Editor,

At last week’s Town Hall in Coupeville, we once again heard the over-the-top Citizens of Ebey’s Reserves falsehoods and their outright cheering for OLF closure and Growler relocation, which would close Whidbey Island Naval Air Station and throw 30,000 people into unemployment.

Several key points:

n Congressman Rick Lar-sen fully supports the Navy;

n Larsen is working with the Navy relative to noise mitigation and cited the Navy as a good neighbor for several mitigation tasks;

n Larsen correctly stated that the Navy has used the National Forest for training already and the additional training is minor in scope – but that the science will play out in the NEPA process

n A Dugualla Bay resident stated that they receive more noise than OLF — about twice the FCLP — and that there are virtually no issues. That is true — as a board member of the Dugualla Bay community.

What is this really about? COER and the Port Townsend elites despise the Navy and have no regard for the 30,000 jobs that employ most of Island County.

Everyone sees them for what they are. Their heroes are former Al Jazeera reporters who also despise the military and write hit pieces cloaked as “science.”

Shameful.

Now, will the DNR commissioner come around and realize that he was bamboozled?

Scott Smith

Oak Harbor