My husband and I just returned from an extensive road trip carrying us into nine states and many communities along the way. As we are news junkies, we watched local TV news stations every evening to get some sort of feel for what is happening.

Unfortunately, all but one broadcast put forth what is termed “happy talk:” car chases that ended with the perpetrator being collared by the local sheriff, weather and sports. One station, however, had a story lasting about 10 seconds. It concerned the affordable housing dilemma facing the area. What struck me was what one town official said, “We’re looking into it.” Did what we hear mean only ONE town had an issue or that these news stations focused on fluff pieces?

Here in our islands, we are decidedly not just “…looking into it” but are actually putting forth a measure that will be a tremendous boost to our issue of affordable housing: real estate excise tax. This measure is not an end in itself, but a strong and positive step toward making our communities diverse, viable and healthy.

I urge voters to approve the REET.

Gay Graham

Friday Harbor