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Is it sunset for Sunset project? p2Where is Boeing headquarters p4Support Youth Scholarship Fund p6Washingtonians are driving less p16

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806 5th Street, Mukilteo, WA 98275 www.edmondsbeacon.com Volume XXIX Number 7 Dec. 5, 2013

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Budget OK’d; includes cops, 1-time needs

Christmas in Edmonds

The vision of drifting down the mighty Mis-sissippi on a lazy summer day has enthralled

generations of boys since Mark Twain wrote his classic, “Huckleberry Finn.”

Dave Ellingson, of Edmonds, never let go of that boyhood dream, and in 2012, at age 64, he fulfi lled it, rowing a kayak 2,300 miles from Lake Itasca, Minnesota – the headwaters of the Mississippi – to New Orleans on the Gulf of Mexico.

But what started out as pure adventure became equally a spiritual pilgrimage, a journey of dis-covery that Ellingson shares in his just-released book, “Paddle Pilgrim: An Adventure of Spirit and Learning Kayaking the Mississippi River.”

Ellingson, a professor at Trinity Lutheran Col-lege in Everett and a Lutheran pastor, learned quickly that Huck and Jim’s idyllic, lazy days on the river weren’t an accurate picture for the kind of journey on which he had embarked.

From bitterly cold, wet, stormy nights in the north to blazing hot, humid days in the south, El-lingson usually didn’t get the ideal weather he had

envisioned.He often spelled it out in

prayer, telling God: “I’d like a 7 mph current, 3- to 4-mph head-wind, and the sun covered by a large cloud 70 percent of the time.

“Then the sun would come out, scorching, and I’d say, ‘God, how about just a small breeze?’”

He blogged about his journey and uploaded photos, telling

a handful of friends and family about his experi-ences as he paddled his 17 1/2-foot Tsunami 175 kayak down the river.

A husband and father of fi ve grown children, he admitted not blogging all of his experiences, mainly to avoid worrying his wife and 97-year-old mother.

There was his decision, for example, to paddle straight across Lake Winnibigoshish, against ad-vice that he stick close to the shoreline.

A shallow lake, it was calm and smooth at the

The Edmonds City Coun-cil gave staff a green

light to work on zoning and other regulations governing future marijuana retail sales.

The council on Tuesday voted 6-0-1, with Council-member Kristiana Johnson abstaining, to prepare for the possibility that mari-juana will be legally sold beginning in 2014 when the Washington State Liquor Control Board has fi nished drawing up regulations governing those sales. The state had until Dec. 1 to write the rules and imple-ment the details of the new

system.Among the details already

announced was the number of licensed stores that the state will permit to operate.

Edmonds will be permit-ted two stores, as will Lynnwood. Everett will be permitted fi ve stores, Mukilteo and Mountlake Terrace, one each. In all, 35 licensed stores will be permitted in Snohomish County, 334 across the state.

City Attorney Jeff Taraday had been urging the council to make a policy decision on whether it wanted to permit any pot stores in Edmonds.

“Does the City want to al-

see BUDGET page 19 X

see AUTHOR page 19 X

City gives staff green light to prepare for marijuana sales

BY PAUL ARCHIPLEYPUBLISHER@YOURBEACON.NET

see MARIJUANA page 19 X

Author recounts adventure-turned-pilgrimage in trip down Huck’s river

BY PAUL ARCHIPLEYPUBLISHER@YOURBEACON.NET

Dave Ellingson

Following expressed concerns about some proposed personnel additions

in 2014, the Edmonds City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the 2014 budget.

The $89 million budget refl ects the improving economy.

According to Finance Director Roger Neumaier, general fund revenues are up 6.7 percent, about $2.3 million over projected year-end revenues for 2013.

Expenditures will rise nearly 16 percent, about $5.2 million more than 2013’s estimated year-end spending.

Much of the increased spending, Neumaier explained, relates to capital investments using borrowed money for utility improvements.

But it was the addition of personnel, following several years of layoffs, that made some councilmembers nervous.

“To me, this is a very aggressive bud-get,” Councilmember Diane Buckshnis said. “For years, we’ve been crying cut, cut, cut.

