Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Keep free downtown parking

In just a few weeks the meters will be back in place throughout the downtown area. Once again, the majority is conforming to the behavior of the minority.

One solution we might consider to sustain the two hours of free parking and eliminate the abuse is having parking tickets considered paid in full if a sales receipt of $25 or more is attached to the ticket.

Simple guidelines for this procedure could be that sales receipts have to be for the same day the ticket is issued and from stores near your parked auto. Shoppers would only be allowed one free ticket a day, which equals two hours of free city parking. Meters could be used for any additional time shoppers need.

Shoppers who lose track of time would pay for any additional tickets that day.

This would be a simple way to eliminate the current abuse of free parking, yet still encourage people to shop downtown.

When my husband told me his job was moving us to Spokane, the one thing I was thrilled with was the downtown. Too many of our once wonderful downtowns are dead and gone. We should do everything we can to encourage people to shop downtown, and one way is free two-hour parking. Larrie Adamson Spokane

Numbers welcomes input, so she says

At the April 10 meeting our City Council, I heard the report about the March 11 citizens retreat. One area of particular concern expressed by citizens was the feeling of frustration and futility when attempting to address our City Council.

The mayor and City Council members, particularly Bev Numbers, assured citizens the council welcomes citizen input. This is the same Bev Numbers who, as chairwoman of a Council procedure committee, is attempting to stifle citizen testimony. This committee recommends:

1. The public forum not be televised and be limited to the last half hour of the meeting.

2. Public speak to other than agenda items.

3. Require sign-up by 5:30 p.m. of name, subject and amount of time.

4. A five-minute limit be imposed, subject to mayor’s discretion based on number of people signed up.

Does Councilwoman Numbers speak with a forked tongue? What she proclaims on the TV camera is not what she works for in committee. George McGrath Spokane

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

The foul-mouthed better beware

A Republican U.S. senator mocks a JapaneseAmerican judge in Los Angeles.

Around that same courtroom, an attorney makes bad jokes about the name of an Asian-American witness.

A Hispanic family mourns the death of a promising young singer who was shot to death. A radio broadcaster plays her songs, adding gunfire sound effects.

Right here in our town, black university students get hate mail because they want to get an education.

What is happening to our beautiful country, in which, they say, all persons are created equal?

When God created America, he did not say it was just for one ethnic group. Let’s not make him angry. He might cancel the lease. Greg Works Spokane

Better world starts with me, you

When I read of acts of terrorism and violence I ask myself, Is there anything that I can do personally to contribute to peace on earth?

Yes, I believe there is much to be done individually to make a difference.

I can withdraw my support from the violence that often characterizes the sports and entertainment world by not spending money to attend such events or even watch them on TV. I can peacefully choose to release feelings of anger, resentment and unforgiveness when they arise, as these are the precursors of violence and mistreatment of others.

As I quietly work along these lines, I am setting an example and communicating an atmosphere that will affect many others. I can work to overcome apparent evil with good.

Hopefully, millions of others will join me in this commitment. Together, we can change the world. Tom Durst Spokane

Be careful placing your faith

I am alarmed by the survey that suggests that Americans have more faith in the military and religion than they do in government.

I am disenchanted with government but I can change government. I cannot change God or resurrect the victims of war.

To place faith in the might of God or the military is to abdicate responsibility for myself and humanity. Those who place responsibility for their well-being outside themselves should not be surprised when they become the victims of their faith. Bill Lamson Coeur d’Alene

THE MEDIA

Noncoverage of leader a disservice

In a recent “Hot Potatoes” column, D.F. Oliveria commented that, “Tim ‘The Tool Man’ Taylor is more relevant than President Clinton.” He further stated that ABC and NBC opted not to air the president’s speech and that the ratings for his speech were lower than those for “Home Improvement.”

Several other media sources have made similar belittling comments on the low ratings of the president’s speech.

In the past, all the major stations have aired speeches by our president. I believe the networks have a responsibility to broadcast these speeches and that they should be aired as a matter of respect for our president. Not to air his speeches seems to be an insult to the office itself.

Ignoring a speech by our elected leader contributes to a general lack of confidence in our government both here and abroad. This action has far-reaching consequences.

I didn’t hear the president’s speech, but had I been aware of its broadcast, I would have. I rely on “TV Week,” the television programming supplement that is distributed with The Spokesman-Review and many other Western papers. It did not list the president’s speech. When a program of any kind is not listed in the locally available TV schedules, how can any sort of ratings poll accurately reflect the interests of the American public?

The office of the president deserves respect and honor. Constant, biased, negative views do a disservice to not only the president himself, but to the office he holds and to the American public which elected him. Louise Ayers Spokane

Better gratuitous violence than pap

Kudos to Jack Jennings for writing (“Movie critics: 1 on scale of 10,” Letters, April 5) and The Spokesman-Review for highlighting the letter that summarizes Spokane’s celebration of ignorance.

For those who have forgotten, Jennings was the one who reveled in the motion picture academy’s selection of a “charming, delightful” piece of fast-food culture, “Forrest Gump,” over a tougher, more thoughtprovoking morsel, “Pulp Fiction.” Hooray for those who favor instant gratification over a challenge.

Mr. Jennings - and you, too, editorial board - art is not always easy, ideas are not always happy and beauty is not always pretty. Sometimes the processing of such notions requires a little time and a little depth.

Perhaps people would appreciate movies like “Pulp Fiction” and “The Piano” more if they were to take the slightest interest in looking beyond surface or even looking deeper into themselves.

It’s not the movies that upset me or even conservative attitudes toward various art forms. Rather, it’s the shortsighted, spoon-fed mentality that values a trite moral over an inspiring insight. It is precisely this kind of attitude that makes Rush Limbaugh “right” for the masses - he’s overbearing and presents his message in such a way that no one has to think or delve in order to understand it.

Is this kind of mindlessness something of which we should be proud?

One more thing. If anything in this letter seems in the slightest bit affirming, please take out your dictionaries and look up “irony” and “sarcasm.” Lisa R. McDaniel Cheney

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Seek defeat of property bills

Senate Bill S605, the Omnibus Property Rights Act of 1995, would require government to compensate property owners when a government regulation - such as maintaining enough wetlands to keep our environment in balance - would reduce the value of their property in any amount. Can we add this unpredictable expense to taxpayers’ burden?

The League of Women Voters, which studies the effects of such a proposal before acting, opposes S605.

Soon, possibly today, the U.S. Senate was to vote on this and its version of House-passed anti-regulatory legislation: Senate bills S343 and S291. These acts challenge regulations which protect our clean air, clean water and the use of pesticides.

Sensible people want unreasonable regulations stopped, but not those regulations that protect our health and the future livability of our planet.

A 19th century Cree Indian saying: Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we can’t eat money.

Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121 and ask for Sens. Slade Gorton and Patty Murray. Or write to them, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510. Mildred Stout Pullman