http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view Our View RSS Feed http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2012-01-04_plastic_bag_ban_a_good_start Although there is some controversy over the citywide plastic bag ban that was passed Dec. 12, we commend the Mukilteo City Council for passing the ban. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2012-01-04_plastic_bag_ban_a_good_start http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2011-11-30_bring_on_the_holiday_recipes_ From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, this is the season for holiday dinners, parties and potlucks with friends, family and co-workers – and you can bet you’ll be invited to at least one of them. Maybe you’re the host! Don’t know what to bring? This is where The Beacon comes in. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2011-11-30_bring_on_the_holiday_recipes_ http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2011-10-26_our_picks_ See The Beacon's picks for this year's City Council races here. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2011-10-26_our_picks_ http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2011-09-28_you_ll_get_the_council_you_deserve On the positive side, voters have a good lineup of choices among eight City Council candidates who are interested in serving their fellow citizens. On the flip side, if the August primary and last week’s Candidates’ Forum are accurate gauges, those citizens are woefully uninterested in the future of their community. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2011-09-28_you_ll_get_the_council_you_deserve http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2011-08-31_proud_of_our_accomplishments Just in case you haven’t heard, CNN/Money Magazine has named Mukilteo Number 9 on the “Best Places to Live in America” for 2011 [“Mukilteo 9th best in the U.S.,” The Beacon, front page, Aug. 17]. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2011-08-31_proud_of_our_accomplishments http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-12-01_annexation_deserves_another_look The large opposition to annexation (nearly 63 percent) in the Mukilteo advisory vote on Nov. 2 may have sealed the fate of that proposal by city officials. The City Council has postponed further discussion until January. Opponents did a masterful job with their “Burma Shave”-style ad campaign to raise alarm about the negative impacts of annexation. Nevertheless, we’d like to suggest the council keep an open mind. Why? The arguments against the proposal were misleading at best and simply wrong otherwise. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-12-01_annexation_deserves_another_look http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-10-20_vote_yes_on_initiative_no__2 Attempts to reduce traffic infractions – especially the kind that can lead to injury or worse – are commendable. But the red light camera solution is an answer in search of a problem, and studies show it creates new problems without solving old ones. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-10-20_vote_yes_on_initiative_no__2 http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-09-15_thorns_among_the_blooms_at_rosehill_ We are pleased to see a much more realistic, scaled-down staffing model for the new Rosehill Community Center, one that includes a significantly smaller general fund transfer than previously proposed. We support tax dollars subsidizing a community center when it also carries a good deal of its own weight. At first glance, this model appears to do so. However, we’re still concerned with how the numbers are presented. Included in the revenue figures (the general fund transfer, while smaller, is also still listed as revenue) are projections for the picnic shelters and wedding circle rental fees, and rental fees for the lighthouse itself. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-09-15_thorns_among_the_blooms_at_rosehill_ http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-09-15_speak_up__mukilteo In the past two months since I assumed the position of editor of the Mukilteo Beacon, the newspaper has received 16 letters. That’s an average of two letters a week. Two letters is actually a nice flow of response from readers – but that’s not what I’m seeing in my inbox. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-09-15_speak_up__mukilteo http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-08-11_the_time_to_ask_is_now We commend Mukilteo City Council’s decision Monday to ask residents how they feel about annexation. The council had agreed to put the question on the ballot last year, but upset many residents by withdrawing the advisory vote (the only legal way citizens can weigh in on annexation) when Snohomish County Fire District 1 appealed the Boundary Review Board’s approval of Mukilteo’s revised plan, effectively blocking those in the potential area from voting. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-08-11_the_time_to_ask_is_now http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-08-04_once_and_for_all__y_e_s_to_ems Mukilteo voters are once again deciding whether to renew the Emergency Medical Services levy, and if so, at what amount and for how long. Currently before voters is a measure that would increase the current levy – due to expire Dec. 31 – to 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, and this time, the council is asking it to be permanent. