By STEVE SEGO
Co-owner, The Dock Bar &Eatery and South Kitsap schools supporter
A number of South Kitsap businesses and their customers recently received a mailer from the Bremerton Metal Trades Council (BMTC) alleging malfeasance by the South Kitsap School District, claiming illegal efforts to fund our local schools through levy and bond measures.
The mailer asked residents to boycott businesses supporting South Kitsap schools. The letter was rife with inaccuracies and, ironically, with multiple grammatical and diction errors.
That alone was enough to assure any readers of the broadside that the Bremerton Metal Trades Council – a professional trade union run by articulate and competent leadership – had nothing to do with this devious effort to mislead SK residents. Further evidence confirmed this, as revealed in last week’s Port Orchard Independent story (www.Kitsapdailynews.Com/news/union-leader-lashes-out-at-author-of-bogus-south-kitsap-bond-issue-letter/).
The unknown author of this flier, who has violated state public disclosure law and perhaps damaged the reputation of the BMTC, makes some absurdly inaccurate and irresponsible claims.
Bruce Bailie, BMTC president, angrily refuted the tactic and concluded that, “… if you have to lie and be deceitful, then you don’t have much of an argument. Good arguments stand on their own.”
Many are speculating about who among the very small group of the “usual suspects,” the handful in South Kitsap opposed to anything and everything, is the culprit.
This ill-designed effort will likely have little effect on the outcome of the upcoming bond measure, and shouldn’t be cause for real concern, excepting for one unforgivable component.
The “nasty-gram” listed those local businesses that are supporters of South Kitsap schools and proposed that residents boycott these establishments.
My own businesses – Waterman Mitigation Partners and The Dock Bar &Eatery – a Bay Street restaurant I own with partners Coreen Haydock and Drew MacEwen – are among the scores of South Kitsap businesses and individuals that were included on the “do not patronize” hit list.
The letter exhorts customers to “Not Patronize” these businesses so that we might “feel the pain of how the worker feels having unjustified funds taken from them.”
The gist of this message is not just completely false at every turn, but clearly reveals the ignorance of the source.
I know I speak on behalf of many small businesses that share in the sacrifice, risk and hard work to remain viable and provide the services and amenities that support our community.
We pay taxes to federal, state and local governments, provide jobs for South Kitsap residents and invest our own personal capital when necessary to “keep the doors open.”
Most of us believe that an adequate education and infrastructure to support our children – many of whom will hopefully be running and starting new businesses here in South Kitsap in the decades to come – is a priority for all.
This isn’t an argument for or against our South Kitsap School District bond and levy on the ballot in February, but a call to all of South Kitsap – our customers, friends, colleagues and families – to embrace an open and honest exchange of opinions and ideas while maintaining respect and trust.
We’ve all just been through a divisive political season. I cringe knowing that the first nasty salvo in our next election is right here in South Kitsap, and is perhaps as offensive as the brutal exchanges we endured just months ago.
I’m proud to stand with the dozens of businesses who have publicly proclaimed their support for our local schools and remain undeterred in the belief that we can serve all of our community as customers and friends, regardless of our differences and positions on political issues – especially when they’re as local and impactful as a school bond measure.
We’re Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, independents — and I’m sure an even longer list of lesser-known partisan labels. But we’re all hard-working business owners – and loyal supporters of our community and its future.
Please join me to take a stand for South Kitsap by rejecting the divisive and destructive purpose of this letter and continue to support your local businesses – and our schools.
