Editor,

Once again the school system wants more money from property owners. They say it’s because of enrollment increases.

Since most of enrollment increases are from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island increases, it’s time the Navy foots the bill instead of us local property owners, especially since the local Navy housing all got taken off of the property tax rolls dumping all costs on the left over property owners. That’s in spite of reports that local military housing is being rented to civilians instead of being limited to military personnel as was intended.

Repeatedly, property owners have become hapless victims of scandalously devious military lobbying. Go to Bill Moyers’ “A Private War” http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/12192008/profile3.html for more information, as originally published in the former Seattle Post Intelligencer.

As for the argument that all the local properties are privileged to be protected by our nearby military base, consider this: we’re also dangerously close to an enemy target’s bullseye. In this atomic age that’s no small risk especially when our incoming president declares his intent to “Bomb the Hell out of them” around the world. We aren’t as immune to repercussions as we’d like to think.

Pray for peace.

Al Williams

Oak Harbor