Regarding the article in May 7 Whidbey News-Times, “It’s back to the drawing board.”

Did I miss something here? A survey was sent out, presumably to allow citizens to have input regarding the art pieces to be placed in conjunction with the “improvement” of Pioneer Way. Yet the article stated that one of the pieces chosen by the commission (and later withdrawn by the artist due to logistical and engineering concerns which were blatantly obvious in the survey description) was ranked 10th out of 11 in public popularity.

Of the art commission’s $80,000 budget, what percentage was spent to design, print, mail, then later receive, tabulate the results of, and promptly ignore the public opinion supposedly sought by this survey?  Moreover, considering this is part of an engineering project (specifically the Pioneer Way Improvement Project) why was a piece which required additional mechanical and engineering design not run past the project engineer first, and either vetted or rejected upon initial submission?

I believe these are simple and logical concerns regarding this project. To sum it up in a more emotional fashion: Will someone please tell me who has the license to waste my tax dollars this way?

Ben Honeycutt
Oak Harbor