Editor,

Carol Allender wants proof that Sen. Barbara Bailey takes money from unsavory contributors. Sen. Bailey’s contributions are listed at votesmart.org and include $8,150 from pharmaceutical companies and $700 from payday lenders.

So what? So Sen. Bailey voted for the controversial Moneytree Bill, SB5899, which would scale back the 2009 restrictions on payday loans and allow lenders to collect more than 200 percent interest on their loans.

Ms. Allender wants to know what Angie Homola did for Island County during her four years as county commissioner.

I’m glad she asked that.

When Angie took office in 2009, the county was on the verge of bankruptcy. She and her fellow commissioners cut the general fund by 20 percent while upgrading infrastructure and increasing funding for vital services. They did this by cutting spending in other areas.

For instance, the commissioners were paid $700 a month for in-county travel, but only five indigent veterans were getting assistance. They reduced the travel stipend to $300 and put 95 more veterans on the rolls.

The jail plumbing and wiring was rotten, so they fixed it. They beefed up starved funding for the sheriff’s department and the court and justice system.

They created a clean water utility so Island County would not end up like Flint, Mich.

They updated our dinosaur computers so county agencies could communicate with each other and installed a check processing machine that eliminated thousands of hours of writing checks by hand.

They complied with the Growth Management Act to protect and preserve public access to our shorelines, parks, trails and open spaces. With Conservation Futures funds, they saved farms on Ebey’s Prairie from being subdivided and developed, to preserve our rural character.

In office, Angie has served the public while Barbara Bailey has served the exploiters of the public who fund her campaigns.

Ann Adams

Oak Harbor