Editor,

After reading the ongoing saga of Commissioner Kelly Emerson, I feel one fact has been forgotten.

The Emersons knowingly started construction without a building permit, end of story.

If memory serves, it was reported in this newspaper that the Emersons admitted deciding to go ahead without a permit.

They are electrical contractors, and well aware of the permitting process. She tried to pull a fast one and got caught.

We have permits for many reasons. If she disputed the classification of her property, there is a process to work through that.

That’s the law. It’s fairly simple to me.

If the county does not enforce this violation, then what is to keep others from not going through the permit process? Why should anyone pay for a permit?

Commissioner Emerson gets off for free.

I feel the system is so tainted and sordid that another county should handle the decision process.

It is not unusual for other county or city governments to step up, when asked to.  Or, the county should turn the whole file over to the county prosecutor; he is elected and not answerable to Commissioner Emerson.

This needs to end; the Emersons have wasted enough of our hard-earned tax dollars with their legal shenanigans not to mention the time and resources of our county.

Barbara Brand
Oak Harbor