In our opinion: Save Bremerton’s ferry

Published 2:14 pm Wednesday, December 29, 2010

It’s a chilling idea, sealing Bremerton off from its ferry starting at 9 p.m.

Bremerton doesn’t have the Mercedes Benzs on the Bainbridge Island or Kingston runs, with their paranoid drivers and sensitive car alarms. It tends to be the run that sacrifices a boat when other runs need help, hence its designation as the system’s “step child.”

Its passengers take a lot of guff. They ride longer and farther, put up with more uncertainty but pay the same in taxes and fares as any ferry community.

And for their sacrifice, this is how they are rewarded.

There is a chance cutting Bremerton off from downtown Seattle will result in a boon for Bremerton night life. Maybe attendance at the Charleston on Callow Avenue will get a shot in the arm.

But if the cuts are implemented by the Legislature, the effect will be more than keeping our residents from skipping across the pond for a show or a drink.

Culturally, and economically, it will stifle a town that has seen hard times and is struggling to survive.

Hopefully this proposal by Gov. Chris Gregoire is just a threat, a game of chicken with lawmakers. Hopefully this plan will die a quiet death.

If not, Bremerton is in serious trouble.