As one letter writer recently noted, it seems all we hear about in Langley these days concerns the proposed bluff/marina conveyance. Funicular this, funicular that, funicular, funicular, funicular. This single topic has utterly dominated The Record’s Opinion Pages for months, and with a healthy backlog of letters awaiting publication, there’s no end in sight.

Clearly people care desperately about this issue, and the newspaper is committed to providing a platform where members of the public can freely express their views. Recent scuttlebut in Langley, however, has made it equally clear that some explanation and reminders about our letters policies and requirements are in order.

First and foremost, if you want to express an opinion in the paper the price tag for admission is your name and where you live. No exceptions.

For most that’s hardly news; The Record has had this policy for decades and it’s one shared by newspapers everywhere. Unfortunately, rumors are swirling that at least two recent letter writers submitted under fake names. We’ve done a bit of digging and while we can’t positively confirm the “suspects” are really who they say they are, we can’t prove they are not either.

One woman recently left a voice message at the paper expressing her outrage that we would allow such a travesty to occur. “That’s just wrong, it’s just wrong,” she said.

Indeed. To those who have mustered up the courage to stand behind their convictions and risk having to defend their positions before friends and neighbors at the grocery store or post office, it is undeniably unfair.

There may be many reasons to desire anonymity, but in our view they don’t outweigh a civil and honest discussion, which simple identification can provide. No doubt this highly effective tool was why this policy was enacted so many years ago. Certainly everyone remembers the rowdy, even vicious, debates that took place online a few years ago before The Record adopted an alternative commenting engine that requires personal identification — it was the Wild West.

All that said, we’re only willing to go so far. While it’s not our intention to give any letter writers a free pass, our verification system is less than perfect. It’s really more of an honor system. Writers must provide basic information such as an address, telephone number, etc. From there we call and ask the person if they are who they say they are.

Obviously this is hardly immune from fraud, but what’s the alternative? Demanding a photo copy of a driver’s license? A birth certificate? Finger prints and DNA samples?

Nope, not at The Record. We’re a newspaper, not an auditor’s office. The Opinion Page exists to facilitate free discussion. We care about fairness, but we won’t adopt extreme measures because a few people may have broken the rules.

What we can do is appeal to all letter writers to respect both the sanctity of the Opinion Page and your fellows by standing behind your convictions with your name — your real name.