If North Bend needs to have a meeting about its viability as a city continuing on into the future, then maybe it’s time for a change.

Think about it. The Ridge was developed and people on the Ridge and in the Valley have been throwing stones at each other ever since. Both sides say they really don’t like the other. Although, if we look closely enough, if a Ridgeite and a Valleyite were sitting next to each other at the dentist’s office, they would get along quite well, thank you, because they’re same demographically, i.e., there’s nothing on the Ridge that isn’t in the Valley, and vice versa.

What a great way to knock down the walls of prejudice: merge. Let’s merge North Bend, the Ridge and Snoqualmie into one. Then everybody will start off on a new footing, and we’ll all be called Snoqualmies. Gosh, maybe that would include the Tribe — they are Snoqualmies. That would be some merger, eh? No one could say, “Well in the old days…,” or “They want [fill in the blank], why don’t they pay for it themselves, they’re not part of us.”

If Lehman Bros. and WAMU can merge and come out okay, then we can, too. Let’s end prejudice and all of us become generic Valleyites. Let’s move into the future with a new, inclusive beginning. It’s American, by golly. [Pan to masses of residents young and old waving American flags, walking arm in arm into the sunset singing “America the Beautiful.”]

Sheila Hunter

North Bend