What’s up council?
To the editor:
At the same time the Bainbridge Island City Council has been slow-walking development of a Groundwater Management Plan most of the council and the city’s upper management have been trying to remove the only advisory committee with relevant expertise – Environmental Technical Advisory Committee.
Meanwhile, the mayor claims “groundwater is our most precious resource,” yet he and others in power have been trying to minimize the impact of a GWMP on future development by: (1) putting out an advance “conclusion” of GWMP findings in the Comprehensive Plan update that everything is fine, (2) not including any public input to the GWMP, although they have been advised on how to do so many times in previous years, and (3) not even considering having a hydrogeologist on staff now or in the future.
After passing the Climate Action Plan years ago, the council gave itself a standing ovation and considered its work for the environment pretty much done. Although CAP is a step in the right direction and a feel-good product, it does very little directly for BI’s natural environment the way protecting the groundwater and the streams and wetlands that depend on it would.
As many involved citizens know, it is very difficult to get the council’s attention other than shining a public light on it. Unfortunately, emails, letters and phone calls go unnoticed and seem to have no impact.
Charlie Kratzer
Bainbridge Island
More to story
To the editor:
I’m writing in response to an incendiary article blaming (mostly Haitian) immigrants for shortfalls in U.S. public schools based on a Reuters survey, from which the author cherry-picked and omitted information. As a translator and former ESL tutor, I notice what often goes missing from such discussions is knowledge about interconnectivity. Tug on one piece of the mobile, and all the other pieces dance or swing wildly.
Haiti’s history is a case study of exploitation by Western countries leading to its current deterioration and an influx of refugees. Just as the impact in 2019 of the U.S. president yanking development aid to South American countries led to an immediate increase in instability in those countries, and more refugees.
The capacity of public schools to absorb immigrant students is not the cause—this very real problem is a symptom with much larger roots. Furthermore, immigrant children’s right to education in the U.S. is upheld by a 1982 Supreme Court ruling Plyler vs. Doe.
Every good citizen must cultivate curiosity about the root causes—throughout history—of today’s problems. If one reads the full Reuters survey, you’ll notice how the impacted communities came together to find creative solutions. That doesn’t diminish real hardships. But it is always easier to scapegoat than to contribute. There is so much we as good citizens can do to participate in uplifting our communities in times of struggle. It isn’t any one thing. Stay curious. Get educated. Ask: How will you be a part of the solution?
B.L. Crook
Bainbridge Island
