Editor,

I wonder if the city of Oak Harbor has figuratively maxed out its credit cards.

My clues, I admit, are not conclusive.

When you run out of credit one of the first things you do is defer needed maintenance. All over the county there are traffic revisions to accommodate various paving projects.

Inside the city limits there are no paving projects that I have observed. Parts of Pioneer Way and Fort Nugent are badly in need of being repaved. At the marina they are abandoning a boat launch sling that has been condemned as unsafe to use. The cost of repair is deemed not justifiable. It clearly stands as a monument to deferred maintenance.

Another piece of evidence that hints to the city’s financial woes is the charging of administrative fees to the enterprise activities, such as the marina, water and sewer and solid waste. This fee has effectively drained these enterprises of their working capital, and stymied their ability to take on minor capital projects.

We have a lot of debt.

The Pioneer Way project went over budget, and the cost of dealing with the native bones remains unknown. The city opted for the most expensive sewer plant in existence. For less than half that cost we could have had an EPA compliant sewer plant.

My speculation is that our debt got out of control and the city has to resort to deferred maintenance and stealing from Peter to pay Paul tactics.

The biggest, and certainly most needed, is trimming back our bloated city government. We do not need to be in the solid waste business. My friends in the county have better rates.

We do not need a jail; the county is required to provide this service.

We have a huge motor pool of specialized vehicles; contracting out these services may produce huge savings. City employee’s fringe benefits are way out of line with both government and the private sector.

I admit my evidence is not conclusive, but my speculation is that the city has figuratively maxed out their credit cards.

Hopefully, this letter will get a complete answer from the city.

Patrick Harman

Oak Harbor