Editor,

I moved to Coupeville almost two years ago and was delighted with the warm, friendly atmosphere my partner and I have found. I came from a beautiful, small town in the northwest corner of Oregon and moved for many reasons, among them the immature, incompetent and irresponsible behavior of many elected officials there. It had a strong and detrimental impact on the well-being and welfare of the town and its resources.

Sadly, I now find that I moved into a county where officials behave in the same immature, irresponsible and corrupt manner as the elected officials we left behind. It is not accurate to describe Coupeville and the town officials as “anti-Navy.” In fact, they are pro-citizenry, meaning they strongly support the health and welfare of all residents, children, senior citizens, people who use the hospital, and importantly, the historic sites and natural areas entrusted to their care.

More significantly, the decision made by Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson to “punish” the citizens and officials of Coupeville by withholding rural economic development grant dollars for green space improvement is grossly irresponsible as the funding has nothing to do with the Navy Growlers, the EIS or any economic impact the Navy’s presence has on the island.

Reasons given for her so-called decision — it’s hard not to see it as a childish, knee-jerk reaction — have no bearing on the merit of the funding request.

As an Island County commissioner, she should support and encourage the work of this agency to sustain our beautiful green spaces, the main reason visitors come here and photographers and artists celebrate the beauty of this island.

It is hard to describe how very disappointing this is. Commissioner Johnson’s decision is petty and divisive. How sad to come to such a beautiful place and find irresponsible and immature leadership — again.

Cheryl Silverblatt

Coupeville