Mayor's corner

It’s Pride Month! And a great opportunity to reaffirm our commitments to eliminating discrimination and advancing rights and opportunities for everyone. I personally will continue working to support LGBTQ+ rights in Everett and across our nation by being a participating member of the Mayors Against LGBTQ Discrimination and supporting local policies/actions that bring us closer to our equity goals.
 
I invite you all to join me for a Pride Picnic in the Park on June 26 from noon-3 p.m. at Forest Park in Everett. Bring your blanket, friends, families and picnic lunch. We will enjoy a fun afternoon with guest speakers, a children’s story time and other activities to celebrate pride, equity and inclusion in our community. A big THANK YOU to the members of my Youth Advisory Board, our Diversity Advisory Board and all the volunteers who are supporting this effort and making this event happen here in Everett.

- Mayor Cassie

Summer in Everett is here!

The Sorticulture Garden Arts Festival returns June 11-13, launching the start of summer in Everett! This year the outdoor celebration of handcrafted art, plants, flowers and locally made outdoor products will take place in downtown Everett. Free to the public, Sorticulture opens daily at 10 a.m. and closes Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. Learn more at visiteverett.com/sorticulture.
 
Start your summer off with deliciousness while supporting local eateries! We and organizations throughout Snohomish County teamed up with Herald Media for Dine Out Snohomish County, a month-long event to support Snohomish County restaurants and food-based businesses. Throughout June, enjoy two-course lunches for $15 and three-course dinners for $30-$45. Enjoy old favorites and discover new ones at heraldnet.com/dineout.
 
Also back this summer is the City’s Jetty Island Days program in partnership with Port of Everett and Snohomish County! The ferry begins operating on Monday, July 5 and then Wednesday through Sunday from July 7 through Labor Day. Online reservations open June 15 and are required for island-goers to secure their spot on the ferry. Learn more at visiteverett.com/jetty.
 
Speaking of summer fun, make this summer one to remember by joining our team! Spend your summer in the sun, helping the community on the beautiful sandy beaches of Jetty Island. We have multiple seasonal positions open. Learn more and apply at everettwa.gov/jobs.

Take a quick survey to share your ideas about parks

We’re planning for the future of parks and we need your ideas to help update our Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan, which will create a vision and outline future service levels, capital projects, maintenance policies and funding options for the parks system. If you haven’t taken the vision survey yet, there’s still time to share your ideas and concerns. Learn more at everettwa.gov/PROSplan.

Draft Housing Action Plan ready for review

The draft Housing Action Plan is now available online and the community is invited to provide comment through July 2021. The plan is a set of short- and long-term recommended strategies to address the community's growing housing needs and challenges. The Rethink Housing Action Plan Committee will be considering a recommendation to the mayor and city council at their June 3 meeting. Find more information about the Rethink Housing initiative and how to get involved at everettwa.gov/rethinkhousing. For questions, contact Rebecca McCrary at ramccrary@everettwa.gov or 425-257-7133.

COVID-19 updates:

• Governor Jay Inslee announced new incentives to help encourage unvaccinated Washingtonians to get the COVID shot, including cash prizes, gift cards, sports and airline tickets, and much more! All vaccine incentive prizes will be drawn from the Department of Health immunization database to determine winners. The only action that Washingtonians need to take to win any of the prizes is to get vaccinated. All Washington residents who have been previously vaccinated are eligible.

• The statewide reopening could come sooner than June 30 if 70% or more of Washington residents 16 and older get vaccinated. Snohomish County was at 63.3% as of May 30. Vax up to open up!
• The Snohomish County Vaccine Taskforce is dialing back some of the mass vaccination sites and shifting focus toward community-based clinics, as well as looking at ways to bridge other gaps in vaccine access. Learn more or sign up for an appointment at http://bit.ly/snocovaccine or call 425-339-5278.
• Families and households struggling to afford internet service during the COVID-19 pandemic may be eligible for financial assistance through the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Broadband Benefit program. Learn more, view eligibility requirements and apply at fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit.
• Community Transit offers free rides on the bus to people to get their COVID-19 vaccination. The free round-trip does not require any documents, just tell the driver you are traveling to get the vaccine or returning from receiving it. The free ride can be used to travel to mass vaccination sites, a doctor’s office, pharmacy or wherever the customer plans to get vaccinated.