To the editor:

Many good people on Camano Island took part in the shaping of county policies regarding the management of septic systems. We also prepared and submitted a plan for controlling pollution on Camano Island and submitted it to the commissioners for approval, which it was.

The plan was shuffled over to the planning department, and then to the planning commission, where it now collects dust.

Page one of that plan asked the commissioners to develop financial incentives to promote public acceptance of the expanded inspection requirements. What we got was a bureaucratic nightmare complete with a greatly expanded staff and a system of fees and charges that inspires nothing but rancor and anger from the public.

This was not the desire of the people who worked on this issue. It was the scheming, self-serving approach by the public health managers to develop their new empire and then cram excessive service charges down the public’s throats to pay for it.

With the county hurting financially and undergoing review from top to bottom, it’s time to insist that the commissioners get rid of the bureaucracy and the fees they brought with them.

It won’t happen unless the public demands it and I strongly encourage our South Whidbey neighbors to stand up and be counted.

Victor “Roy” L. Lesher

Camano Island