John Koster’s recent votes on the Snohomish County Council are truly hypocritical. He advocates for over-development in our rural lands by supporting Island Crossing, Soundview and the McNaughton Group developments, and he has opposed legislative efforts to rein in development in rural areas. Now we are faced with the dilemma of how to fix the problems created by irresponsible developments (such as rural clusters with bonus densities and fully contained communities) that degrade the limited rural infrastructure.

The results are serious traffic congestion, as well as severe water quality and quantity issues. These are problems the land developers should be on the hook for but their mitigation fees cover only a fraction of the costs, and once the development is complete, they are gone.

Either we accept an inadequate road system and ever-increasing water pollution or we, as taxpayers, have to pay. But Koster has another idea — the federal and state governments should pay. Koster talks a great deal about individual responsibility. So where does the responsibility for overdevelopment within the county reside? It was the county that allowed virtually uncontrolled development; consequently it seems to me Koster should come up with the additional $11 million a year to pay for the needed surface water management. The state didn’t force us to build in areas without adequate infrastructure; in fact, they tried to prevent it. Now he grandstands that he is opposed to raising taxes to correct traffic problems he helped create.

Does he think these problems are going to fix themselves? It is very hypocritical of Koster to support irresponsible development but expect someone else to pay for the damage it causes. It appears to me that he is an advocate of developers who pay for his campaigns rather than the taxpayers who pay his salary.

Dave Ridgeway