To the editor:

We will soon be reaping the results of individual selfishness and short-sightedness. The average cost of Proposition 1 would have been $40 per home per year. (I know I spend a lot more than that on coffee and pastry.) It would have raised $2 million.

But no — it was defeated, and so there will be another $2-million decrease in county expenditures. “So what?” you may ask.

That $2 million will not be available for our Island County economy. The county government will not be able to pump that $2 million back into our island community. There will be many county employees laid off, and that will have widespread effects as those folks ratchet down their spending.

Restaurants will suffer. Home maintenance will suffer. Hardware, clothing and grocery stores will suffer. And the people offering those services will suffer.

We are all connected, so all of us needed to contribute to avoid a further economic decline. I believe the people that voted no on Prop. 1 were voting based on emotions and slogans, and were not thinking about the ramifications of what they were doing.

Duke LeBaron

Langley