Stop delays

To the editor:

It’s been over eight years since the voters of Bainbridge Island overwhelmingly voted to pass Proposition 1 to buy Sakai Park with a public bond for nearly $6 million. Yet the parks board has quietly abandoned the planning process while we continue to pay for the purchase.

Sakai Park was sold as “an opportunity to accommodate a variety of future passive and active recreational uses desired by the community as expressed in surveys and public meetings.” Similar statements and representations were made to the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office when seeking a $1 million grant for Sakai Park.

With a Concept Plan adopted in 2018, a feasibility study presented in 2019, a Comprehensive Plan adopted in 2020, and grant funds received in 2021, continued delay is inexcusable.

Nor does the park district’s questionable (and rushed) acquisition of the Bainbridge Athletic Club in 2021 meet the needs previously identified in the lengthy Sakai Park planning process.

Our community (particularly island youth) deserve better than delays and distractions. Visit SakaiParkPetition.com to demand action and answers!

Adam Hunt

Bainbridge

No Valley funds

To the editor:

In the article on the March 14 City Council decision about whether to spend an unexpected extra $350,000 in city funds on Valley Road safety improvements or spend it instead on a Lynwood Center project, you say the council decided to spend the money in both areas.

That is incorrect. The council voted against making any safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists on Valley in the next three years. It added the $350,000 to the Sustainable Transportation planning that has delayed basic safety improvements anywhere for the last five years while they try to write a sales pitch for a new tax levy.

Peter K. Harris

Bainbridge