Letter to the mayor

Jim, as the mayor of Mercer Island, isn’t it your job to represent your constituents? Do you think the majority of Island residents want this tent camp to be here? If the answer is yes, then I guess you are doing what should be done. If the answer is no, then why are you doing everything in your power to make it happen?

Would you feel the same if this encampment were adjacent to your home? Can you really blame these residents for not wanting it here? I can’t say for sure, but I’m willing to bet that the majority of Mercer Island residents do not want this tenement here on the Island for a multitude of good reasons.

What if you lived by this tent camp and your job transferred you out of town and you were forced to sell? I bet that would devalue that home by a couple of $100,000 at least, if it sold at all. That’s just one of many, many reasons I could cite. You always say, get to the point — well, my point is that you and apparently the entire city hall does not seem to care or have any empathy for the residents of this Island, but you apparently are more interested in outside interests.

I have never heard of anyone saying they have heard from you to ask their opinion on something. If I was mayor, I would surely get out and talk to the people I represent and gather their input before taking a position on something. In my opinion, you should have been out knocking on doors, especially in this area, to gather input.

Maynard Smith

Tweaking the Constitution

A letter to the editor dated July 2, 2008, in which the author presents conditions for residence on Mercer Island, struck me as being in conflict with some of the pesky peculiarities of our nation’s Constitution. However, the conditions may be more in line with the Constitution if they were tweaked a bit to read:

“If a person is to exist in our city, we insist on these conditions:

1. MI police will obtain a valid WA State ID and a valid social security number from all Mercer Island residents.

2. MI police will perform sex offender and warrant checks on all residents of Mercer Island.

3. SHARE leaders will maintain an accurate and verifiable list of all Mercer Island residents and their lengths of stay in Mercer Island.”

It seems that the next step toward making the conditions a reality would be to cast them in the form of a petition for signature by city residents and then present the petition to appropriate law makers. Would I sign the petition? In an eye blink, providing that it contained “For” and “Against” signing options.

Fred Zelonka