Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Do something besides complain

I read with interest the March 17 article about the “sidewalk supervisor.”

I’m always bothered by individuals who leave a place because they don’t like it, then try to make Spokane like the place they left.

I’ve lived on Spokane’s South Hill for 18 years. I’ve run tens of thousands of miles on and around the South Hill. I’ve never found the condition or lack of sidewalks to present an insurmountable problem.

I suggest the sidewalk supervisor try running in the parks - Manito, Cannon Hill, Comstock. Perhaps the tracks at Ferris High School and Hart Field would be to his liking. If he’s seeking absolute safety, how about a treadmill at Sta-Fit? Barring those solutions, perhaps he would like to write me a check for $500 or pay the increase in my property taxes so that my sidewalk can be brought up to his standards.

If none of those solutions proves acceptable, perhaps he should move back to St. Paul, Minn., the land of eternal ice, snow and mosquitoes. That way, those of us who love Spokane, warts and all, can continue to enjoy it as we like it. James J. Schifferns Spokane

For golfers, there goes the neighborhood

County government has driven the final nail in its effort to kill affordable golf by removing the support of men’s club golfers who defended the general public against a rabid campaign by Commissioner John Roskelley to increase greens fees to fund county parks.

Men’s and women’s clubs support golf course professionals, staffs and restaurants and put back into the county golf courses donated time and money. Now all of the local hackers will applaud you; they can tear up the golf courses, wear their tank tops and short shorts, have their dogs and kids along for a Sunday picnic and slow stroll. You probably can get the pace of play up to about five-and-a-half hours per round. That should keep the golfing public happy and reserve a guaranteed position for you in the next election.

It seems Spokane County management received the same education as Spokane city management, likening the slap in the face to county men’s golf club members to that of the decision to let the Coliseum become run down so taxpayers had no choice but to replace the facility at taxpayers’ expense.

The appreciative public will be able to let county management sell the golf courses to America Golf or other interested parties, or let the courses become overplayed cow pastures, with golfers who don’t give a damn, then float a big bond to build more golf courses to be cared for under the concerned county government. Denis O’Farrell, president Hangman Valley Men’s Club

Tolerance not what it could be

We are writing in reference to your article about racism in Spokane.

In January, the Spokane St. Vincent de Paul thrift stores began advertising in foreign languages. We were quite surprised by the response. A few anonymous phone calls and letters alerted us to unknown undercurrents of racism in Spokane.

Overall, the community has been extremely generous with donations, and our customer response has also been very positive and notably supportive of a retail store that acknowledges and celebrates diversity.

As a community, as businesses and as humans, we must all recognize our individuality and celebrate the unique qualities of multi-ethnicity. Spokane has a wonderful opportunity to strengthen the community through awareness and acceptance of different cultures. Melissa Meyers and Jurgen Wigen Spokane St. Vincent de Paul Society

LAW AND JUSTICE

Custody battles about money, power

Apparently, S.W. Ross (“Think, then act responsibly,” letters, March 5) has had little involvement in court proceedings involving custody and support issues. By the comments made, it is inferred that financial obligation for a child belongs to the father.

Most fathers do not bemoan the responsibility of supporting their children, but rather, the unfairness of a legal system that allows a child’s needs to be reduced to a financial issue. Our society is slow to realize all needs cannot be satisfied with money.

In divorce, financial issues can become a way of exerting control. This is facilitated by the legal system, with the help of attorneys. It is considered OK to “go for it all,” since the system allows that. Fairness, morality or need many times are not the motive.

Court proceedings are degrading; the parents bring out dirty laundry to make each other look bad. Yet, through all this, they are supposed to be supportive of each other. The system is set up for failure.

Before you label divorced fathers as whiners, take a look at the laws and see how stifling they are.

A non-custodial parent has virtually no say in how child support is handled. The system should be changed to allow both parents hands-on financial involvement. Counseling should be mandatory when children are involved in divorce.

As S.W. Ross wrote, “life can be tough.” Bitterness is not a tenderizer. Let’s not accuse parents of trying to avoid responsibility when that is not the real issue. Jayne Edens Chattaroy

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Drug bust? Make that a total bust

While I support the Coeur d’Alene School District’s efforts to control drugs, I strongly object to its methods. I am particularly concerned about the way it and the Coeur d’Alene Police Department treated innocent, law-abiding students whose cars were mistakenly identified by drug dogs on a windy day when the dogs’ accuracy was impaired.

