Editor,

Both candidates in the 10th Legislative District Senate race supposedly represented me, but only one truly has. As Island County commissioner, Angie Homola listened to my concerns, but as a Washington state senator, Barbara Bailey has not.

During the recession, Homola helped Island County move forward, despite the drastic reductions in funding. I liked her eagerness to address problems the county faced by researching and understanding the facts and then doing something about them.

As a teacher, I have met with legislators in Olympia. During one such meeting, Bailey said the reason education issues weren’t being addressed the way the teachers wanted was because of the union — WEA.

What I remember is her spitting out the word “union.” I told her the union is the voice of us teachers. One single teacher doesn’t have much of a voice. With the union, we do.

The McCleary decision to fully fund education must be dealt with in this next legislative session. A vote for Bailey with her priority mission to stop any taxes may mean that money will be transferred out of other areas to fund education. Ultimately, we will lose our quality of life when we see huge cuts in health, parks, safety, and transportation in order to pay for education.

I will vote for Homola to preserve our quality of life. She will look at problems from a well-rounded perspective and find financially responsible and visionary solutions that maintain and improve our quality of life in all areas.

Angie Homola has demonstrated her willingness to work for constituents and knows how to get things done. She deserves our vote to represent us as our 10th Legislative District senator.

Val Schroeder

Camano Island