“I don’t want to go down that path

BY PAUL ARCHIPLEYPUBLISHER@YOURBEACON.NET

Hundreds showed up Saturday for the Edmonds Tree Lighting Ceremony, an annual celebration of the holiday season. Santa, above, was, of course, the headliner. Also in attendance were Bear Lund, an Edmonds-Woodway High student, top, who charmed listeners with her version of “Silver Bells”’; Ron Clyborne, master of ceremonies and president of the Edmonds Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the event; and a wide-eyed boy in the crowd who, no doubt, had visions of sugar plums dancing in his head. For more photos, go to www.edmondsbeacon.com.

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beginning. But a third of the way across, a storm blew in, and Ellingson found himself racing down 8-foot waves.

“It was probably one of the stupidest things I did on the whole trip,” he admitted.

There were other near-misses, such as the time he came close to being run over by a river barge, or the time he had to spread out his arms and legs in his tent during a vicious storm, fearing it was going to blow away with him in it.

“There were many moments when I was ready to quit,” El-lingson said.

Of course, most of the time, he was alone with his thoughts.

“I was alone for long periods,” he said. “When you’re alone, you have to face the demons… and God.”

But those were eye opening, cathartic “conversations.”

“They were the most honest prayers I ever offered,” he said, “honest encounters with my own mortality and limitations.”

Even when he was most discouraged, he’d stop, gather himself, and realize he had the power to keep going.

“I had those moments where I found I was a lot more capable than I realized,” he said.

Perhaps most uplifting were his encounters with what he called his “River Angels” – people who lived along the river.

He’d spot one fi shing, for in-stance, pull over and start up a conversation. That would turn into an invitation to dinner.

Or he’d meet someone who had a vacation cabin on the river, and fi nd himself with a dry place to sleep that night.

“They were wonderful peo-ple,” he said of his encounters. “Whenever I needed help, they were open and receptive.

“No one ever refused me help.”He turned his blogs into chap-

ters, and added more that he hadn’t divulged before, to pub-lish his book, “Paddle Pilgrim.”

His writing ranges from color-ful prose to edge-of-seat drama:

“The water was shrouded in drifting mist,” he wrote in one chapter. “A gradual crescendo of birds was warming their voices. The dawn of a new day suffused the horizon with an orange hue.”

Elsewhere: “Scanning the river and seeing no ships, I decided to go for it! Paddling with a steady and forceful stroke, I headed toward the distant lights… As I reached mid-channel, I heard a thunderous sound above the howling wind. It was the blaring horn of a barge. I didn’t need to look to know that I was in its path as it surged downstream.”

Ultimately, however, the book isn’t about paddling so much as pilgrimage.

Ellingson, who often speaks to young people’s groups as well as teach them at Trinity Lutheran, encourages people of all ages to set their sights high and pursue their dreams.

As most of a certain age have learned, “If we knew how dan-gerous life is, we wouldn’t begin the journey,” he said.

The biggest lesson he learned? “I’m not in control,” he said.

“And that’s not a bad thing.”

“Paddle Pilgrim,” by Dave Ellingson, is available through local bookstores, Amazon, and in digital format.

X from AUTHOR page 1

Dave Ellingson’s book

again where we start cutting people again.”

Alluding to the concerns among some that the economy may not yet be on solid ground, she added, “A lot of citizens think we’re drinking the Kool-aid.”

Councilmember Joan Bloom echoed that concern, asking Public Works Director Phil Williams how he could justify adding a project manager in 2014 when using contract help might be a more reasonable, cautious approach.

But Williams said contract-ing out the work would cost the City about $300,000 more than hiring its own employee.

He noted that project manag-ers are used to working with the understanding that their work can go away if fi nances decline and projects are de-layed or eliminated.

“If it comes to the point where the workload doesn’t support that many, that’s the person who is fi rst to go,” Wil-liams said.

“Yes, we do need it,” he said of the position. “Otherwise we can’t deliver on the capital plan you approved.”

Parks Director Carrie Hite said two projects planned next year by her department – a new fi shing pier and the “spray park” – wouldn’t be possible without a project manager’s support.

“This position is a manage-ment position; we can lay that person off at any time,” Hite said. “It’s a common practice with project managers.”

Besides that position, the budget also includes two new police offi cers – a second assis-tant chief and a patrol offi cer – as well as some part-time and contract positions.

Overall, the process moved relatively smoothly after May-or Dave Earling presented his proposed budget on Oct. 1.

On Wednesday, the mayor said he was pleased with the process and the council’s sup-port.

“We thought when we took the budget to the council that it was well constructed, and cau-tious,” Earling said.

