I first encountered Joe Marshall at the public meetings for McMenamins proposal for the St. Edward State Park seminary in the mid-2000s; we had opposing opinions. His group insisted that drunk patrons would run over kids on bikes and at the ball-fields.At a State Parks and Rec meeting on a snowy morning in Normandy Park, he came up to me and expressed amazement that I could even hope for a McMenamins presence.
Fast forward about ten years and the scenario was the same: Marshall is opposed to saving the seminary. Although Marshall claims that he wants to “put public input first”, he clearly is willing to follow his own agenda as evidenced by his opposition to Daniel’s seminary proposal, which had overwhelming public support at numerous meetings.
In frustration, Marshall wrote an opinion piece (BKR, 3/8/17):
“Hey Little Screens of Salish Sea Country – all you millennials and younger – heads up. Boomers and even my cohort Gen X’ers didn’t listen, so this truth’s for you: a dead white guy named Doc Maynard[‘s]…heirs recently approved developing your forested sanctuary and “Soul of the Eastside” – Kenmore’s Saint Edward State Park. They held meetings — you didn’t show — so they decided this part of your future for you and your grandkids.”
That’s right … the public did show up, but they didn’t share Marshall’s vision.
Marshall wants you to support a swimming pool.
“[W]e grew up with a public pool in Northshore – today, with our exploding population, all of our kids, without regard to family income, deserve the same,” he wrote.
Based on past history of public pools in the Northshore area, that vision is short-sighted. The Carol Ann Ward Pool in Kenmore and the Northshore Pool in Bothell both failed to be economically feasible and closed (Weekly, 11/4/13).
Northshore does have pools: the pool at McMenamins Anderson School (Bothell, open swims and lessons) is open to the public, free to Bothell residents and, for a nominal fee, to others, and membership pool opportunities exist at the Northshore YMCA and the Aqua Club. There is also a Juanita Aquatic Center.
Your money: it is clear that Marshall expects the public or a generous donor to foot the bill for his visions that include a pool and a seminary “dedicated to park use or nonprofit use…Either partially restoring the building…or letting the building continue to deteriorate and stand as an open air monument would be ideal” (BKR, 1/29/16).
As a citizen of Kenmore, I want a different vision, one that is business-friendly and realistic.
Susan Gardner
Kenmore
