Lately some letters to the editor have expressed anger at the current Kitsap County Board of Commissioners for poor fiscal management. It is time to set the record straight on some facts that seem to elude these letter writers.

First, the assumption is that because all members of this current board are Democrats, they must be spending more. Well in 2007 the county’s general fund budget was $93 million. In 2011, it will be about $78 million. That is a $15 million reduction, not an increase.

Then there is the issue of the $40.5 million loan the board of commissioners backed for the Harborside Condo project the Bremerton Housing Authority was unable to repay. Have these angry citizens truly forgotten the circumstances that got the county into this predicament in the first place? Not one member of this current board had anything to do with the initial decision to back this project. In fact, the board that made this decision was a Republican-dominated board, which included the current mayor of Bremerton, Patty Lent, and current 26th District State Representative, Jan Angel, who is running for re-election. When asked about this at a recent forum, Angel blamed the budget staff which she said told her it was a sound project. I guess it was beyond her capabilities to sort out the facts herself. Why we would now trust her to sort out fiscal issues at the state level is beyond my capabilities to understand. Had this current board of commissioners not backed this loan, the county would have owed $32 million last year and another $5 million this year. Defaulting on the loan would have destroyed the county’s credit rating. Refinancing it bought them time to sell the condos and pledged assets. Already they have paid off over 25 percent of the loan, which is on pace with their well thought-out four-year plan.

There is a myth that Republicans are the smart money managers, while Democrats just tax and spend. The truth is that this myth is only that: a myth. Time and time again, when Republicans rule the results are financial chaos, which Democrats are left to clean up when they take over.

Jo Fox Burr

Poulsbo