To the editor:

It was with pleasure and pride that I noted our recent Board of Island County Commissioners’ resolution supporting a Constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling permitting unlimited and undisclosed political campaign contributions.

Counties, cities and states across the land are registering their opposition to that Supreme Court decision. In Island County, Langley was the first town to go on record in defense of “we, the people,” and it is heartening that the Island County commissioners were not far behind. My thanks go to Helen Price Johnson and Angie Homola for doing their part to limit the influence of money in politics.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Commissioner Kelly Emerson, who cast the dissenting vote. She doesn’t seem to realize that elected officials like herself have the most to lose from a “pay to play” system in which those with the most money can speak the loudest and the rest of us can never learn the identity of those wealthy interests. Disclosure and transparency are the twin pillars of a democratic government.

Kelly Emerson should have been helping to hold up those pillars instead of pushing them over. What can we expect from the Coupeville and Oak Harbor city councils? I look forward to hearing them debate this critical issue.

Dianna MacLeod

Langley