Island County commissioners can’t seem to work out a budget. So what do they do? They cut services and a deputy.

I have my own opinions and I think there are others in Island County that feel the same way. Not to step on any toes or point any fingers, but I think the county commissioners could have done a better job. The only time you get any effort out of them is when you just happen to have a neighbor with a prominent name.

Let’s stop housing criminals in state-of-the-art prisons, with TVs, Internet access, teachers and every other service that the common citizen has to pay for out of their own pocket.

Why not build a tent city to house criminals who choose to break the law? The men and women of the U.S. armed forces live in tents and sleeping bags every day, so why should a prisoner be treated better than them? After all what are they doing for us?

Sure, it will cost a few hundred thousand to put together a tent compound, with a secure security fence, and guard towers that would house armed security guards. But once constructed the cost is over. What the inmates tear up then they do without. This would work unless the county commissioners are too worried about personal opinions of people who pad their pockets to run for elections.

Chris Trindle

Oak Harbor