Roger Cleven wrote of his disappointment on the community center decision and compared the process to the health care debate. The comparison is apt in that the issue has polarized our community with often rancorous debate and personal attacks.

I am pleased with the decision, but this letter isn’t to rehash that issue.

What is disturbing about Roger’s message is his statement “What makes them so special” and “The Ridge has taken our library, fire department and police station. What else do they want?”

We want to live in a friendly vibrant community, raise our kids, know our neighbors and support local services, just like you.

A family member working in the Valley first stumbled into this community split when collogues, not knowing where we lived, complained about those “Ridge folks.: I agree that some decisions could have been made differently at the city level, but that was done before most of us got here.

It’s unfortunate that Historic Snoqualmie lies in the floodplain, which is what drove the relocation of some services. I sit on the library board and the county decision to locate the library on the Ridge was driven by the high cost of building in a floodplain, not anything Ridge residents wanted.

I volunteer at the North Bend and Snoqualmie libraries (old and new). My son and I helped residents clean their houses after the floods. We are members of this community, historic and new.

I applaud the city for building the new City Hall in Historic Snoqualmie. It could be argued that the elevated cost of building in the floodplain was a waste of our tax dollars, but I believe the most important municipal building we have should be downtown and support the extra cost and decision to put it there.

We may differ on important issues, but let’s not be so quick to trash each other. Roger’s probably a good guy that I’d enjoy a beer with. And we’re not so bad either.

Dwight Hutchinson

Snoqualmie