Where have all the signs gone?

Wondering where all the Reichert signs were, I called his office here on the Island and was told they’re not allowed to campaign — not even to hand me a sign; it’s the law. Wow, what an advantage for his opponent! So I called the campaign headquarters in Bellevue and asked where all the signs for Reichert were, and guess what? They had put out signs, but they were stolen. Now, who could have done that? With all the hundreds of Burner signs, isn’t it nice to learn that we Republicans aren’t so mean-spirited, judgmental or thieves after all!

Barbara Tourtillotte

Thank you for the Farmers Market

On behalf of my family and me, I would like to thank all of those involved in bringing the Farmers Market to Mercer Island. The offerings were varied to appeal to many tastes, the entertainment was wonderful, and it was certainly a Sunday social scene! What a great way to support local farmers and businesses as well as celebrate our little community. I hope others will come take advantage of this delightful new Mercer Island offering!

This type of “event” is a huge undertaking by many, and we appreciate your efforts — congratulations and thank you!

Jayme Witman

Paying for road repairs with tolls

Conversations while waiting for the bus are one of the unique pleasures of transit riding. On my way home from the meeting about tolling bridges, I had one such conversation.

My fellow Seattle-bound passengers and I were discussing the resurfacing of West Mercer Way. Mercer Island, we learned, has a street levy and a regular maintenance and resurfacing schedule. We all thought this policy eminently sensible and wished Seattle had something analogous.

When I think about Islanders’ willingness to tax themselves to pay for street maintenance, the outcry about tolls on I-90 seems sort of incongruous. Islanders pay to maintain their own streets, which they have no choice about using. Why the reluctance to pay tolls for roadways off the Island, where they represent only a portion of the users?

I understand that people think they have already paid for this road. With the costs of everything — food, energy, services — rising daily, why do people expect the cost of using roads not to rise as well?

I am sympathetic to concerns that money raised from bridge tolls be used to benefit transportation in the area where it is collected. I hope the legislature will craft measures that add transit capacity partially funded by tolls on both bridges as soon as possible. I hope such measures can address the needs I heard for very local service as well as cross-lake travel.

Dorene Cornwell