Even though the majority of the cars identified did not contain drugs, their drivers were treated like criminals. Their names were announced to their classes, they were questioned by the police at the entrance to the parking lot and they were intimidated into signing release forms, even though the police knew they would not be able to obtain some search warrants.

The kids were not allowed to call their parents or talk to a school counselor regarding their rights or the possible risks associated with allowing the search. Did anyone explain they could be arrested for something left in their car by a previous owner?

Finally, parents were not informed of what had happened until late afternoon - I learned about it from a newspaper reporter who called for a comment. Following the inspection, the police left the contents of the cars strewn about and didn’t even apologize for the inconvenience.

Our school administrators have a responsibility to protect children from drugs. They also have a responsibility to protect children from overzealous police officers. Shireene Hale Coeur d’Alene

Injustice wins by a (faulty) nose

It really makes me wonder how the police can justify the use of drug-sniffing dogs to obtain permission to search people’s vehicles for drugs.

At first, it sounds like a good way to help control drugs. But, when one looks at the statistics of this raid, it seems drug dogs are only an excuse to search at will.

Use of these dogs is believed to be accurate to the point that they are widely used to obtain search warrants in traffic stops, school searches, etc. What I wonder is this: Why did these dogs “alert” on 65 vehicles when only nine of the vehicles actually contained drugs? It seems to me that these so called drug-sniffing dogs are not a way to find drugs but an acceptable way to violate the Fourth Amendment rights of American citizens. I could understand one or two false hits, but 56 out of 65 is too high a failure rate when one is considering unreasonable search.

Also, what kind of message is this sending to our children? We all grew up understanding Americans’ rights. These kids are being shown firsthand that those rights are not important.

Fifty-six innocent American kids went through the terrible ordeal of being falsely accused and having their property thrashed by law enforcement officials who are sworn to protect the kids’ freedom. People should be concerned before they or their kids are the next victims of the erosion of the Fourth Amendment. Tom Hawkins Coulee Dam

Give the chief a break

Maybe we need to put ourselves in Spokane Police Chief Terry Mangan’s shoes once in a while. Maybe then we wouldn’t be so quick to judge. He is the chief of police and there are people out there who do not like him.

He looks out his window and sees someone sitting in a running car with its lights off. His wife is due home any moment. More power to him for having the know-how to approach the car and take care of the situation. This time it was innocent, but next time it may be someone out to do him or his family harm.

Give him a break. He has the right to protect his family. We all know there are people out there who would not hesitate to harm someone else.

We live in a rural area. I would be leery of someone parked outside my home or driveway. At least Mangan has the training to take care of that situation himself. Yes, he had a right to confront those men. Joanne Poss Nine Mile Falls

Mangan wrong as wrong can be

Although you won’t win any popularity votes by standing up to the Spokane Police Department, it is the right and responsibility of every citizen to question authority.

Some hard questions be must asked about Chief Terry Mangan’s recent conflict. What constitutes suspicious behavior?

If sitting in your vehicle on a public road is suspicious, then every driver is guilty. Next time you pull over to look at a map, or whatever, are you prepared to accept having an individual (out of uniform) armed with a shotgun come at you? I’m not.

If that situation were to come about, I guarantee you I would consider that “aggressive” behavior. I would arm myself and take defensive measures. I don’t care who it is.

Why do the Mangans consider themselves victims? If they’re victims, what do you consider the men who were threatened and searched? Survivors? Is it now OK for me to behave in the same manner if I suspect possible harm from someone parked in my neighborhood? I’ve had death threats, too.

The chief of police must demonstrate exemplary behavior, not excusable behavior. We deserve no less. Yes, it’s a tough job. You can be supportive of the Spokane Police Department and still have the intelligence to know that there are good cops and bad cops. If you don’t know the difference, you do the people of this city more harm than good. David Bray Spokane

Chief acted sensibly

Your original article regarding Spokane Police Chief Terry Mangan’s recent actions at his secluded country home was one-sided. But, perhaps since I’m a police officer’s wife living in a secluded country home, I have a biased perspective.

