Stewarding our most precious island resources

Our island’s well-tended green space, fields and beaches, and vibrant, equitable programs provided by our Park District are not a small part of what makes this island a beautiful and healthy place to live.

Here on Vashon, we’ve finally crossed the threshold of spring, with rhododendrons, dogwood, red flowering currant, camellias, fruit trees, and a wild profusion of other plants bursting into bloom.

Still, the raindrops keep coming — though our most recent check of the extended forecast, on Tuesday, as we went to press, shows that the grey lid above us will lift and the sun will again shine on Vashon on Thursday. Not this Thursday, unfortunately, but a week from Thursday, April 27. Oh, well.

In spring, The Beachcomber also blooms with special sections, and you’ll find two of them in this issue of the paper.

One of them is our annual “Go Green” section, timed to celebrate Earth Day, and those on Vashon — including the stalwart volunteers of Zero Waste Vashon and the Whole Vashon Project — who remind us all to be environmentally conscious year-round and provide a wealth of programs and opportunities to make that possible.

Also tucked inside this week’s print edition of the paper is our spring “Island Child” guide to camps and other activities for island youth, coming up this summer.

It is always amazing, year after year, to see the wealth of opportunities our island offers up for summer fun for children.

And for some of us who are now empty-nesters, the section evokes sweet memories of the hectic years when we shuttled our kids from place to place for summer fun — pirate camps, swimming lessons, arts enrichment programs, sailing adventures, and the green expanses of Vashon parks and fields.

Speaking of those parks and fields — here’s another reminder that an important ballot initiative is before Vashon voters, requiring 60 percent approval, to renew the levy that supports the Vashon Park District.

Last week, in this space, we urged islanders to vote yes to this measure, and it’s worth repeating that appeal again this week, for anyone who is on the fence or hasn’t yet turned in their ballot for the April 25 election.

Taxes paid to the Park District account for only a small fraction of islanders’ property tax bills, about 3 percent this year.

But think of what that sliver makes possible.

The long list of community assets managed by the district includes the island’s public pool, its skate park, equestrian park, athletic fields, and the timeless, storybook vistas of Lisabeula and Point Robinson Park.

Another beloved asset is the town-center hub of Ober Park — a place where generations of island children have frolicked, stretched their muscles under the sun, or found themselves lost in imagination and wonder, gazing up as billowy clouds crossed the blue sky.

Our Park District has suffered numerous financial setbacks in recent years, none of which were the making of its current dedicated and highly capable leadership.

The choice before voters now — to approve a levy of 45 cents per $1,000 of assessed value — is important, because the levy will help our Park District recover from these setbacks and continue to provide vibrant programming for all islanders for the next four years.

We all know that property taxes are a burden. And most of us also agree that they are a terrible way to fund government — and yet, that is what we seem to be endlessly stuck with in our state.

But we can also agree on one more thing, which should be the deciding factor.

Our island’s well-tended green space, fields and beaches, and vibrant, equitable programs provided by our Park District are not a small part of what makes this island a beautiful and healthy place to live.

They are essential.

Vote yes for Parks.

You’ll be glad you did, when our rainy spring turns into a sun-dappled summer, and you find yourself joining other islanders, young and old, to dance on the grass of Ober Park at the Park District’s excellent annual series of free concerts in the parks.

There, you’ll find yourself in the embrace of an exuberant community that cares about its children and strives to protect its natural beauty — gifts that have been given free of charge to all of us, but ones that we are called upon to take care of and protect.