Shoreline City Council Monday February 4, 2013

Devon Vose Rickabaugh
Photo by Jerry Pickard

Notes from Shoreline City Council Monday February 4, 2013

By Devon Vose Rickabaugh

Mayor McGlashan opened the meeting by proclaiming this February as Black History Month in Shoreline, “A time in which all Americans are encouraged to reflect on past successes and challenges of African Americans and look to the future to improve  society  so that we live up to the ideals of freedom, equality, and justice.”

After revisiting whether to ban single use plastic bags in all stores in Shoreline the council directed city staff to prepare a referendum to bring back to the council. Mayor McGlashon said he was truly “on the fence” about it. He said he thought some people could not afford the 5cent charge for paper bags. He wanted to know what they would come up with on the state level. He said he wouldn’t support it unless all retail stores were included in the ban, not just grocery stores.

Councilmember Will Hall said they should be clear that banning the bags would not save the salmon or change the acidification which is killing the ocean. However if they revisit the sustainability strategy in Shoreline then banning the bags is in line with this.

Councilmember McConnell said she thought that banning the bags was purely symbolic and said she was here for “bigger issues”.

Councilmember Winstead said that she had heard that some people from Seattle were coming up here to shop for the bag convenience and she didn’t like the idea of discouraging our business by banning the bags.

Councilmember Salomon said the majority of  citizens voted in a scientific survey and 100 pages of petitions  to move ahead with the plastic bag ban.  He pointed out that only 15-17% of bags are recycled and that the bags float in the ocean and whales and turtle mistake them for food. He said, “Humans have massively degraded the environment. It’s uncertain we can adjust the way we live. The bag ban is a small step and we need to take it.”