Editor,

Thank you to the city of Oak Harbor for finally running those unsightly RVs off Oak Harbor Road. However, two of the three RVs arrived in our neighborhood a few days ago where we now have to fight the same battle but with nowhere near the power or resources that the City of Oak Harbor has. It took Oak Harbor months to get the RVs to move along. You can only imagine how long it’s going to take a 250-home community to rectify.

It comes to me as no surprise the RVs in question landed at the address they did. That address has long been an ongoing problem for law enforcement and our community. It was even raided in 2016 but the same occupants and the illegal activities continue to this day. Five years is long enough, don’t you think? Something needs to be done about it. Official complaints have been made. Higher ups have been contacted but it just keeps getting worse.

Out of sight out of mind though. It’s someone else’s problem now. Well guess what, it’s still your problem. The drugs and crime they bring to the community just doesn’t affect our neighborhood. It infects and rots at the core of the entire island. Just listen to the scanner and you can hear the daily occurrences of overdoses throughout the island. Will someone close to you be the next victim? Burglaries, mail, vehicle, and utility trailer theft, all crimes used to fund their addictions. You could be their next target. Maybe your next golf game will be interrupted by a naked man running from aliens.

A good neighbor recently stated they feel our neighborhood has been abandoned. Abandoned by those we trust to keep these problems in check. I can’t blame them for feeling this way. This entire state has abandoned us by passing lenient laws which basically tie the hands of law enforcement. These same weak laws passed by our legislators give our prosecutor loopholes to not prosecute. Law enforcement is barely staffed and underfunded and I’m sure their morale has eroded to an all-time low.

So what can we do? What’s the way forward? I’m not really sure but something has to be done. I encourage everyone reading this to:

1. Write your legislators and encourage them to fix the laws.

2. Write your commissioner. Law enforcement needs to be properly funded and staffed. The latest defund the police propaganda did not help.

3. Vote in a tougher prosecutor. Last election this position was unopposed so there may be some recruiting needed to attract a formidable opponent.

4. If you see something, say something. Contact law enforcement immediately if you witness illegal activities.

5. Last but not least, get involved with your community. It doesn’t have to be huge. Even something as simple as a neighborhood clean-up is a good start.

R Hagemann

Oak Harbor