Small Town News

Maureen McCarry receives citys top environmental award

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The latest recipient of the top environmental honor in Issaquah acted as a guiding force -- in public and behind the scenes -- in the long-running effort to shape neighborhoods and preserve undeveloped' land.

Leaders elevated Maureen McCarry into the pantheon alongside other important conservation activists, and bestowed the Ruth Kees Environmental Award for a Sustainable Community on the former councilwoman at a City Hall ceremony March 21.

Mayor Ava Frisinger cited the countless hours McCarry contributed to forge agreements outlining construction in the Issaquah Highlands and Talus, preserve forested Park Pointe near Issaquah High School and strengthen tree-protection rules.

The mayor and Council President John Traeger selected McCarry for the honor after receiving numerous nominations for the former councilwoman, a Squak Mountain resident.

"We look for someone who, over a significant period of time, has demonstrated a very strong commitment to environmental protection and preservation,"

Frisinger said.

In the late 1990s, as builders ratcheted up a housing construction boom, McCarry led the Major Development and Regional Affairs Committee and served on the early committee assigned to forge agreements for the highlands and Talus.

"That work was done at a time when it was a key turning point for Issaquah, because we were faced with planning for rapid urban growth," Frisinger said.

McCarry listed the accomplishments as proud achievements as a councilwoman, as well as leading the city to adopt stronger tree rules.

Frisinger and others also spotlighted McCarry for rallying residents to halt proposed housing construction on the so-called Issaquah 69 parcel on Squak Mountain. The effort led to the preservation of forested land adjacent to Squak Mountain State Park.

Former Councilman David Kappler, a past Kees honoree, said although McCarry spearheaded many issues as a councilwoman, conservation ranked as a top priority at all times.

"Maureen is super-bright, and sometimes would be ahead of me, and I'd have to play catch up," he said. "She's definitely good at looking at things with a different set of eyes, which is something that's needed."

'Weighing all angles'

McCarry resigned in December as symptoms from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, progressed. In a last act as a councilwoman, before a tearful sendoff from council colleagues, she seconded a motion to adopt a Park Pointe agreement.

Despite the health-related setback, she continues to communicate ideas to former council colleagues.

(The council selected attorney Stacy Goodman to serve in McCarry's former seat March 7.)

Ken Konigsmark, another past honoree for efforts to create the greenway, praised McCarry as a thoughtful and determined advocate for conservation.

"I think she was very careful in thoroughly weighing all angles, but from perspective at least, she did so with a strong environmental and conservation bent that served the city, because that reflects the attitudes of the vast majority of the citizens in the community," he said.

The then-councilwoman also earned points from local environmentalists for opposing the Southeast Bypass, a proposed roadway along forested Tiger Mountain. The council pulled the plug on the project in February 2008.

"I was adamantly opposed to that. I still think it would be absolutely insane to consider such a thing," Konigsmark said. "Thankfully, she and the others who opposed it were on the council and stopped that thing."

McCarry, a retired Harborview Medical Center executive, served on the council from 1998 to 2000, and again from 2005 until December. The tenure included a stint in the top spot, council president, through 2009.

The stint in public service also included serving on the Planning Policy Commission in the mid1990s.

'Pure tenaciousness'

"I didn't always agree with her, but I could understand she was raising good points and making things better by doing that, Kappler said.

Connie Marsh, a citizen activist and Issaquah Environmental Council member, said McCarry presented a compelling reason for a decision, even if Marsh disagreed.

"She was tireless and would on ? go far beyond many people's capacity to tolerate in order to get what she perceived to be the correct thing for the public done," Marsh said. "In that particular capacity, she was exemplary. For pure tenaciousness, I give her a 10."

McCarry is the 10th person to receive the honor named for the late environmentalist. Kees received the inaugural award in

2003. The city honored the most recent recipient, late Mountains to Sound Greenway co-founder Ted Thomsen, last July.

The prize included a sculpture from local artist Deby Harvey and $500 -- money from a long-term endowment established as part of Kees' estate.

Kees served as a muse for Harvey as part of the annual artEAST Collective Memory Project. The program uses art to convey the biographies of notable community members.

McCarry plans to match the $500 prize for the Issaquah Environmental Council to plant trees and yank invasive plants.

"There are many champions of the environment that will use these resources wisely to protect the beauty of Issaquah," McCarry wrote in response to emailed questions.

Other recipients said the honor serves as a motivational tool, especially as the debate drags -- sometimes for years -- before a conservation decision is reached.

"I knew Ruth, and she just never gave up until her dying day," Konigsmark said.

Kees died at age 84 in May 2009, days after the city honored Issaquah Alps Trails Club pioneer Harvey Manning.

"You get the award and you think about what it's about and how Ruth did that for so long, and then it sort of re-encourages you and reinvigorates you to sustain the battle," Konigsmark added.

Warren Kagarise: 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress. com.



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