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-08-04_once_and_for_all__y_e_s_to_ems http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-07-22_let_the_people_decide Tim Eyman, at least in his public rhetoric, is suspicious of every move government makes. As he does with all of his initiatives, he repeatedly voiced concerns that elected officials – in this case, Mukilteo city and/or staff – would find a legal loophole to try to block Mukilteo Initiative 2 from going on the ballot. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-07-22_let_the_people_decide http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-05-27_what_we_had_here_was_a_failure_to_communicate City staff and council have worked hard in recent months to become more transparent and involve residents earlier in the process. We’ve seen what happens when communication works well and when it doesn’t. After lengthy discussions and reversed decisions regarding where to site the new City Hall, the council seated at that time rammed through a location at the far end of town without notifying the public it would make the final decision that evening, pleasing almost nobody. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-05-27_what_we_had_here_was_a_failure_to_communicate http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-05-27_a_yellow_light_for_traffic_safety_cameras It’s true we can’t legislate against stupidity, nor can we write enough laws – or hire enough officers, or buy enough technology – to prevent every single idiot from injuring an innocent bystander with irresponsible behavior. However, we can take some steps to prevent needless injuries and deaths, particularly when it comes to protecting our children. We cautiously support the council’s decision to install traffic safety cameras on SR-525 in front of Olympic View Middle School, to monitor speed in the 20 mph zone, and at the intersection of Harbour Pointe Boulevard North and SR-525, to monitor red light runners, on a one-year trial basis. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-05-27_a_yellow_light_for_traffic_safety_cameras http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-05-12_council__city_earn_the_triple_crown Monday's meeting, originally planned as a work session in which no decisions are made, morphed into one of the shortest, yet most productive council meetings on record. After approving the city's purchase of 16.75 acres in Japanese Gulch, the council followed up by nixing the planned green roof on the new community center, then raced to the finish with a small solution to some of the parking crunch in the north end of town. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-05-12_council__city_earn_the_triple_crown http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-05-09_parking_ordinance_deserves_a_ticket Mukilteo city staff headed down the wrong road when it recommended allocating up to 23 parking spots along 1st Street to commuters, essentially wiping out most of the available parking for tenants of the art building on 2nd Street, and those businesses' employees and patrons. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-05-09_parking_ordinance_deserves_a_ticket http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-04-28_parking_issue_is_our_problem__too Right now, some 40-45 Whidbey Island commuters are scrambling to find spots to park their cars overnight night after June 1, when the city officially ends the years-long practice of leasing space in Lighthouse Park. A total of 75 received eviction notices Friday, 30 of which will hopefully luck out with interim parking solutions. The rest? Nobody knows. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-04-28_parking_issue_is_our_problem__too http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-04-21_thanks__larry Before the accident that left him quadriplegic and dependent upon a ventilator, Larry Busch was an energetic, fun-loving, outgoing prankster, always there for his friends with a smile, a laugh, encouraging words. After his accident, Busch was an energetic, fun-loving, outgoing prankster, always there for his friends with a smile, a laugh, encouraging words. Busch passed away unexpectedly Friday morning, four years after the accident that severely damaged his spinal cord. He leaves behind more friends than can possibly be counted, each an example of the many lives he touched in his 26 years. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-04-21_thanks__larry http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-03-31_signs_of_the_times Mukilteo staff, councilmembers and planning commissioners have a difficult task ahead: overhauling the city’s complex sign code to comply with state law as related to recent court rulings, and at the same time both remain business friendly and not allow unsightly clutter to detract from the beautiful views. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-03-31_signs_of_the_times http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-03-29_mariner_belongs_at_the_top Mariner High School is competing for a once-in-a-lifetime honor – to have President Barack Obama come speak at the 2010 commencement ceremony in June. It’s a long shot to be sure – thousands of schools throughout the country are battling to become a part of history, in Obama’s Race to the Top competition. Visual Communications students Vinh Tran, Dennis Tran, Lewis Do and Robin Jones, with help from their Mariner classmates, shot extensive footage of the school’s numerous academics, sports, and activities. Somehow they condensed their school’s rich history and embracement of diversity into a two-minute, tightly edited synopsis of the many cultures that make up the staff and student body. http://mukilteobeacon.com/our-view/article.exm/2010-03-29_mariner_belongs_at_the_top