I feel it is our fundamental duty to support our local school district by voting for the bond.

Besides the obvious reasons of improved education outcomes and improved facilities for public use, both of which strengthen our community, it is shown that our property’s market value increases with better school facilities.

As we look at our community as a whole, our ability to attract and retain quality health care professionals and businesses is greatly enhanced by having school facilities that are up to date. A secure modern educational setting allows families to thrive and people looking for an area to prosper know that.

There is no question that this is a major investment in the community and for some people with fixed incomes there will be an impact, but Sequim School District’s levy rate will still be below the state average.

There has been some discussion about why now and why such a major investment. The community Facilities Committee studied the issues for 10 months, the districts Board of Directors reviewed the recommendations and came to the same conclusion this is the basic package of improvements  necessary to meet the districts 21st century’s needs.

After years of neglect and a favorable borrowing climate this is the right time to make an investment in our community’s future.

As John Adams, one of our nations leading founding fathers wrote over 230 years ago, “Whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and must be willing to bare the expense of it.”

Steve Tharinger

State Representative

Sequim