will then be presented for your consideration with even more momentum and greater conviction. In other words, the election is over, but we’re not finished.

This is a matter of civic duty and fiscal responsibility to our entire community. Vashon has tremendous schools. Olympia, the school board, the schools themselves, they didn’t make that happen … you did.

Our island, our home is only as strong as the education we provide our kids and all kids willing to wake up at the crack of dawn, take a ferry and proudly call themselves pirates, mustangs and orcas. We’ll continue this effort all the while demonstrating our pride in them.

— Pearce Cobarr