Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE COUNTY

Charter offers way out of mess

We should respect our elected officials shouldn’t we? However, some are making this show of respect very difficult.

The continuing antics of the county commissioners and misuse of his office by the coroner are certainly not what a community deserves from its elected leaders.

Take for example reported remarks regarding preparation of the upcoming budget. Commissioner Phil “Baba” Harris has now graduated from his concern over paper clips to an intense concern over energy costs for electric pencil sharpeners. Commissioner “Moe” Marlton believes that giving his opinion publicly on the intelligence of the sheriff will somehow reduce crimes and lessen the impact to the budget. Then there’s Commissioner Steve “Cornbread” Hasson, who’s just going to hunker down.

So what’s new?

It’s frightening to know that this trio has so much power over taxpayer money. We clearly need a better way. The proposed charter that consolidates city and county and gives a much broader representation seems a better way to me. We can’t afford all this power to be misused by three people - who at this time are making fools of the system.

Spokane County shouldn’t tolerate the craziness of the current commission any longer. Let’s all vote for the charter. Marge Auckerman Spokane

Marlton hard-working, responsible

One of the trendy terms in today’s lingo is “take responsibility.” Now is the time to use that phrase for real.

County Commissioner George Marlton understands working people

How much responsibility do we take for what goes on in local government? Do we just sit back and accept what happens? One way to assume responsibility is to become aware of the people running for office. Do you know what they stand for? We should look for a person who is for working people.

I’ve worked hard all my life and I look for someone who is a champion of the unions, who understands the worker and his or her needs. Marlton, running for a full term as county commissioner, is such a person.

He worked his way through law school and has always been an honest, hard-working man. He understands the necessity of maintaining good relationships with unions that negotiate for working people.

Do take responsibility and vote on Sept. 19. Larry Marshall, former vice chairman Spokane Democratic Party

SPOKANE MATTERS

City officials serving us badly

On Aug. 29 our city council voted to take the risk of loss of $40 million from the Gypsy lawsuit in return for a guarantee of $390,000. This may be the poorest judgment the council members have ever displayed.

We saw Councilman Joel Crosby suggest to Colbert residents that since they don’t “live in Manito Park, after all,” they deserve the compost smell. The council then voted to spend another $160,000 for aerosol spray to mask the stink and to reopen the compost facility.

This is a display of Mr. Crosby’s ego and unwillingness to admit a bad decision.

We saw our council allow more than two hours of passionate, factual testimony from well-informed citizens - after the council members decided how they would vote. We saw the same process two weeks ago concerning the Thorpe Road tunnels and the granting of a building permit. This is an example of the heavy-handed special interest politics of this council.

Our city attorney has so intimidated the council that they bow to him rather than use reason and common sense. The Gypsy lawsuit results from our attorney’s being inept. The Thorpe Road problem goes forward because City Attorney Jim Sloane refuses to stand up against a contractor who “might sue the city.” The compost site stayed open in June and July because Sloan won’t stand up to O.M. Scott and defend the city.

Fortunately, three council members will soon be replaced. Recall would not be out of the question for another. D.C. Zwanzig Spokane

Driver care the ultimate answer

Spokane drivers have a reputation for going too fast. Traffic police say this is true.

Drivers blame the fact that traffic lights aren’t synchronized properly, that yellow lights are programmed too fast.

I have traveled the entire nation by automobile over 30 years and toured every major city in the United States without ever being cited for running a red light. Some will say this is boasting. Not so. I am proud of my driving record. Driving with caution is the answer.

Everybody in Spokane seems to be in a great hurry to get wherever, and fast. I wonder if people applying for their driver’s license should be tested for color blindness. Maybe Spokane drivers have a medical problem with their eyesight. Bruce Milbourn Spokane

Grow up and obey the rules

Drivers complaining about having to stop for red lights should stop acting like spoiled children.

We must all stop sometime to let others have their turn to proceed. If we just kept driving, with no one stopping, we would all soon be dead.

Lights are there for everyone’s safety. At least four times this year, if I hadn’t waited at a green light long enough, I would’ve been hit by a red light runner. I would either be hurt or dead.

Wise up, drivers. Stop acting like spoiled children. Flossie N. Burrill Spokane

Undeserved ticket the last straw

On Aug. 14 I parked my vehicle in a metered parking spot in front of City Hall, depositing the appropriate amount of change for the time I required to perform research in the main library. Upon my return, I was surprised to find a parking ticket under my windshield wiper.

I was very surprised, considering the meter had not yet expired (I have a witness).

My family and I have done a considerable amount of shopping in the downtown area for many years, not to mention the countless hours I’ve spent doing research in the main library. This has been in spite of the difficulty of finding a safe and convenient parking space in the area, and the ridiculous parking fees imposed.

