To the editor:

Reading your article in the Review (“City considering $15 million bond for bike paths, trail projects”) makes me feel like it’s like deja vu all over again. Our city manager appears to be pushing a “remake” of our town square including the building of a parking structure.

Didn’t we ditch this whole idea several years ago when we, as a community, flushed “Winslow Tomorrow” down the drain? Who still supports this? I’ll answer my own question for you — the “longstanding citizen task force on parking”! Well, it looks like the citizens on this task force do not represent a broad cross-section of island residents, but include mostly downtown business owners — probably many of the same people who pushed for Winslow Tomorrow. (Plea to said owners: If you want a parking garage so badly, please buy yourselves a piece of land and build yourselves a brand new parking garage.)

Apparently, Mr. Schulze wasn’t around when island residents vehemently rejected Winslow Tomorrow. In fact, from my recollection, the creation of his job — city manager — was a direct result of that hideous debacle which a prior island administration tried to force upon us. I strongly suggest that Mr. Schulze, who has been pushing projects no one seems to want of late (such as a police station on a toxic site), look through the archives of the Review to get a better sense of the desires of the island residents for whom he works. But perhaps building his résumé with big ticket projects is more important to him than diligently serving the people who pay his salary?

As to the aforementioned article: it’s wonderful that the city’s debt load from the financing of city hall will be decreasing soon, and we desperately need more bike lanes on the island!

According to some I’ve spoken with who were here in the early 1970s, the citizens of the island at that time made a conscious effort to keep our roads narrow, thinking that road shoulders would ruin the bucolic aesthetic of the island. This, of course, is when bikes were made of cast iron and were really only ridden by French people, no one had heard of global warming, and Jazzercise was the hot fitness trend.

Let’s bring our island up to 21st century standards. Even if we do need to raise our taxes to make this happen, I hope we can see that bike lanes will benefit the entire community, not just a handful of business owners.

STEVE KELLER

Bainbridge Island