To the editor:
I will struggle to make this short and to the point.
As a lifelong resident of Sunlight Beach, I would like to know why anyone would trust the word of Dike District 1 Commissioners Ray Gabelein Jr. and Steve Arnold.
At the March 2009 Diking District 1 meeting, the discussion turned to a Dec. 30 article in the South Whidbey Record quoting Ray Jr. and Steve concerning what an “amazing” pump we have operating in the back fields and how it arrived just in the nick of time to save us from the “big melt” and “It is doing what it’s suppose to do”.
When asked about these statements at the Diking District 1 meeting, Steve states “You don’t believe everything you read in the newspaper.”
Maybe, you can just trust “some” of the people “some” of the time.
I believe that the reason for the April Diking District 1 meeting cancellation was that they did not want to hold a meeting just after the Diking District 1 tax assessments were received. The room would be packed with those directly affected by the tax.
Is our neighborhood divided? Yes it is. As in any controversy, everyone wishes it would have never happened. You have some who fear retribution through delayed remodeling permits or loss of county jobs. Then you have some who feel that Diking District 1 commissioners, Ray Jr. and Steve, have manipulated the political system and their positions of power for their own personal gain.
The Diking District 1 commissioners used secretive methods to plan this 6,000 gallons- per-minute pump project in order to drain their own land. It does not benefit anyone on Sunlight Beach. On Dec. 20, 2004, a contract was signed between USG&C and Diking District 1 regarding the details of the pump purchase and payment. We did not hear anything about a pump until September 2008.
We do not want the pump. It has been pumping toxic chemicals and polluted water into Deer Lagoon. Next, they arrange a tax assessment system so that only a few pay for 95 percent of the pump’s cost.
Does this sound like we are being picky?
I do not think so. Also, I do not think that Ray Jr. and Steve Arnold are trusted servants of our community who are here to “just serve the district and do the best we can to keep it functioning the way it was set up.”
I could go on but enough. I think I will water my flowers.
Leo Cruise
Sunlight Beach
