“Whether or not you hate the Growth Management Act or agree with the federal edicts about salmon protection isn’t relevant to your vote for county commissioner. Don’t shoot the messenger folks, even the commissioners don’t have a choice about whether or not they can enforce unpopular laws. Instead, we suggest you base your vote on your evaluation of the candidate’s previous performance in responsible positions and whether you believe the candidate will use values and priorities you share in making future decisions. For those reasons, we enthusiastically support the candidacy of Chris Endresen. She has dealt realistically with the confusion that the GMA caused in Kitsap, is informed and even-handed on issues involving land use and water rights and is knowledgable about the ESA complexities—particularly what a commissioner can and cannot do concerning shoreline property rights. We like her backbone and willingness to wade into arguments with logic instead of rhetoric. She doesn’t always take a popular stand, but she has a seemingly encyclopedic array of facts behind her decisions. The other county commissioner’s race offers us far less experienced candidates. Jan Angel and Dusty Wiley both seem relatively uninformed about key issues. In candidate forums we’ve attended, they both offer vague answers or inaccurate information concerning transit funding and the complexities of the ESA. We offer our support to Jan Angel primarily because she seems to be able to gather a strong coalition of supporters across party lines. We are hopeful that she will use her enthusiasm to tackle the enormous job ahead of her. “