“By and large, based on the amendments the council pro-posed, I think they agreed.”

Earling said he understood the concerns some expressed about adding personnel.

But there, too, he said his ad-ministration was conservative. Some positions are contract positions, others only part time, “to see how it works out,” he said.

He also was happy the City had enough new revenue to address some needed one-time expenditures, such as IT im-provements and HVAC systems maintenance.

“We were very selective in the kinds of improvements we proposed,” he said.

X from BUDGET page 1

low marijuana stores in the city? Or ban them?” Taraday asked. “You have two basic policy choices.

“Depending on what that pol-icy is, it gives me and the staff clear direction.”

While the council looked to them for direction, both Taraday and Police Chief Al Compaan emphasized the question was a policy decision, and that was the council’s to make.

“My opinion is you have the legal ability to ban them,” Taraday said. “I don’t think my opinion is novel.

“It seems to be the consensus among attorneys in the munici-pal community.”

Chief Compaan reminded the council that marijuana use is

still illegal under federal law, despite voter approval in 2012 of Initiative 502, which permits adults to possess and use small amounts of marijuana-related products.

He noted, however, that federal offi cials said they would step back.

Many believe federal offi cials are taking a “wait and see” at-titude as Washington and Colo-rado blaze a new trail for the rest of the country to watch and, perhaps, follow.

Compaan said it appeared the Liquor Control Board was estab-lishing fairly stringent regula-tions to govern pot.

“This, in many ways, is very uncharted territory,” Compaan said. “I certainly have my own personal and professional opin-ions.

“It’s a personal issue whether you feel you’re meeting the desires and needs of the com-munity.”

As council questions began to mount about zoning issues, buf-fers and other questions, Tara-day urged councilmembers fi rst to make a decision on whether to allow sales or not.

“There are any number of questions we can get bogged down in tonight,” he said. “There’s a fundamental fork in the road here, whether you want to allow them or ban them.”

On a motion by Councilmem-ber Strom Peterson, six mem-bers voted on their preference.

They directed staff to bring back recommendations on zon-ing and other issues in favor of allowing marijuana businesses in Edmonds as related to I-502.

X from MARIJUANA page 1

low marijuana stores in the city? Or ban them?” Taraday asked. “You have two basic policy choices.

X

James Hudson of Edmonds re-cently began a 10-month term

of service in the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), an AmeriCorps program.

Hudson, based out of the Ameri-Corps NCCC regional campus in Sacramento, began his fi rst proj-ect during the week of Nov. 14.

Founded in 1994, AmeriCorps NCCC is a residential national service program that supports disaster relief, the environment, infrastructure improvement, en-ergy conservation, and urban and rural development.

Over the past 20 years, 820,000 Americans have served more than 1 billion hours across the family of AmeriCorps programs.

Currently, about 80,000 people serve in AmeriCorps programs nationwide each year, about 2,500 of whom serve with AmeriCorps NCCC.

Hudson will be responsible for managing the daily activities of 10 to 12 Corps Members on their ser-vice projects. He serves as a role model, educator, safety manager, and liaison between the campus and project sponsor.

Fifty-six teams composed of more than 600 Corps Members and Team Leaders began service projects in November throughout the Pacifi c and Southwest regions, based in Sacramento in Denver respectively.

Some of these projects include providing services to homeless clients at Sacramento Loaves and Fishes, completing environmen-tal restoration projects in Death Valley National Park, supporting a nature reserve in Missouri and a children’s hospital in Arkansas, and assisting with fl ood recovery

in northern Colorado.Before joining NCCC, Hudson

attended Mountlake Terrace High School and Evergreen State Col-lege, where he studied Experien-tial Education.

Hudson said, “I chose to do a term of national service because I decided I really liked the way the program was structured and thought it would be a good way to give back to communities as well as experience a new part of the country.

“Before graduating [from my fi rst term of service with NCCC],

I spent time in Schoharie, New York, doing disaster recovery, and then spent some time serving in an emergency shelter in Jersey City.

“I already knew, before going home, that I wanted to spend an-other year with NCCC.” James is the son of Janet Foster and Brad Hudson.

AmeriCorps NCCC members, all 18 to 24 years old, complete at least 1,700 hours of service during the 10-month program. For more information, visit the website at www.americorps.gov/nccc.

Local heroes serve in 20th class of AmeriCorps NCCC