Megan Dunn's eNewsletter
Snohomish County Council
3000 Rockefeller Ave., M/S 609
Everett, Washington 98201
8th floor, Robert J. Drewel Building
Phone: 425-388-3494
E-Mail: Megan.Dunn@snoco.org
Paula Rhyne, Legislative Aide
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Hello friend:
April is one of my favorite months of the year because of the focus and celebrations on Earth Day. With how difficult this past year has been, I’ve been especially thankful for the great outdoors to provide a reprieve. Some of my favorite outdoor areas include enjoying a lunchtime walk on Lowell Riverfront Trail and exploring Edgewater Beach to watch the ferries! During this month, the County and some local area organizations have several Earth Day events to help with cleaning up and protecting our environment. In this newsletter, I’ll be highlighting some of those events below. If you know of any other events that I may have missed, please feel free to email them to me at Megan.Dunn@snoco.org and I’d be happy to post them on my Facebook or Twitter pages.
In this newsletter, I’ll also be sharing more about the vaccine rollout at the County. Starting on April 15, all people in Washington over the age of 16 are now eligible to receive the vaccine. The Snohomish County Vaccine Taskforce now operates seven mass vaccination sites and more info and sign-ups can be found at this link (just this week, the County opened a new site drive thru site at Ash Way). Even with the eligibility expansion, there is limited availability from the federal government and we are asking folks to please stay patient about receiving a vaccine. Additionally, if you have made multiple appointments please cancel any of the additional appointments that you no longer need to make room for other folks and to not waste any of the limited supply.
I hope that this newsletter finds you safe and well! If you have any questions or if I can be of assistance, please don’t hesitate to email me at megan.dunn@snoco.org, or my Aide, Paula Rhyne, at paula.rhyne@snoco.org, and we can get back to you right away. You can also call the office at 425-388-3494 to leave a message and we can call you back.
I’m glad to see that there are a lot of socially-distant Earth Day events this year. Most are focused on litter clean-up, and hopefully the weather will cooperate! Here are some area events that I am aware of:
Marine Resources Committee
In celebration of Earth Day, Snohomish County Marine Resources Committee (MRC) and WSU Snohomish County are hosting a shoreline cleanup. Grab a bag and head out to pick up litter from a local shoreline (Puget Sound, river, or lake), and drop off your litter bag on Earth Day, April 22 between 2-6p, at any of the disposal and sorting locations below to see what was diverted from local waters:
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Arlington: Twin Rivers County Park – 8003 SR-530 NE, Arlington, WA 98223
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Edmonds: Esperance County Park – 7830 224th SW, Edmonds, WA 98026
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Everett: Snohomish County Campus – 3000 Rockefeller Ave, Everett, WA 98201
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Everett: McCollum County Park – 600 128th St SE, Everett, WA 98206
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Monroe: Fairfield County Park – 15532 Fryelands Blvd SE, Monroe, WA 98272
On-site volunteers will sort the litter collected by the public at local beaches and shorelines to better understand how it affects our environment.
Join Paula and I as we clean up Edgewater Beach on Thursday! I’ll drop off and photograph what we collected. We’ll be a small (but mighty!) and socially distant team and you are welcome to join.
Nature Together Earth Day Beach Cleanup
The teachers from Mukilteo’s Nature Together preschool are hosting a special event in honor of Earth Day. On Saturday, April 24, from 10-noon they will be at Howarth Park cleaning up the beach. The event is free and open to the public. When they’re all done, they’ll weigh the garbage to see just how successful the cleanup efforts were! Folks can meet on the beach near the steps – just look for the canopy and Nature Together sign.
Port of Everett Marina Clean Up Day
The Port of Everett is hosting a clean-up day at the marina this Saturday, April 24, from 9-noon. Come on down to 1205 Craftsman Way and join the group for a fun day of volunteering and to help pick up trash and beautify the waterfront. The Facebook invite can be found at this link.
Vaccine distribution has been going well in Snohomish County. The Health District and healthcare providers have been getting doses out quickly when they do come in. Just this last week, the County was able to provide more than 50,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines across the county. The total number of doses administered as of April 13 is 434,419, and 177,117 people have been fully vaccinated, or 26% of the county population.