It’s been said that government penalizes those things it wishes to discourage. Perhaps City Hall no longer wishes to encourage shopping or the use of services located in the downtown area.

Shopping centers, such as Northtown, provide safe and free parking because they want our business. City Hall should take note. We won’t be back. Aaron Weir Opportunity

THE MEDIA

Wrong to downgrade God

I think it’s quite unfair that with only one newspaper at our offering, you subject its readers to outright paganism. I’m referring to the headline, “Thank god two-a-days are a thing of the past” (The Slice, Aug. 8) where God isn’t capitalized.

Many of us still regard God as the Supreme Being who created heaven and earth and all that abides therein, and wish to give him due reverence.

I wish you’d stick to reporting news in an accurate and understandable way and discontinue trying to be entertaining, as I believe you are attempting to be, in the nonsensical “Slice” portion of this “newspaper.” Wendy McCliment Spokane

Editor’s note: The Associated Press Stylebook, the general guide for writers and editors at The Spokesman-Review and most U.S. daily newspapers, requires “God” be capitalized whenever reference is made to a monotheistic deity. The deviation Ms. McCliment refers to was simply a typographical error and we regret it. There was no intent to promote paganism or offend anyone’s faith.

Priggee worst of left-wing breed

Since my home delivery of your paper will cease in a couple days, I’d like to take this opportunity to nominate staff cartoonist Milt Priggee as Hatemonger of the Year.

Mr. Priggee has learned well the lessons of his left-wing, liberal persuasion, which for many years has labored to set people against people, race against race, rich against poor and labor against business in order to capitalize on hate to win votes and maintain power.

Priggee’s recent cartoon depicting Randy Weaver is typical. I’ve never met Weaver. He may well be a loudmouth and/or a jerk. If, however, being a jerk constitutes justification to wipe out a man’s home and family, Mr. Priggee would certainly not have lived all these years. Lowell J. Torkelson Walla Walla

Horses not necessarily emblematic

In your article on Aug. 30 about the Budweiser Clydesdales, it said kids associate the horses with drinking alcohol.

I remember seeing the Clydesdales when I was a child and I didn’t see the alcohol aspect of it. I just saw beautiful horses pulling a wagon. The Clydesdales stand for more than a logo for alcohol - they stand for strength of nature.

When I started drinking, I drank rum and whiskey. I didn’t drink beer and I don’t drink anymore. All the logos alcohol companies come up with don’t change the fact that drinking alcohol is stupid and very bad for you.

Parents need to talk to their children about the dangers of drinking and that it isn’t cool. It makes stupid people do stupid things.

The Clydesdales are beautiful animals and we need to keep that in mind every time we see them. Christine Nelson Spokane

Glad historian’s passing was noted

I read in the Aug. 29 newspaper that historian Page Smith has died. There was a short article about some of his writings.

I was fortunate to take U.S. History with this man teaching at UCLA, and he will sorely be missed. He made history come alive and was what I consider a young person’s hero.

It was a pleasure to read what is essentially an obituary about an important person, as opposed to another drug overdosed rock star. Nancy Parker Walla Walla

LAW AND JUSTICE

System’s seriously out of whack

In New York City, an addict tries to mug a subway passenger for drug money. Caught in the act, the addict is shot by a subway policeman. The bullet severs a nerve, paralyzing the addict from the waist down. He sues New York City and is awarded $4 million by a jury - for attempted robbery?

In Moscow, Idaho, a young woman student drinks to excess, is taken back to her sorority and put to bed by a concerned friend. The young woman later gets up, falls or jumps out of a window, is paralyzed and sues the University of Idaho - for the result of her own irresponsible actions?

Elsewhere, a woman places a hot cup of coffee between her legs while removing the lid, spills it, gets burned - and a jury awards her millions?

In Los Angeles, a popular sports hero apparently butchers his ex-wife and her friend. Members of a so-called Dream Team of lawyers spends months trying to befuddle the jury with cockamamie theories of conspiracy, racism, incompetent police or whatever else might get their client off, even though all the evidence points to the guilt of only one individual - their client.

Has our legal system gone crazy or are these isolated instances that have been over-reported by frenzied media people?

Juries should focus on who the real victims are, based on truth and evidence, not sympathy. If they won’t, our justice system is in real trouble. Mary Lou Prentiss Coeur d’Alene

What about blood evidence?

We read the headline, “Tapes could set O.J. free.”

Even though Mark Fuhrman was capable of planting the bloody glove, the question still is: Was O.J.’s blood found at the murder scene? If not, why is O.J. on trial and, whose blood is it? M. Conner Spokane

Enough of what’s beside the point

In spite of the blah-blah and hoopla, one fact remains. O.J. Simpson is on trial for murder. Jean Hagie Cheney