Hansville speed tables
Stop the silliness
It’s time the silliness about the speed tables comes to an end.
If you are driving the speed limit and have to slow down to go over the speed tables, either you, your car or both of you don’t belong on the road.
PAUL MAFFIA
Kingston
Feedback on food fight story
Thank you, Lael
Regarding the story entitled, “Food fight breaks out at school board meeting” that ran previously in the Herald:
This is a great day! Thank you Lael Stock for seeing this through.
LIZ JONES
Poulsbo
Wolfle thanks
Appreciation for help with Santa breakfast
We would like to thank the many North Kitsap community members who helped make our annual Wolfle Santa’s breakfast so successful this year! We are very appreciative of the many food items, silent auction pieces, photography services and monetary gifts that our generous community donated.
Thanks too, for those of you who attended this fun event! We flipped over 900 pancakes that morning.
We certainly could not have pulled this off without your support. Thank you all again, and we look forward to seeing you again next year at Wolfle!
MISTY MCCLAIN, WENDY NEWTON, KAREN SATHER & THE WOLFLE PTA
Kingston
Kitsap County budget
Looking at the actual numbers
While the “junior” Kitsap County Commissioners regale us with their self-congratulations for a budget job well done, they have failed to mention a couple of important points.
A balanced budget is required by law. The taxpayers have not deprived government of adequate funding for the past 40 years. County government has and continues to spend beyond its need and means. Past reserves have been spent on non-mandated or non-essential services.
The commissioners acknowledge that personnel costs consume the major part of the General Fund. So what’s new? Perhaps continuing to negotiate pay raises of 3 percent for all employees when revenues are capped at 1 percent is not such a good idea. The concept of maintaining pay parity with East Sound county government employees is ill-advised and unnecessary. How about maintaining parity with the wage levels of non-government employees (taxpayers) of Kitsap County as baseline?
The county department with the most internal problems, based on demonstrated performance, has been taken off budget and will function as an “Enterprise Fund.” The department has a less-than-golden record with respect to processing and issuing building permits. The department is solely responsible for the errors leading to the February Growth Management Hearings Board decision to invalidate UGA boundary changes in the 2006 Comprehensive Plan update.
While private citizens are paying the significant cost of the moratorium instituted because of that error, the department is made essentially self-controlling with respect to personnel organization, and fee structure. The budget assumes that DCD will be “self-financing” while fee structures are not yet established. Standby for significant fee increases for building permits.
Finally, to add insult to injury, it looks like we get to pay for a 6 percent pay raise for elected officials. It would be nice if it were a merit-based raise but I am caught short trying to find something of significance during the past year that would support a merit increase for anyone of them. Just doing the job is not enough. Getting a raise to stay ahead of the pay of department heads is unbelievable. I guess all the “balanced budget” backslapping had a purpose after all.
Perhaps instead of reading the press clippings that laud the accomplishments of our “junior” commissioners, we should all spend time reading the actual budget documents. Once you get past the glowing prose of the administrative department head and start looking closely at the actual numbers, things don’t look quite so wonderful. Remember, the budget is only a plan and the reality of the cost to each one of us comes in the execution.
JACK HAMILTON
Silverdale
