I recently met Walt Washington, the Democratic candidate for Kitsap County Auditor. He impressed me as a man with a clear grasp of the pressing issues facing a diverse and growing Kitsap County population, the dangers of voter suppression, voter disenfranchisement and the value of fair elections. Walt is the current interim Kitsap County Auditor. He is uniquely qualified to replace the retired Karen Flynn who was a moderate, effective, evenhanded and much respected Kitsap County Auditor for many years. As a long time Washington state resident, and having also lived in other parts of the United States, Walt has experienced firsthand the adverse polarizing impact, of powerful special interests, on our nation, our states and our county.
A recent issue of a local newspaper proclaimed, using a screaming front page headline, that Walt had made mistakes on his required PDC (monetary contributors) reporting. To the “low information voter;” this will be enough to make them vote for his Republican opponent. The “informed voter” will have read further and found these mistakes were of a minor nature, not mistakes at all, or are common to the campaign PDC’s of others. I dare say that if Walt’s Republican opponent’s PDC form had been scrubbed, it would not have been immune to nitpicking.
We can ill afford to elect a person who masks a lack of qualifications with the same “Rovian” right wing Republican-biased ideological thinking, tactics and special interest affiliations which afflict so many of the wedge issue radicals who regularly populate the editorial opinion pages of the local media. We all know who they are, and are numbed by the continuous discord and divisiveness they cleverly unleash to pummel our senses with fear and apprehension.
CLIFFORD M. KINCAID
Port Orchard
Appleton always working for voters
I am voting for Sherry Appleton to return her to the Washington state Legislature to represent the 23rd Legislative District. Sherry has consistently supported education, the environment and working families.
She has also worked on our behalf to try to get passenger-only ferries and to keep ferry fares affordable. One particular ferry action for which I’m thankful is the ability to use a commuter card for more than one car so that families can travel to weddings and funerals across the sound at a lower cost.
Sherry Appleton has promised to work to put a cap on interest rates charged by payday lenders. Payday lenders are a scourge in poor areas, preying on young and low income families, including military families. When I think of young families having to borrow money for gas and milk to get to payday, while the wage earner in the family is serving in the military, the thought that they could be paying up to 300 percent interest annually, makes me very sad. In fact, I am sick of it.
LINDA GABRIEL
Poulsbo
