FERRY-SERVED COMMUNITIES UNITE on Sat., Nov. 16: 2024 Regional Legislative Summit in Mukilteo – Public welcome – SanJuan.Today will live-stream
A SANJUANS.TODAY VIDEO IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
Friday, November 8, 2024
by Jeff Noedel
Introducing the Fix Our Ferries Coalition. It’s the first time in modern times that communities that depend on Washington State Ferries are banding together in search of solutions.
On Sat., Nov. 16, the public is invited to participate in the first Fix Our Ferries legislative summit, as the multiple ferry-served communities try to distill a unified, combined ask of the all-important 2025-2026 biennial session of the Washington legislature. That legislative session convenes in just two months.
The Fix Our Ferries 2024 Legislative Summit is a production of Vashon Islands’ Islanders for Ferry Action (IFA).
Eight months ago, when the 2024 Supplemental session of the Washington State Legislature ended, it was clear to WSF observers and activists in the San Juans that the squeakiest wheels got the most grease. Intense lobbying and grassroots action on Vashon Island resulted in $3.2 million in state money going to supplemental passenger ferry service for Vashon. Bremerton received $4 million. Eventually, San Juan County Council Chair Jane Fuller persuaded $1.5 million in short-term relief from Gov. Jay Inslee.
Back in the immediate aftermath of the Vashon success in March, a member of Friday Harbor-based Ferry Lovers of Washington (FLOW) reached out to the Vashon Island Chamber of Commerce and made contact with Amy Drayer, who heads up Vashon’s IFA program.
Drayer is a skilled political organizer. She has 20 years of experience in consulting and communications for projects in Washington, D.C., Denver, and metro Seattle. And she was eager to expand and multiply Vashon’s lobbying power by welcoming the San Juans into the fold.
This summer, Drayer began to organize the upcoming 2024 Regional Legislative Summit. It will be several hours of ferry policy discussions including four state legislators who are deeply invested in WSF issues. They are:
- State Senator Marko Liias, Chair, Senate Transportation Committee (Dem-District 21, Mukilteo WSF terminal)
- State Representative Emily Alvarado (Dem-District 34, Seattle, Vashon, Fauntleroy, Tahlequah WSF terminals)
- State Representative Greg Nance (Dem-District 23, Bainbridge, Kingston WSF terminals)
- State Representative Clyde Shavers (Dem-District 10, Coupeville, Clinton WSF terminals)
The summit will include a state senator or state representative whose districts include five of the 10 WSF Puget Sound routes. The districts with a WSF terminal for which no state legislator will be attending are District 24 (WSF Port Townsend terminal), District 26 (WSF Bremerton & Southworth terminals), District 27 (WSF Point Defiance terminal), and District 40 (WSF Anacortes and San Juans terminals).
Additionally, three County leaders will participate:
- Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (Coupeville, Clinton WSF terminals)
- Island County Commissioner Janet St. Clair (Coupeville, Clinton WSF terminals)
- San Juan County Council Chair Jane Fuller (Friday Harbor, Orcas, Lopez, Shaw Island WSF terminals)
CNL2’s SanJuans.Today will live-stream this event from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., minus a one-hour lunch break.
To read more, to register to attend, and to order and pay for a lunch, click here.
