A week ago, citizens from around Parkland and Spanaway filed into the local library to chat with, or maybe that “at” a local reporter (Rebecca Most) and news editor (Adam Lynn) from the News Tribune. The existence of the Pierce Prairie Post is partly due to the lack of local coverage by the closest newspaper to our community. We are not incorporated so people in cities seems to think nothing happens out here. That couldn’t be farther from the truth and this meeting made that obvious.

Apologies for the one blurry photo. It is the only one that showed 29th LD Rep. Melanie Morgan was in attendance for part of the session.

After the meeting, I summarized much of the discussion and the issues I thought were of the most interest currently in the area. I sent that in an email, thanking them for listening. Here is the summary and the go to people I could think of.

Thank you for taking the time to have a conversation with the unincorporated urban county in Parkland/Spanaway, and Midland, Frederickson who were also represented at the library.

I had to leave early to go to the Bethel School board “swearing in” meeting.

I am Marianne Lincoln, the person who had to stop trying to incorporate Spanaway due to the pandemic in 2020. Then I found out I had stage III ovarian cancer and injured my knee, needing a replacement from which I ended up with anemia. A year and a half later, I am finally out of the woods and getting active again, but not quite ready for the cheese grater of an incorporation campaign without a groundswell of people realizing that is the solution to a lot of their complaints.

You had some knowledgeable people at that event Tuesday, some who are good writers themselves. That is why I suggested you should consider an insert or magazine section about Parkland Spanaway. They, as local experts, could write about some of the problems and you could write the introduction and some other key stories. There are a lot of small businesses who could advertise in the document and extra copies would be welcome at the library in Parkland-Spanaway, Marymount and other businesses, to introduce all the newcomers to the community and its key leaders.

We have a Mid-County Leadership Meeting held quarterly at PLU with many of these leaders of schools, non-profits, service clubs, businesses, and the University. The next one is 8 a.m. on January 31 at the PLU University Center. You will learn a lot about what is happening around here. The Superintendent of Bethel is the coordinator, his assistant Bev Martin tracks and sends invitations.

The big issues and those who could write about them:

·         Tiny Home Village project at Spanaway Marsh (re run Claudia Finseth and the TRM stories)

·         Land Use, zoning changes since 2016, adopted during the pandemic (Jani Hitchen or Marty Campbell could address this)

·         PLU property sales, housing expansion, including the Parkland School controversy that became a project (Lori Curtis and Wendy Freeman of PCA)

·         The PLU shift from white Scandinavians to a majority of minority students and scholarships to local grads (PLU President Belton likes to tell this story)

·         The expansion of PLU’s Nursing programs (Also Alan Belton story)

·         The directorless Scandinavian Cultural Center carries on with their volunteer Council (Judy Scott, Council President)

·         The rise of the Parkland Community Assn. and the negotiations for the Parkland School purchase for the community (Loris Curtis, Wendy Freeman and Phil Edlund)

·         The Incorporation Study and the potential for still considering incorporation (Marianne Lincoln)

·         Clover Creek Watershed, waterless creek, groundwater record low (Rikki McGee, Communications CCWC)

·         Spanaway Lake Management & Friends of Spanaway Lake (Sandy Williamson or Mel Oleson)

·         Changes to low income housing – houses being sold, apartment complexes will be built in their place, Pierce County Housing Authority (Pierce County Housing Authority)

·         The startup of Family Promise of Pierce County – to help with the overwhelming number of homeless kids in the Bethel District (600+) (Pastor Samara Jenkins, SUMC)

·         Tacoma Sportsmen’s Club forms a Conservation Non-Profit for the headwaters of Clover Creek

·         Safe Parking (Pastor Samara Jenkins, SUMC)

·         Pacific Avenue sidewalk swales that many businesses do not maintain, leaving the “Ave” looking trashy [Carol Bartle]

·         New & remodeled Schools in FP and Bethel

·         Health Facilities in the Bethel District

·         Attacks on infrastructure – power sub-stations, telephone utility boxes, cable/Internet connections

·         Catch and release burglars, robbers and car thieves (TNT and local citizens)

·         No street fair or farmer’s market – opportunity, but where is a site? (TNT)

·         No meeting rooms in Spanaway, only a few in Parkland (TNT)

·         The need for sidewalks near schools (TNT, Tom Seigel) The most recent student hit on B Street is doing OK.

·         Lack of parks, hospitals, medical facilities, libraries, etc. (See the Bethel video, Tom Seigel)

·         Blue Zones efforts (Joseph Gomez, Blue Zones)

·         Food banks and community meal nights (Pastor at Trinity Lutheran)

·         Music, performing arts groups, FP Performing Art Center, local music scene (Dennis Townsend)

·         Cascade Community Concert and Jazz Band (Ruben Watson)

·         Changes to Sprinker Recreation Center (Pierce County Parks Dept.)

It is a big list, but I am sure I missed a few things. I hope it is helpful. A magazine section on Parkland Spanaway sure would be amazing and helpful to everyone.

I have a list of organizations in the area on the menu at the top of the page on the PiercePrairiePost.com. You are welcome to get ideas and stories from my content. Sharing is our entire mission.

Marianne Lincoln