Al Koetje and Barney Beeksma should be commended for being such good students of dirty politics as practiced by their overlords in the Bush administration. Desperate for a wedge issue to attack Dean Enell, they fabricate a lie (he wants to close the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station) and convince the media to publicize it. Karl Rove would be proud!

The missing ingredient so far: endless repetition, but we can look forward to that over the next two weeks. Remember: no matter how many times you hear it, it’s not true!

Dean’s opponent, Mike Shelton, is a nice man. But over the last 12 years, he’s shown time and again that he’s simply not strong enough to stand up to the pro-development agenda of the Oak Harbor Mafia (of which Koetje and Beeksma are charter members). They count on Mike to support all those very profitable rezones, and they’re scared that Dean Enell won’t be so willing to play ball in the destruction of our islands.

Never forget: If WEAN and other conservation groups hadn’t forced Mike Shelton and his Republican cohorts to obey state law and finally write a Comprehensive Plan for the county, we’d be well on our way to looking like Lynnwood West today. A vote for Dean Enell is a vote to save what’s best about our beautiful county.

Rob Lewis

Langley