When are the bozos driving the bus in Poulsbo going to get it? (“Poulsbo Village Albertsons will close in a month; 60 employees affected,” June 5 NorthKitsapHerald.com).

Redundant development saturates the market; there’s only so much money to go around. I said years ago when Walmart opened at Olhava that Albertsons would go under. Obviously, that didn’t happen then, but it has happened now due to the totally unnecessary Safeway.

The grocery industry in this country has already reached critical mass; there’s no more room for growth. Profit margins are so low, thanks to newer chains like Whole Foods and Giant Eagle, who emphasize quality and customer satisfaction. Building the same stores in Poulsbo that exist just down the road in Silverdale is so ignorant and stupid it’s hard to find the words.

The comments by Albertsons management that they want to continue to grow are so mindblowingly out of touch with reality it’s impossible to find the words to explain it. How are you growing when you open one store (Safeway), then close another (Albertsons)? It’s nonsense.

Yet the traffic gets worse every year and it’s frightening. The things I see on the roads here everyday in the name of “economic development,” which, translated, means “I’m the developer and I’m going to be rich if I can force my project on the unsuspecting public and tell them how wonderful their lives will be if I get to build whatever regardless of the fact that it doesn’t do one damn thing to benefit the community, but puts a lot of zeros on my bank account.”

This is one of the most beautiful areas I have ever been to. I’ve been all over the country, and I’m sick to my stomach watching it be destroyed with the clear cutting I see all around Poulsbo and Silverdale, in areas that have never been cleared like that before.

I’m not a NIMBY and I’m not anti-growth. I see redundant development as just plain stupid. My god, how many Starbucks do we need, seriously?

Michael S. McDermott
Poulsbo