Snohomish County recently opened a seventh mass vaccination site focused on easy transit access. This site opens up on Wednesday, April 21, at the Ash Way Park & Ride in Lynnwood. The site will offer a combination of drive-thru and walk up vaccinations. Transit riders can take a Community Transit route to walk-up to their appointment, or people in their vehicles can drive-thru. The site is unable to accommodate people parking and doing a walk-thru appointment. Like all of the mass vaccination sites, Ash Way is by appointment only. People can schedule an appointment online at http://bit.ly/snocovaccine using the registration link provided for the Ash Way site. Please note there are separate clinics and registrations for walk-up and for drive-thru appointments.
The other six county-run mass vaccination sites are Boeing Activity Center, Edmonds College, Monroe fairgrounds, Arlington airport, Everett’s Angel of the Winds Arena (currently paused), and Boom City in Tulalip. Starting April 15, all people in WA over the age of 16 are eligible to receive the vaccine, but due to high demand and number of people eligible, coupled with the pause on vaccines from J&J, the County is expecting another bottleneck in folks getting appointments and are asking people to please be patient!
Here is a link to find available vaccine appointments, including ones through county-run sites. The vaccine is safe and effective and our best shot (pun intended!) at putting COVID behind us. And a reminder that if you've made multiple appointments, please cancel the appointments that you won't need to clear those spots for others and not waste the limited supply of vaccines.
Early on during the pandemic, I signed up to volunteer with the Snohomish Health District Medical Reserve Corps to help lend a hand at testing and vaccination sites. It has been a great way to help support the efforts of our Snohomish Health District and local groups as we all band together to do our part and battle the global pandemic.
Recently, my legislative aide, Paula Rhyne, joined me at a mass vaccination site at Boeing Activity Center where we volunteered for a shift to help direct traffic. Jonathan Burke with the Health District was the site manager and I was impressed with the efficiency that staff and volunteers were able to move over a thousand people through that site in just one day. Folks had lots of smiles and thumbs up on their way out which is a great sign of a job well done! Kudos to all of the MRC volunteers, Health District staff, site staff and volunteers, and everyone involved with detailed planning for all of the county’s mass vaccination sites.
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Paula, Jonathan, and I at the Boeing Activity Center Mass Vaccination Site. |
Earlier this week, we also volunteered with the Vaccine Equity Partnership and helped celebrate their 2000th vaccine. The Vaccine Equity Partnership is a group of local BIPOC organizations partnering with Providence Institute for a Healthier Community to schedule vaccine appointments for marginalized people in our BIPOC community. The work that these groups are doing is helping to bring an equitable approach to the vaccine distribution in our county and I am proud to be part of this uplifting partnership. Other partners include: Housing Hope, Refugee and Immigrant Services NW, NAACP of Snohomish County, Communities of Color Coalition (C3), Latino Education Training Institute, Greater Trinity Church, Snohomish County Latino Coalition, Korean Community Service Center, Snohomish County Mutual Aid, Pacific Islander Community Assoc, Community Transit,Paula and myself from Snohomish County District 2 Office!
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Julieta Altamirano-Crosby, Paula, and I at the Vaccine Equity Clinic |
Honored to volunteer for Van Kuno! |
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I recently had a chance to meet with staff and tribal members from the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians and toured several of their sites. I enjoyed hearing about the work that they are doing to restore salmon habitat in the area and protect critical waterways. They also provided a tour of their community village with housing and educational facilities. What a beautiful space! I look forward to joining again for a festival or celebration, and am grateful for our partnership and mutual commitment to environmental preservation.
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The County Council recently accepted a grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce to help provide rental relief for people who have been impacted by the pandemic. With the eviction moratorium eventually coming to an end, it’s imperative that the county takes proactive measures now to mitigate the impending impact. If you or someone you know is in need of rental assistance, please contact 211 to seek help. Landlords can also help tenants by completing a Rent Delinquency Form. Click the flyer below for more information about programs, screening criteria, and income qualifications.
The Everett Museum of History recently launched their new website. It has great information about various stories, news, and celebrations in Everett. I look forward to checking out their new physical space when it opens, but like browsing through the old pictures showing Everett’s past. I particularly like the section about amazing women in Everett’s history!
Thank you for taking the time to read through my newsletter. I hope to see you on Thursday for the Snohomish County Marine Resources Committee's Earth Day event, or if there’s another Earth Day event that you’re participating in, please let me know! Don’t hesitate to reach out if there’s anything else that I can assist with. My email is megan.dunn@snoco.org, or you can call the Council offices at 425-388-3494 and leave a message.
I hope you’re enjoying this wonderful weather, while still being mindful of COVID!
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