A recent letter to the editor suggested that leaf blowers should be banned in Kirkland because they create emissions and toxic exhaust, disburse irritating substances and create noise. Those nasty leaf blowers probably are causing the polar ice caps to melt, creating rising sea levels and are the direct cause of the extinction of thousands of species on earth. Let’s blame global warming on leaf blowers. Forget about burning coal, carbon emissions and millions of cars on the roadways. Let’s all get out our rakes, including the city of Kirkland Parks Department and rake hundreds of acres of park land so we can have a clean and quiet community. So what if it will take a hundred park employees with rakes to do the work of ten employees using blowers. And while we are banning leaf blowers, lets ban gas powered lawn mowers, gas powered edgers, chainsaws, generators, pole pruners, thatchers and all gas powered equipment. Let’s ban diesel trucks, backhoes, construction equipment and while we are at it, let’s ban cars from Kirkland, too. Cars create emissions, toxic exhaust and create noise. Maybe we should ask the Port of Seattle to reroute planes around the city of Kirkland because jet fuel might fall on Kirkland creating a environmental hazard when jets fly over head.

Maybe it might be better for the Kirkland City Council to focus on the bigger legislative and community issues like: Why Totem Lake Mall is still languishing after a decade; Why most large development projects in Kirkland are contentious with many ending in lawsuits; Why we have declining service levels and higher taxes in Kirkland; or why our roads and public sidewalks are falling apart? I don’t think the State of Washington or the Council should be making the banning leaf blowers a top priority. There are bigger fish to fry.

Pat Harris, Kirkland