At their February 20th Annual Meeting, Griffin Neighborhood Association members voted-in a slate of 16 area residents to serve on the Board of the GNA. The Board manages the affairs of the GNA and Board members serve without compensation.

Two members of last year’s Board chose not to have their names placed in nomination. Matt Coyle and Jack Sisco retired from the Board, with the thanks of GNA members present at the Annual Meeting. We’ll be sure to see more of Jack, in particular, as he is fully-engaged in efforts to develop the Steamboat Area Conservation Partnership.

Three new members have joined our Board.

Here are the names of our Board members:

Beau Altman
Gayle Broadbent
Fred Finn
Gary Goodwin
Jerry Handfield
Norm Johnson
Steve Lundin
Mark Messinger
Eric Moll
Kathy O’Connor
Kathleen O’Shaunessy
Elizabeth Rodrick
Velma Rogers
Dave Schuett-Hames
Bob Whitener
Chris Wickham

You can best support the work of this Board by joining the Griffin Neighborhood Association. Click here to join the GNA. It’s easy and you can do it entirely online.

We’re proud of the diverse backgrounds of our Board members. Here’s a little information about a few of those on our Board:

Dr. Beau Altman is a Psychologist specializing in human behavior in crisis situations, emergencies. When asked, what do you do, Dr. Altman responds, “I teach people how to prepare for and how to survive emergencies when they occur on land, water and in the air!”

For more than 40 years Beau has been a major contributor to the development of emergency equipment, safety instruction and evacuation procedures for planes, ships, and buildings.

Beau is a teacher and trainer. His background and experience in crisis management and human behavior, safety and survival training and education may be particularly useful in the GNA’s ongoing emergency preparedness efforts.

Fred Finn is a business man and graduate of Johns Hopkins University and Fordham University Law School. Fred is a past Griffin School Board member involved with numerous business and civic organizations and is a candidate for the 35th District legislature. For more information on Fred’s candidacy, click this link.

Gary Goodwin writes, “When we bought property on Steamboat Island Road, there were 31 acres of trees west of us and 42 acres of trees east of us. Now all the trees are gone, there are four homes to the west, and a commercial facility proposed to the east. I am involved in the GNA to help protect the rest of our Community from a similar fate.”

Jerry Handfield is the father of four grown children and one grandson with two more on the way. He is the Washington State Archivist. The Archives is responsible for managing the life cycle of all state records and preserving valuable legal and historical records for local and state government. Jerry is a resident on Gravelly Beach Loop since March 2002, member of the GNA Board since 2003, and served as both Secretary and President (2005 – 2007).

Steve Lundin retired as a senior counsel to the Washington State House of Representatives in 2001 after nearly 30 years. He has undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Washington. Steve and his wife Linda Bondurant have lived in the Griffin area since 1975.

Steve has written numerous articles about the history of the Griffin area and a book entitled “Griffin Area Schools.” He recently published a book entitled “The Closest Governments to the People – A Complete Reference Guide to Local Government in Washington State.”

Mark Messinger is a consultant to individuals, business and government. One of his children currently attends Griffin School and the other will be at Griffin next year. He’s been a resident in this area for 6 years.

Eric Moll is the Chief Financial Officer for Mason General Hospital. He has a CPA and MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth Rodrick has worked for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for 30 years. She is a Land Conservation Manager. Elizabeth does conservation planning to identify important landscapes to protect for fish and wildlife. She also coordinates habitat acquisition grant applications and contracts and works with several land trusts including the Capitol Land Trust. Elizabeth looks forward to serving on the board and getting to know folks better.

Velma Rogers was born in Venice, California, but her family is the namesake for Hunter’s Point. Her public interests are conservation issues, retrofitting development on her own property and working to raise local awareness of the devastating effects of over-building, over-using and not protecting our unique environment and resources.

Chris Wickham has lived in the Griffin area since 1989. His children, now grown, attended Griffin School. He is currently employed as a Superior Court Judge at Thurston County Superior Court.

It’s been mentioned on this blog that there is a strong connection between growth management – the direct actions of our County government – and global climate change. Driving is the largest source of global warming pollution in Washington State, and irresponsible development dramatically increases driving. Achieving smart growth goals and reducing sprawl development is absolutely essential to reducing carbon dioxide pollution. Here in the Griffin area, we know we’re right in the crosshairs of development which, if not undertaken in a well-considered manner, will not only increase carbon emissions, it will threaten our property values, the availability and health of our drinking water supplies, and significantly reduce our quality of life.

According to Fuse, a progressive network, “Now we hear that a critical bill to combat global warming is stalled in the Legislature, and we have just six days to get it moving or it’s dead for the year. The Local Solutions to Global Warming bill tackles the global warming pollution created by irresponsible development and traffic. This bill will fight global warming by protecting farm and forest land, encouraging energy efficient building and promoting livable, family friendly communities.”

But, don’t take Fuse’s word for it. You can read about this bill, yourself, here.

I found especially notable is the statement against the bill, in the Senate Report of the Bill, which begins:

“This bill wrongly assumes climate change is human caused and human influenced while there is no scientific conclusion to support this theory.”

Personally, I am growing weary of a debate framed in such terms. While there may be room to disagree on the degree to which the environment is able to absorb the deleterious impact of human activities, it is rational to seek to reduce traffic on our roads, to identify and develop within urban growth boundaries and to reject arguments that affordable housing can only be built if we develop further and further from urban centers.

To learn more about this bill and another, Senate Bill 6516, and to send a letter to Senator Sheldon, click here to visit Fuse.

–Mark Messinger