Reject development
To the editor:
Countless resident hours were spent developing our island Comprehensive Plan to protect the natural environment and ensure sustainability. Please don’t violate this thoughtfully developed plan for our future.
Reject draft Ordinance 2022-02, which would allow high-density affordable housing developments to be built in sensitive natural areas in violation of our Comprehensive Plan.
Under that proposed ordinance, such developments could be built on any property owned or controlled by religious organizations, which are spread all across the island. That would dramatically undermine – indeed, effectively destroy – the island’s zoning scheme that was designed to preserve the island’s character, promote sustainability and protect its natural environment.
Thank you for respecting the clearly stated will of island residents.
Ellen Lockert
Bainbridge Island
Pick Tawresey
Voting for the most-qualified candidate is of utmost importance for any public official, particularly for one that serves and controls a public utility. Most qualified corresponds directly with experience, and for the position of Kitsap Public Utility District Commissioner, Alice Tawresey is extremely qualified.
Her extensive experience includes mayor of Winslow, when the Winslow sewer treatment plant was built. She oversaw construction of sewer lines and lift stations, and administered finalizing the utility Local Improvement Districts that paid for that infrastructure.
She worked with the KPUD to drill and connect the Fletcher Bay and Head of the Bay wells, and the waterline along New Brooklyn Road to ensure an adequate water supply and distribution.
She is a talented person who knows the difference between leadership and management. Let us ensure we take advantage of her experience by voting for Alice Tawresey for Kitsap PUD commissioner.
Fred M. McGinnis
Bainbridge Island
Kuss ‘Un-American’
To the editor:
Rick Kuss has advertised himself as a “Constitutional Sheriff.” The people of Kitsap County should avoid this would-be dictator like the plague. He has zero years of law enforcement experience, but he does have an autocratic political agenda.
“Constitutional Sheriffs” are a fringe movement that believes that sheriffs are the supreme power within their respective counties. They believe they are the legal authority of last resort on issues including property rights, gun law, public health measures, immigration and a host of other issues. They draw their origins from violent anti-government movements in the 1970s and ’80s opposed to taxes and foreclosures.
The text of the Constitution does not mention sheriffs anywhere in it. The Constitution requires that “the Laws of the United States … shall be the supreme Law of the Land.” If there is any conflict between federal law and state or local law, federal law will override the state or local ordinances, not the other way around. Any arguments that these sheriffs have regarding state or local power overriding federal authority died with the Confederacy after the Civil War ended.
“Constitutional sheriffs” contend that their authority supersedes that of all other government officials, and they want to decide which laws passed by our elected governments they wish to enforce.
That ignores our entire history and is antithetical to our form of government. Un-American!
Thad McManus
Poulsbo
Pick Smiley
To the editor:
Tiffany Smiley is an articulate energetic natural leader who will fight crime, fentanyl, illegal immigration, inflation and overspending.
She will support border protection, energy independence and American independence.
Sen. Tiffany Smiley will listen to the people and respond with common sense legislation.
Woody Watrous
Dana Point, CA
