To the editor:

I agree with Ms. Becker (letter, Sept. 1) that we need to keep an eye on party platforms. This is why I became an Independent decades ago. Although my social positions are pro-choice, pro-this and pro-that, I am also a fiscal conservative who knows that there are better ways to inspire change than fear and misinformation.

In this upcoming election, on local issues, I will be voting a straight Republican ticket.

I will be voting for Jeff Lauderdale, Jill Johnson, Barbara Bailey and Norma Smith. Last year, Lauderdale, Bailey and Smith were on point with my objections to the $40 million sewer and the LID by resolution that would bankrupt so many of our elderly, disabled, and low income residents.

Conversely, Mary Margaret Haugen, Angie Homola, and Helen Price Johnson, on many occasions, supported this debacle. The public record contains multiple video, audio and printed documentation of it.

The first question of any responsible civil servant is “who will pay for this?” With a lid by resolution, the less than 400 properties in phase one would be taxed for this, and not be offered the opportunity to vote against it. This is a severe abuse of power.

You can’t get blood from a turnip, and you can’t get hundreds of thousands of dollars from a retiree living on a fixed income. The fact that the only folks who would benefit from this fiasco was the downtown business area shows where Democrats on the island have staked their priorities.

There is a prevailing attitude within the Democratic Party that “We Can Do No Harm” — but that just isn’t so. Plenty of harm has already been done.

Consider voting on the issues, rather than the R, D, I, etc. behind the candidates’ names.

Put the vulnerable somewhere in your priorities.

Incidentally, it was a breath of fresh air to hear a Democrat applaud Lauderdale’s military service. I hope we hear more.

Chelle Brunke

Freeland