Residents of Sumner and Bonney Lake converged on Bonney Lake High School Thursday afternoon and evening to discuss the issues affecting the community, from the YMCA to the rise in abuse of prescription pain killers.
The 17th Annual Community Summit began with presummit sessions at 3 p.m. and ended at 8:30 p.m. following awards and the keynote speech. The event was hosted by the Communities for Families Coalition, an organization of representatives from school organizations, churches, volunteers and government programs.
One presummit session dealt with prescription drug abuse and the other with cell phones and cyber safety.
Dr. Steven Freng, the prevention/treatment manager for the Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, discussed the phenomenon of prescription drug abuse. Freng discussed the patterns of drug abuse that emerge from data tracked since 1996, when NW HIDTA was established by federal grant, allowing law enforcement agencies to share information.
“It’s become increasingly apparent that this is the decade of prescription medications, and in the last two to three years it has hit full force,” he said. OxyContin, Percocet and, increasingly, Methadone have recently become major recurring names in both drug seizures and overdose cases, he said.
Seattle Public Schools Program Administrator Mike Donlin discussed the problems that have arisen from misuse of cell phones and the Internet, posing several scenarios drawn from real life concerning the transmission of sexual content, “cyberbullying” and distracted driving. One scenario described graphic cell phone photos of a nude teen that were transmitted between several school officials trying to identify the subject, an action that could have posed child pornography risks to the officials, who lacked the proper handling procedure for the incident.
The sessions were followed by several breakout discussion sessions. Breakout topics included the pre-summit topics and other issues such as athletics and activities in the budget crisis, local safety nets for basic needs, the YMCA plans for Sumner and Bonney Lake and how to find and land jobs in an ill economy.
Crestwood Elementary Principal Kay Gallo presented most of the reports from the breakout sessions at the Summit dinner, conducted in the high school multipurpose room.
Bonney Lake and Sumner mayors Neil Johnson and Dave Enslow each addressed the audience. Enslow announced an April 24 “shredding day” in his city, on which the police department would collect expired prescription medications and alkaline batteries for disposal.
Johnson spoke to the importance of community involvement.
“I’ve been doing these summits for nine years and they always get bigger and better,” he said. “Our community is bigger than Bonney Lake, it’s bigger than Buckley and Sumner. The Plateau will only get better because of you and your involvement. Our city council wants to hear from you, because that’s how we find out what matters to you. So go to a councilmember, go to me or go to the school superintendent.”
Community Impact “Unsung Heroes” awards were given to five locals who demonstrated outstanding community involvement in their work. Awards were given to Julie Bavaart, Mike Cella, Iona Catonio, Karlie Pyl and Sonja Workman.
The event finished with a keynote speech given by Eric Boles, the president of the Edge Learning Institute and a former NFL player for the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers.
