I echo Joe Mosolino’s concern (Letters, Aug. 20) regarding letters with offensive language and deliberate misinformation. However, the nasty letter that upset Mosolino surely gained incumbent county Commissioner Mac McDowell more votes than it did his opponent, not to mention the editor’s unprecedented rebuttal on Mac’s behalf at the end of the letter. Is such favoritism accidental or intended?

In the same issue of the News-Times as Mosolino’s complaint, a letter from Lina Johnson blasts “elitists” who live in “McMansions sprawled throughout the most scenic sites in the county” and who want to “cram more and more people into a smaller space.” Perhaps Johnson missed McDowell’s stated intention to build and live in Mariner’s Cove, far enough from Oak Harbor so that its sprawl will never engulf that upscale neighborhood during his lifetime.

Oak Harbor’s city limits are creeping closer to my modest house in the woods amid quite a bit of wildlife that could not survive in Oak Harbor’s maze of cookie-cutter houses, many of which are unsold after being built by the dozens.

No, Ms. Johnson, a developer does not want to “build a house in the woods.” A developer wants to clear-cut the woods and build many houses.

Except for military families and support personnel, people live and visit here mostly because of the rural environment. Being designated rural by the state also provides Island County with funding that supports tourism. However, a wry joke at the Oak Harbor visitor information center is that visitors’ most frequently asked question is, “How do I get to La Conner?”

The races for Island County Commissioner are no joke. Votes for Helen Price Johnson, District 1, and Angie Homola, District 2, are votes for responsible growth.

James Bruner

Oak Harbor