Editor,

Congratulations to Justin Burnett on a thoughtful and comprehensive article on an important Island issue: ferries.

I know, many defenders will say “It’s complicated.” Maybe, but we’re not trying to go the moon, only to Mulkiteo.

I’ll start with what I think is the dumbest failure of planning, that ferry officials acknowledge that they track the number of cars on each sailing but not whether cars are left on the dock. Are these cars left because of a full load or left to keep on schedule? Why is the schedule so sacred? Maybe the schedule has to be changed to accommodate the new ferries, not leaving them with empty space?

My overall reaction as result of this article was a significant lack of strategic planning. Is that too much to ask of Washington State Ferries? I’m sure there are plenty of consultants that could help. There are also plenty of ferry systems in the U.S. and, for that matter, our northern neighbor, British Columbia. I wonder if any comparable systems are having similar problems?

I understand the problem with our state Legislature and many of our voters. Nobody wants to pay taxes anymore and seem to think much is wasted. The most important thing I learned in high school, long ago and far away was: “With taxes we buy civilization.”

DAVE JOHNSON

Clinton