We, too, upset over trestle fire

On behalf of the Samish Indian Nation, I am responding to the comments in (the Oct. 15) online newspaper about the fire on the trestle of the Tommy Thompson Trail. One comment suggested that the Samish Indian Nation would be pleased that the vandalism occurred and this valuable community asset was destroyed.

The person who wrote that comment obviously was acting on misinformation or misconceptions about the tribe’s activities relative to this trail.

The tribe is deeply upset about the destruction of the trestle. We will be working with local authorities to help identify and prosecute the individual or individuals responsible for the fire. The tribe along with other members of the Anacortes community have enjoyed the benefits of the Tommy Thompson Trail and causeway. Additionally, the tribe has made valuable contributions to the improvement and maintenance of the trail along our property including the causeway.

The tribe’s Natural Resources Department along with the state Department of Ecology have been studying the impact of the trestle on water quality and tides in Fidalgo Bay. The results of the study are under review and suggest various options for improving the water quality within the bay. We have been in discussions with the City of Anacortes and the Department of Ecology about these options to improve and enhance portions of the Tommy Thompson Trail as well as improve water quality and tidal flows in Fidalgo Bay. All of the options under consideration include maintaining the Tommy Thompson Trail and causeway for the benefit of the community.

Thomas D. Wooten

Tribal Chairman

Brevoort intelligent, dedicated

I am writing to encourage Mount Vernon voters to cast their ballots for Doris Brevoort, who is running for the at-large seat on the City Council. If you have not yet had the pleasure of meeting Doris, she is one of the most vibrant, energetic, intelligent, and dedicated civil servants you will ever meet.

Doris is completely focused on working collaboratively to make Mount Vernon an even better place for us all to live. She will bring fresh ideas and thinking to the City Council. For example, she is a proponent of creating neighborhood organizations that bring people together in their local communities. Those groups can then communicate important neighborhood issues to the City Council, so that the council is more responsive to citizens’ needs.

She has been and will continue to be a proactive supporter of a revitalized downtown through the Main Street program and other avenues. Doris will help to move Mount Vernon into this new century by promoting wise land for the anticipated growth of our retail economy and residential areas in ways that will protect our quality of life while increasing business, thereby maintaining ample funding for essential city services. She has strategies for saving the city money while benefiting the environment, by encouraging conservation of resources to reduce the city’s carbon footprint.

Doris’ creative energy will add diversity to the existing council. Knowing her as I do, I am confident that she will be open and accessible to all citizens’ concerns. You will be well-represented if you elect Doris Brevoort to the Mount Vernon City Council.

Eric Knudsen

Mount Vernon

Loving my private air show

I am writing in response to the letter of Mr. J. Robert Henderson of Guemes Island (Saturday, Oct. 3). I’ve heard these complaints on and off ever since I moved from Seattle to Mount Vernon in 1988.

Frankly, I enjoy the jets, the Prowlers and Growlers. They frequently do a U-turn right over my house, so I keep a pair of binoculars right by the door to the deck. They give me goose bumps. It’s like my own private air show. So keep them coming my way.

Keith Fisher

Mount Vernon

Rubin will keep port on track

Keith Rubin enthusiastically gets my vote for Anacortes Port commissioner. Because our family spends a large amount of time on the water, both professionally and recreationally, we appreciate the importance of good port commissioners. The decisions they make not only have a huge effect on those of us who work and play around the waterfront, but also on our entire community.

I have been very pleased with the positive direction the Port of Anacortes has taken in recent years. Keith was part of the team that was instrumental in getting the port back on track. The Port of Anacortes is now thriving and has received several awards. Currently, the port has projects under way that will have a positive impact on our community. It’s especially exciting to see so much going on in and around Cap Sante Boat Haven, which is just one example of the dedication and effort of our port commissioners — to make Anacortes a better place to live, work and visit.

In addition to Keith’s position as a port commissioner, I know him as a valuable and hard-working volunteer who truly wants to improve his community. I believe Keith Rubin has the skills to keep the port on the right track.  

Jean Ford Andrich

Anacortes

If we must fight, we must win

I am against war, in all of its fashions and forms. Like most people, I harbor this hope: that war will eventually wear itself out and find no place on earth in which to function. In the meantime, war is here, now, and we are wrapped up in several of them.

To that point, if we are so involved in ever-evolving conflicts, I want our folks to win. Not just the wars themselves, but all of the battles, engagements, etc., that make up the bloody matrix that is the sum of war.

I have come to understand that getting to the end of war is a process. To get there, all of the wars to come must be fought first, and I wish for the U.S. to fight them well, to be the best trained, most able to survive, and the most courageous, under fire.

I say let the jets fly where they must, and learn to be the best there is in all circumstances. War is noisy stuff and we should be able to make the most noise, rather than become whispers in a jet storm.

Mike O’Connell

Oak Harbor

Do what’s right, commissioners

The county commissioners have the ability to reject the Clear Valley wetlands mitigation proposal and a mandate to do so because the GMA requires them to protect prime farmland. Regardless of what reviews, rulings, political or personal pressures may exist, as they do in all government decisions, the commissioners should act to preserve the irreplaceable resources of Skagit County.

In my rather slightly informed opinion, commercial wetlands mitigation banks are a bad idea because they have not, at this point, proved to be very successful. They may benefit large financial interests, often not local, be created of land that is not appropriate or natural to that use, and encourage destruction of natural wetland in development.

Please, commissioners, do the right thing here. Please, public, pay attention to what is happening to your Skagit Valley.

Ginny Darvill

Mount Vernon

Support public schools

Change is always frightening, but to hype fear for profit is cowardly; these people should be exposed for what they are. Our airwaves, schools, churches and political dialogue have been co-opted by a greedy, amoral, power-hungry group that has been around for a long time. Education is the only answer. When people can’t read above a fourth-grade level, they’re easy to deceive.

Support your public schools, with both your money and time. PTA matters, teachers matter, testing does not matter, being excited about learning matters. Teachers understand the futility of pounding round children into square holes. Children need exercise; where’s gym? Skinned knees, broken arms are a right of growing up.

Conspirators have spent years and millions convincing us schools are for babysitting. Raising children is the parents’ job, educating the schools. I am in no way involved with the educational system professionally, only as a parent. Stop, take a good look at what has happened to our schools in the last 40 years. Now that’s scary.

Linda Purtteman

Arlington

Benson worthy of re-election

I am recommending that Vic Benson be re-elected as a commissioner for Fire District 3 (Conway-Cedardale area). I have worked with him on the board of commissioners for two years. He puts in a lot of his own time to accomplish projects for the board and the people of the district. Over the past few years, a new fire station for the Cedardale Department has been built on Hickox Road, new fire engines and medical aid trucks have been bought for both the Conway and Cedardale stations, and a brush fire vehicle and a command vehicle have been obtained as surplus from other government agencies. Plans are almost complete to expand and modernize the Conway station.

His opponent has stated he would run a fiscally sound fire district. During Vic Benson’s term, the district has done all the above and more while staying under budget and maintaining a reserve fund so that we have not had to ask the taxpayers for more money.

Edward Kemper

Mount Vernon

Read more local news in the Skagit Valley Herald and the Anacortes American, or read it online in the E-edition