LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Bremerton Marina Isn't a Boondoggle

Regarding a recent letter criticizing the Port of Bremerton's new marina:

The marina is a boondoggle? Hardly! We moved here to retire and bought a condo so we could walk to our boat at the marina. We contribute much to the economy here and Kitsap tax revenues are up even though the condo market crashed. Just for a benchmark, note we paid over $8,000 for 2008 in real estate taxes. The marina brings tourist dollars every weekend. Our boat club will be here early next year and each person (about 80, total) will pay a minimum of $60 just to attend. That money is directly paid to the vendors and the port serving the club.

The state of the economy was unseen and has slowed the progress but it will recover and the marina will fill up, the condos will sell and there will be more monies paid to the city's businesses and port.

Richard Symms