The Vashon-Maury Island Community Council (VMICC) will hold a special meeting Thursday night to discuss how it should respond to a King County proposal that would end the community council’s formal relationship with the county.

Tim Johnson, president of the community council’s nine-member board, said he decided to seek the special meeting after the VMICC’s membership last week voted to rescind a draft letter he and the other board members had sent to the county objecting to the move. 

“Rather than try to guess why the draft letter was rescinded and open the board and myself to further mistakes or misunderstanding, and rather than wait a month to get real answers while the county council might in the interim take action on the proposal, I felt it wise to call the membership together and sort the issue out,” Johnson said in an email to The Beachcomber.

Johnson said the meeting will enable those who show up to discuss the issue thoroughly. Asked if the council might vote on the issue at Thursday’s meeting, Johnson said, “It’s up to the group. I intend to let the group as broadly as possible determine where we go from here.”

The county’s proposal to alter the way it reaches out to citizens in unincorporated King County has already stirred considerable debate at recent VMICC meetings. Some worry that if the county were to end its formal relationship with its six unincorporated area councils, Vashon would lose a significant voice at the county level. Others say the community council was an effective advocate for the Island long before it was dubbed an Unincorporated Area Council and that the designation has only burdened it with the need to comply with a raft of rules.

Johnson said he hopes a focused discussion on the issue will provide some clarity.

“I’m seeking guidance from the people about where they’re at and what they want their directors … to do or not do,” he said.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 5, at McMurray Middle School.