Yesterday (April 14) the City announced an update on event and meeting cancellations, and facility closures, for the coming months. In order to maintain ongoing compliance with Governor Inslee's " Stay Home, Stay Healthy " Order, the following are now in effect:

This list will be evaluated over the coming weeks. In the meantime, the City encourages everyone to continue heeding the Governor's Stay Home, Stay Healthy Order, and maintain appropriate social distancing even as the weather warms up and more people are recreating outside.

For more information, please visit the City's Coronavirus webpages , call the City's hotline at (206)-275-7626 (8am-5pm, seven days/week), or Email questions to Coronavirus@mercergov.org  

Today, the Mercer Island Community Fund (MICF) launches WeLoveMI, a new community-wide effort to provide relief during the COVID-19 emergency. WeLoveMI makes it easy for community members to directly support local organizations that have been impacted and/or that provide aid to the community members who are most in need during this difficult time.

 

MICF collaborated with a community coalition and students from Mercer Trade, Inc., to design WeLoveMI, and local organizations and businesses will benefit from the campaign.

 

Visit www.welovemi.org today to learn more about how you can support YOUR Island organizations and keep Mercer Island a vibrant place to live, work, learn, shop, and thrive.  

 

Local businesses and nonprofits - you can benefit from this outreach and fundraising campaign, too! Read this article on the City's Let's Talk site to learn more about how to get involved.  

Last Friday, the City closed parking lots at all major Mercer Island parks to facilitate social distancing during an expected sunny and busy weekend. Full parking lots on sunny days concentrate a lot of park users unnecessarily and make the enforcement of 6-foot distancing near impossible.

All residents and visitors were urged to recreate close to home, rather than driving to a major park, and almost everyone complied - thank you! The parks themselves (as well as the Dog Park, MI Boat Launch, and P-Patch) remain open, when used responsibly. Per Governor Inslee's Order, no group gatherings are allowed.

 

The parking lot closure continues and we thank you for your understanding and support. Parks staff and police officers will be contacting drivers attempting to park vehicles, and the MIPD will address any neighborhood parking problems; please park vehicles only in appropriate and permitted locations. Call (206) 275-7626 with questions or concerns.

 

Other surrounding communities have also taken these same measures with their parks parking lots: Bellevue, Renton, and Seattle.  

City Manager Jessi Bon has invited the City's Geriatric Specialist Betsy Zuber, and Emergency Management Volunteer Liaison, Dave Uhler, to join her for this week's Live COVID-19 Video Briefing on Thursday, April 16.

Betsy and Dave will speak to the latest resources for Mercer Island seniors and City-coordinated volunteering efforts, as well as other timely updates.

Tune in live on Thursday, April 16, at 3:00pm via MI-TV Channel 21 or the City's YouTube Channel, or watch the archived version later !
Visit Let's Talk for more information and presentation summaries. Please Email questions in advance to: citymanager@mercergov.org  

Launched in 1970, 20 million people nationwide campaigned against industrial pollution on the first Earth Day, April 22.

 

Fifty years later,  Earth Day 2020 has a global mission of climate action. Here in the Pacific Northwest, cities and communities like Mercer Island are tackling that through: