To the editor:

Wow. Has their been a more glorious time to live on Whidbey Island? Makes you want to jump on that transit bus and just ride from bottom to top and maybe all the way into Burlington for a movie.

No pressures, no worries, just a beautiful, free, ride.

Oh, wait. That is, unless, this tax doesn’t go through.

It isn’t a scare tactic. A third of routes will be cut. People you know and love will lose their jobs. Paratransit will be affected by those cut routes based on eligibility rules.

Kids using the buses for before and after school activities are going to have to find other ways to get around — put more teenage drivers on the streets.

Forget the commuters, and it will impact the ferries in a big way.

But we don’t care about that. For some reason, Island Transit has become this big bad ogre trying to steal our money away like a thief in the night. When all they are is a bus service that exists solely to help us. Help our community.

I am a Republican, pretty anti-tax. I was at the tea parties, and I am sick to death of throwing money into some black hole and never seeing the results.

I wasn’t happy that stadium went up before the new roofs, and my daughter is still playing high school ball at the elementary fields. But I pay taxes in my community because I SEE THEM. When I sit in those bleachers, this is my home. When I drive on these paved streets, this is my home. The boardwalk. My home. We have a strong military presence, a downtown history and waterfront that leave me breathless. I am proud of Oak Harbor, it is an amazing town and we work hard to keep it this way. Together, we are everything America is supposed to be.

Island Transit is part of that. I don’t know a lot of people at Island Transit, although my husband does work there. I tried to stay out of the letters because of that, but someone has to say what I see. The people I have met are retired teachers, single dads, guys working two jobs to make ends meet, police officer’s wives, retired Navy, construction workers, aircraft mechanics, librarians — they are you and me. And when my husband comes home, he is just exhausted. He has stories from the day, things that happen in Oak Harbor, that just blow your mind. It would just never occur to you that Island Transit is such an integral and vital part of what Island County is.

Island Transit is more than just a company that gives free rides to tourists and “meth addicts.” That the discussion has been narrowed down to that is just amazing.

Island Transit is a vital part of this community, and just because you don’t use it and you can’t recognize it when others speak of it, doesn’t make that less of a truth. Island Transit can be the eyes and ears for the police, emergency services and assists parents that can’t get their kids to practice because it is scheduled before work is over.

Not long ago a paratransit driver stopped to pick up a regular rider.

The young woman was not ready and the driver called dispatch, which called her emergency contact. When no answer was received at the woman’s home, the driver entered with the contact to find the woman unconscious. He notified dispatch and began CPR. Dispatch got emergency services over there and they saved her life.

A 12-year-old ran away from home and the police called Island Transit. Through the efforts of the dispatcher and drivers, the little girl was found and returned home. Last week a driver witnessed an injury accident and Island Transit was able to get emergency services on their way before anyone else even contacted 911.

A suicide note was found on a bus, they ran tapes, found the rider, then tracked the person down. Police and Island Transit work together on a daily basis to work accidents and even to apprehend people suspected of crimes.

Like it or not, Island County needs tourists, and they think that our having a fare free transit system is incredible. I am pretty proud of that. We are the only ones that do that. Do some people abuse the use of it? Yes. It is pretty disgusting, actually. But the Disabilities Act is the reason that this continues to happen, Island Transit has no control over that. If you want to effect change, educate yourself on that and change that law!

But there is still a real need for those on dialysis, or those with disabilities in wheelchairs and even the elderly that need real assistance.

Are there some routes with low ridership? Yes. Any and all routes are subject to ebbs and flows. Island Transit works hard to make sure no one is left behind, so often a route seems useless to critics doing everything they can to point a finger. But I guarantee that one person without a vehicle that lives 15 miles from their job is grateful they don’t have to walk in the rain.

The main reason Island Transit is in the pickle they are is because they bend over backward to put the customer first, and sort the rest out later. People need to realize that Island Transit is not free to spend the money they receive as they choose.

Because they are dependent on the funding of politicians and taxpayers, they are also bound by laws and regulations that drastically curtail the freedom they have to distribute funds as they needed. It is not as simple as “tighten your belts” and “start charging fares.”

Even if Island Transit said right now that they wanted to charge fares, they couldn’t afford to implement it without a major cash infusion. If people are this ticked about this tiny amount, how would they feel about them asking for much more? Having money on a bus increases security risks, increases delays (and believe me, people will go NUTS over even a three-minute delay – just absolutely NUTS), and charging fares also causes increased costs not only in equipment, but also in administrative personnel. I think it will drop ridership some, but not to the degree it has been projected.

Even still, the small amount the fare would raise would be negligible, and I have reviewed the facts and figures provided and done some of my own research. It might, in a few years, might help Island Transit break even. It will never bring them extra funds. This is a service to us, it isn’t done to make anyone money.

In my opinion, there is always room for belt tightening. Especially in companies that spend other people’s money. Maybe an external audit would satisfy some of the naysayers. But don’t allow what you perceive as mismanagement to hurt our wonderful community. Island Transit isn’t some huge government corporation wanting to take our money for another bailout.

It may seem like we need to fight this dragon because in this, we actually have a voice, whereas with the rest of our taxes we aren’t heard and it goes into a deep black hole never to be seen again. But I think it is for this reason alone that we should vote for this small thing. It is for the people in our community, it is something we control, and we see the results right here. We pay the taxes for other transit systems every time we go to the mall or the movies in Burlington, but balk at supporting our own community.

Please be as passionate about our community as the people at Island Transit are. If we are going to spend our money on something, let it be this – not $50K for a marathon to clog our streets once a year. If you even get to vote on that one.

Please, do the right thing. Help our own people.

Kathi Evans

Oak Harbor