To the editor:

I can’t believe it. I am a shoreline homeowner and have been tracking the city and shoreline issues for years. The city has taken an extreme environmental position on the shoreline basically holding the shoreline hostage and targeting the shoreline homeowners as the primary antagonist for environmental problems in Puget Sound.

After five years of living with the Bainbridge Shoreline Master Program (SMP) there is no tangible benefit on the horizon. It was a very expensive — well in excess of a million taxpayer dollars — and a hollow, capricious experiment.

The shoreline people held a candidates’ forum at Wing Point the major subject of which was the SMP. It was an ideal time for the city and specifically Mayor Medina to defend the SMP and suggest improvements to the city’s environmental policies.

Why Mayor Medina, who professes transparency and “doing the will of the people,” did not show up is pure hypocrisy. I read about all nice things that Kol Medina supposedly has done and perhaps some of that is true. Medina pontificates about environmental legislation for which he proudly takes ownership. But there is a flaw: as the city leader Medina is not addressing legitimate shoreline homeowners’ concerns.

I obviously am not alone as many similar comments came from the audience. “Why is Medina not here?” echoed several.

Medina’s “no show” was a personal choice — not a conflict of scheduling. This forum would have been the perfect opportunity for Mayor Medina to explain to his constituents the tangible benefits, if any, this SMP has produced.

The SMP has caused mayhem at city hall and discontent among the shoreline homeowners, myself included. If you cannot stand up for your policies you should not be on the council — let alone mayor.

Mr. Mayor: Practice what you preach.

GARY TRIPP

Bainbridge Island