Last Sunday there were two great reads in the PDN.
One was an excellent letter decrying Gov. Jay Inslee’s pandemic reopening plan grouping Clallam and Jefferson counties with Kitsap and Mason, and arbitrarily favoring the Puget Sound area.
I too voted for the governor and am now disappointed with his decisions.
These measures are manifestly unfair to rural areas, coincidentally places with fewer votes, as Mr. Hawley pointed out.
I am glad Senator Van de Wege and Representatives Chapman and Tharinger at least tried to get the measure reversed.
They obviously weren’t consulted about it.
The other great read was about our 24th District legislators unanimously booing the governor’s idea to replace county health districts with regional districts, another ridiculous idea that hurts rural areas.
Senator Van De Wege’s declaration that the bill wouldn’t move was heartening.
This shows the real problem in our state’s politics.
It is not R’s vs. D’s, but R’s vs. U’s: Rural versus Urban.
It is said that you can see all the votes you need from the top of the Space Needle.
So areas outside the Puget Sound region continually take the hit when it comes to issues such as natural resources, transportation, fuel taxes and fishing regulations.
The governor’s proposed measures don’t consider the needs and issues of rural citizens.
I hope our legislators and other representatives of Washington’s rural communities will keep fighting the R vs. U divide.
Prosperity should not be confined by city limits.
Laurel Black
Port Angeles