The cold, hard fact is: Police officers and their wives are constant targets for criminal elements. When I drive home at night, I am supremely conscious of who’s on the road or near my driveway. I would expect my husband to confront anyone sitting in our driveway in the dark. People just don’t do that in our secluded area unless they have a hidden agenda.

With a minimum response time of 50 minutes to most rural areas, our understaffed Sheriff’s Department can’t provide a near-instant solution. In a similar circumstance, my husband would have to investigate on his own. We, too, own a shotgun for home protection. At times, even I have kept it close at hand.

It’s clear that the two gentlemen are enjoying their spot in the limelight and are determined to lengthen their exposure by maligning the chief with exaggerations. Anyone familiar with Mangan will recognize the embellishments.

The man described isn’t the man I found next to my husband’s hospital gurney following an accident on duty - a man who refused to leave his officers until assured of their health; a man who responded late at night, on his own time, yet still had time for me.

Let’s get realistic. Criminals are out there. Our police chief is not only a cop but also a man with a family to be concerned about. Kris Lesperance Spokane

Where was ATF when needed?

Bunny hunting on a public rural road? Of all the nerve! Spokane Police Chief Terry Mangan clearly showed lack of judgment. This was a job for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Jim Orvis Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Snake oil comes in two new flavors

Some Republicans are making specious arguments in favor of two schemes: a flat tax and medical savings accounts (MSAs). Specious is defined as “seeming to be genuine, correct, but not really so.”

Everyone wants simpler, fairer taxes. Anti-Internal Revenue Service feelings are easy to provoke. But remember, we tax ourselves. Taxes aren’t imposed by sinister aliens.

The Jan. 16 Wall Street Journal reported Tax Foundation data detailing how the flat tax would benefit only the super rich in the top 5 percent income bracket.

Republicans sincerely believe the rich will invest their wealth so it will trickle down to us. Such voodoo helped quadruple our debt from 1980-92. Uff da! Flat-taxers won’t clarify their specious arguments. Maybe we had better just improve the current tax code.

Equally specious is the so-called medical savings account scheme. Key is permitting elders to opt out of Medicare, to create private medical savings accounts. They can spend any unused money as they choose. But insurance companies call this “adverse selections against the insurer” and won’t touch it. Why? Any time people can opt in or out of a plan at will, it is adverse selection.

So, healthy folks opt out of MSAs, leaving costly high-risk folks on Medicare. When those who opted out exhaust their money with serious illness, they opt back in or go on Medicaid. This will kill Medicare.

Newt Gingrich promotes MSAs, saying, “Through MSAs, Medicare will wither on the vine.” Nice, huh?

Convey your hopes to your senators, representatives and President Clinton. Vern L. Klingman Billings, Mont.

Trade barriers hurt consumers

The American economy was founded on ideas of an open market and competition. Today, our country is considered the most powerful and productive in the world.

Pat Buchanan’s arguments against free trade are threatening this American ideal of competition. He is against both NAFTA and GATT for the reason of protecting American businesses. What about the American consumer?

Without competition, often brought about by free trade, prices will go up and quality will go down.

Buchanan’s arguments against free trade are fueled by the trade imbalance between Japanese and American auto manufacturers. Although this exists and needs attention, Buchanan is going about it in the wrong way.

Without free trade, American cars will go up in price and the manufacturers will have no incentive to improve the quality of their cars. However, with the intense competition Japan has imposed on the American auto industry, the quality of American cars has increased in a matter of a few years.

With free trade, the American consumer is guaranteed the best possible quality at the lowest possible price. This gives the consumer the opportunity to choose.

Barriers to trade increase manufacturers’ costs, thus forcing foreign companies to raise their prices to non-competitive levels. This affects consumers, limiting their choice to only what they can afford. Joe Frank Spokane

Convicts fare better than soldiers

The letter from Bobby Jones to his mother (“A reason to be in Bosnia,” Your turn, March 13) hit a chord with me.

Here we send our young men halfway around the world and we don’t make sure they have running water, toilets, warm food or a place to sleep, and no one seems to be upset about how they are treated.

Then, take the men who commit a crime and are in prison, serve them cold food, don’t give them a bed to sleep in, tell them there won’t be any running water or toilets, and you will see hundreds of people with signs picketing up and down the street, protesting the cruel and unusual treatment of these men. Daniel Brown Greenacres