To the editor:
In a recently published letter, the political “right” was accused of being “anti-government” and guilty of undermining and attempting to dismantle our system of government due to HB-1082 sponsored by Barbara Bailey. The storyline, that was presented, missed the point, and the truth, by literally miles.
What is really at issue here is that our executive branch agencies need serious controls and oversight.
These agencies create one half of the body of laws that govern our state. These laws, the Washington Administrative Code are written, interpreted, and enforced by the hired (not elected) agency officials. Their products are signed by the agency heads without direct involvement of either the governor or the Legislature.
To make matters worse, these agencies authorize themselves to levy and collect fines that can be devastating to individuals who run afoul of these officials.
The normal pathway for relief or recourse is expensive litigation. HB-1082 places a protective buffer between citizens and poorly supervised regulatory agencies and attempts to create an atmosphere of cooperation between the state agencies and citizens.
It comes down to a simple question. Who do you mistrust the most, entrenched bureaucrats who possess unsupervised legislative, executive and enforcement powers or those highly vilified, unscrupulous, serial violating land developers who will still have to navigate the forest of complex environmental regulations just to begin the development permitting process?
I support Rep. Bailey’s efforts here. It is at the very least a start at returning our government to the representative democracy that it was always intended to be.
Jeff Lauderdale
Coupeville
