After attending two ferry meetings, one about the passenger-only ferry and one about proposed cuts to the Washington State Ferries, I was dumbfounded by the level of subsidies ferry riders receive from King County and the state. Riders of the PO ferry pay less than 20 percent, and riders of the state ferries pay less than 60 percent of the service cost.

As our economy struggles, cuts to just about everything can be expected.

Let’s remember: Vashon is a special place. The inconvenience of ferry riding is the only reason we don’t look like West Seattle. Furthermore, and forgive me for saying, you’re just as free to leave Vashon Island as you were to move here.

— Jeff Schnel