Taste of Edmonds won't OK Planned Parenthood booth

By Lynn Thompson
Times Snohomish County bureau

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Chris Guitton, executive director of the Greater Edmonds Chamber of Commerce, said the Taste of Edmonds, scheduled Aug. 13-15, is "mostly about entertainment and family."

He said that groups with a political message, such as opponents and proponents of the proposed Brightwater sewer-treat-ment facility, have been turned down in past years when they asked to participate.

"We don't want messages that are offensive to even a small fraction of the people attending the Taste," Guitton said. "It's not a political forum. It's not an educational forum. It's a place to relax and have fun."

But the Chamber, which sponsors the Taste, is allowing The Alliance for Christian Schools, a group representing four North Seattle and South Snohomish County religious schools, to staff a booth. It's not a political organization, Guitton said.

That decision strikes Planned Parenthood supporters as unfair.

"They allow other community groups to be a part. We view ourselves as a community group," said Mendy Droke, field organizer for Planned Parenthood of Western Washington.

Droke said Planned Parenthood has participated at other community fairs this summer as part of a national voter-registration drive: the Fremont Fair in June and Whaling Days in Silverdale last month. It's also been accepted at Kenmore's Good Ol' Days Aug. 28, she said.

Droke said that in addition to registering voters, the organization typically offers brochures listing clinic locations, medical services and information about low-cost contraceptives. Planned Parenthood's most controversial service, abortion, accounts for less than 5 percent of the local affiliate's work, she said.

Guitton said he and other Taste organizers had left the door open for Planned Parenthood to register voters at a Chamber of Commerce booth, when he learned yesterday that Planned Parenthood had contacted supporters and the media to protest the Chamber's decision.

Lynn Thompson: 425-745-7807 or lthompson@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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