Please vote no on Proposition 1 | LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Published 10:38 am Monday, November 2, 2015

To the editor:

The police may need better facilities, but siting the police station on Madison Avenue is not the place.

Wrong location: I concur with City Manager Doug Schulze that “it did not make sense to locate a police station in a shopping center.” Although he was talking about the Visconsi property, his comments are even truer for downtown Winslow, which is one big shopping center. Putting the station on Madison Avenue makes even less sense in a pedestrian focused downtown with lots of residents and tourists walking/crossing streets.

The proposed location is not supported by the comprehensive plan, which recognizes downtown as a vibrant, pedestrian-oriented place where people live, shop, obtain services and meet for social/cultural activities.  Winslow cannot be all things to the island. What works: places to live, a strong retail, the farmers market, theaters, museums, medical facilities and services. This mix helps the viability of businesses in Winslow. A police station does not.

Too costly: We have many funding needs — for the nonprofits that form the safety net of our community, for future funding needs for road repairs/improvements, pedestrian/bicycle facilities, school projects, downtown parking.

Some residents can afford whatever amount is asked, yet being fiscally responsible is still an important value. For other islanders with more limited incomes, the costs can be too much and they may have to move off the island.

Why not use land we already own? $15 million is too much. Let’s be prudent!

Contamination: If another reason was needed to reject the bond, it is the now-positioned-as-new revelation that the proposed site is contaminated. Why take on this added burden?

Let’s vote “no” so we can get it right.

JANE ALLAN

Bainbridge Island