As a homeowner on the south end of the island, I wish that Barry Peters represented my interests as well as he does those of just a few downtown property owners.

When it comes to the cost of rebuilding Winslow Way, Peters has consistently tried to burden the ratepayers and the rest of us, rather than having these downtown property owners pay their fair share.

This week a proposal from the Kitsap PUD showed that customers of the city’s water utility would save about half on their bills by spinning this utility off to a better operator. Peters has consistently fought efforts to do this. Why? Because he wants to use the utilities and the general fund to subsidize the Winslow Way reconstruction.

Last week Peters argued that making downtown property owners pay more of the reconstruction costs will drive business out of downtown. This is a red-herring argument, and Peters should come with numbers when he makes statements like this. I did run the numbers, though, and making the extremely aggressive assumptions that if the property owners passed all of these costs through to their tenants, and the tenants passed all of the costs through to shoppers, downtown prices would increase by less than one-tenth of one percent.

Normally, most of the cost of a project like this would be funded through a local improvement district, with the costs allocated among property owners according to benefit. None of this has happened here. We hear about, but get few details on a group of property owners that has volunteered to kick in something. In fact, city documents show that just two groups own or have had options to purchase about half of the land along Winslow Way between Ericksen and Madison Avenues.

If inside connections really do count for so much here, then I have a few projects in my neighborhood that I would like the city to pick up the tab on. Mr. Peters: Won’t you come on down and talk to me as well?

Rod Stevens

Oddfellows Road