By FRANK PENWELL

An open letter to the Land Bank Commission and County Council:

I am becoming concerned that a few vocal citizens are giving a black eye to the majority of farmers in our community.

I hope more alert and informed farmers will step up to protect the reputation of our agricultural community.

Simply put, I am convinced that a network of politics is abusing our political system for personal gain at the expense of the community.

If you want to revitalize downtown, you ask the chamber of commerce and the business community what the best way to accomplish that would be.

If you want to support a special-interest group with government monies, such as the Agricultural Guild, it should be done in an appropriate manner.

Government should offer a hand up rather than a hand out. Handouts lead to lifelong enabling that leads to dependency, rather than sustainability.

Here is what many in our community see:

The local Land Bank has agreed to support the purchase of the Erickson property, based on a request from some politically positioned individuals and by the Ag Guild.

This commitment has been given without a viable business plan and formal feasibility plan (which means factual numbers rather than theoretical hopes), and without a completed appraisal of the Erickson property.

To most of us, this kind of decision making is illogical and a poor use of taxpayers’ monies.

To others, this looks like behind-the-scenes work of a “good old boys” network.

If the Land Bank Commission follows through and ignores good business practices and common sense, the Land Bank will have a hard time garnering voter approval when the next vote on the Land Bank comes to the ballot box.

The Land Bank idea was sold to the public as a conservation tool, not a “development” tool.

While the Land Bank holds the thin thread of “historical” interest to support this use of Land Bank funds for the Farmers Market construction project, there is no doubt that Land Bank funds are supporting this “development project.”

I ask the Land Bank Commission to reconsider its commitment to this project and to get back to its basic environmental conservation job.

The Land Bank should be keeping an eye out for environmentally-sensitive critical areas in need of preservation, and accumulating funds to purchase these properties.

Please leave “development costs” to those who will benefit from the development.

These entrepreneurs should not be asking the Land Bank for tax dollars to develop their businesses, and you should not be offering them funds without offering equal consideration to other equally deserving local entrepreneurial organizations.

— Frank Penwell is a San Juan Island resident active in civic affairs.