To the editor:

It may come as a surprise to you, but the whole county votes for county commissioners from all districts in the general election. Helen Price Johnson is running for the commissioner’s seat in District 1, and serves the south end of Whidbey. Angie Homola represents residents on the north end of Whidbey, and is running against Mac McDonald, a 16-year incumbent. Mac has done some good things for the island in the past. However, actions in the past year are very disturbing for residents of Whidbey.

Most disturbing are his actions on the crash zone — which will have a severe negative impact on the value of people’s properties and their lifestyle in the affected neighborhoods (those in the areas immediate to the naval air base, and outlying field).

With the new Navy planes (Growlers) arriving on the Island, the Navy prepared an update to the “overlay” flight pattern. They did not require that anything be done on the Island. Mac decided to “look good” by making changes to zoning laws incorporating both the old and the updated flight patterns.

As a result of the proposed zoning changes, people will see their property values decrease, and they will be denied the ability to do as they wish on their property. They will no longer be able to have a home office, do daycare for neighbors or friends, or have a small business in their home. There are other restrictions such as restricting all commercial development, building a church, etc, which will limit the expansion of Oak Harbor to the north, forcing expansion to the south or west of the city.

Mac independently proposed these zoning changes, posting notices in the “legal section” of the local newspaper. How many of you read this section? He then conducted four meetings with an average attendance of four to six people to satisfy legal requirements to make the zoning changes.

At the last meeting a community activist in Oak Harbor found out about the situation and got 40 to 50 people there. For notification purposes Mac also sent out letters explaining the zoning changes to people who owned 10 acres or more.

When challenged about this, Mac stated that he did not have money to mail letters to everyone in the affected areas. The “activists” requested that Mac restart the hearing process, and be transparent. He refused, and the case is now in court.

How would you feel if you owned property and did not know about this (which Mac intended), and then saw your property value plummet? Mac does not believe in transparency, nor does he care about the “average person.” He did take care of the big property owners. Sound familiar? Typical Republican “Bushism.”

Angie cares about the island, our quality of life here, and values transparency. Managing sustainable growth over the long term, job creation and protecting our environment are also areas that Angie pledges to support as our commissioner. You can read more about her at her Web site; www.electangie.com.

If you value open government, equal treatment for all citizens, and our environment on Whidbey, Angie deserves your vote.

Robert Boehm

Greenbank