A diverse group of citizens came together at the Issaquah City Hall on Saturday, March 21 to share ideas on local economics, gardening, and public education.

The meeting was one of the first for a group which charges itself with no less than securing the future of the city – Sustainable Issaquah.

Sustainable Issaquah is, at present, a loosely organized group of citizens interested in ensuring the Issaquah of the future interacts more harmoniously with the environment, and provides better opportunities for community engagement and social responsibility.

In an address to open the meeting, Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger said that as both a parent and a mayor, being conscious of the environment was something she knew was important.

“We are regularly exploring ways that the city itself can lessen its impact on the environment,” she said. “These includes things like switching to hybrid vehicles, and we have been active in recycling.”

But as Frisinger knows, sustainability is a dynamic concept with many sides. It could be about ecological sustainability, which is helping the environment to maintain and restore itself with some natural balance; or it could mean economic sustainability, the ability of businesses to work as part of local supply and demand cycles.

All these ideas, and more, are being tackled by the group that includes not only Frisinger, but also prominent community members and representatives of groups with a stake in the continued economic and environmental viability of the city.

The goal of Sustainable Issaquah is to look for lasting solutions to maintain and improve livability.

“We all want balance, livability and permanence for the things we value. That’s sustainability,” said Chantal Stevens, the former director of Sustainable Seattle who served as co-chair of the Mayor’s Economic Vitality Taskforce in 2007.

“How we create and maintain that balance between an economy that supports adequate quality of life, a functional social safety net and ecological health is a challenge that requires the community to come together, agree on what matters and get engaged.”

Issaquah Residents Lori Danielson, Nancy Martinez and Chantal Stevens came together in 2008 to create Sustainable Issaquah, to build a positive sustainable future for Issaquah.

What emerged was a desire for a self-sufficient/self contained community with a strong identity and character, and well educated citizens.

Saturday’s meeting was the first in what will be a series of meetings that engages more and more citizens and businesses.

New community garden

One of the first projects to be supported by Sustainable Issaquah is the creation of a community garden.

Despite a strong community garden program in Seattle, and the success of such gardens in Klahanie and the Issaquah Highlands, Issaquah itself has not yet started its own. But that is set to change.

AtWork of Issaquah has donated a site, a patch of unused land near their operations center on Northwest Juniper Street.

All that is needed now is the involvement of Issaquah gardeners, and anyone willing to contribute their time and expertise.

Community gardens are one of the great success stories of the recent trend to better utilize urban green space, and a growing interest in city farming. They promote not only better health and nutrition, but also social interaction, soil conservation, and the greater involvement of people in their communities and the food chain — all key concepts of sustainability.

Anyone interested in getting involved in the community garden needs to attend an information meeting at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8, at the AtWork site, 690 N.W. Juniper street.

For more information on Sustainable Issaquah, call Lori at 425-313-0201 or e-mail sustainableissaquah@gmail.com.