Editor,

I was employed by the Port of South Whidbey at the fairgrounds from June 2015 to February 2016. During that time, based on 40 years of construction experience, talking to fair volunteers, and pondering on my own time how the fairgrounds might be improved, I reluctantly came to the conclusion that the Port’s takeover wouldn’t be helpful to the survival of the fair.

I resigned from that position at the end of January, even though that meant the loss of my job. In my resignation letter to the Port Executive Director Angi Mozer, I wrote that I couldn’t in good conscience continue to support the Port because I felt the fair’s survival was paramount, the Port’s mission fundamentally conflicted with the fair, and that the Port was not holding the public welfare as a primary priority.

The Port’s mission is economic development: profit. The fair’s mission has always been social and community development, and education. The Port infers that economic development equals social benefit. The inference is misleading. Dollars don’t equal education or strengthen community bonds unless they are directly and entirely aimed at those targets.

The Port has used “revenue neutral” a lot and it sounds good. But the fair and fairgrounds have never been revenue neutral, any more than the school district, parks, libraries, or soccer fields have been revenue neutral. Those facilities exist for the betterment of all citizens, and are empowering uses for public funds for all people.

Marty Matthews’ report outcome is based on population growth projections, but does not mention the stagnation of real income growth for the past few decades. This situation is not projected to change, and given current inflation means that the rationale of more population equaling more disposable income, on which the fair depends, is uncertain.

I suggest voters review for themselves the depth of the Port’s planning for Pole building heating and campground improvements, the two projects Curt Gordon recently mentioned as priorities in the Port’s recent Voter Info mailing, by requesting a copy of the Port’s line item construction estimates for each.

JAMES LUX,

Clinton