Letters for March 2

Column misses reason for rent control

I appreciate that The Spokesman-Review gave attention to HB 1217 and SB 5222 in the recent guest column, “Rent control’s record of ruin.” Unfortunately, the piece misses why we need rent stabilization.

The column is right about one thing for sure: Housing is important. That’s exactly why Washington tenants need stability and predictability in their rent.

HB 1217 would establish a rent cap, making it so landlords cannot raise rent more than 7% in a year. This simple change would protect tenants from rent gouging, which can destabilize communities, displace families and workers, make it impossible for renter households to save to purchase a home, and contribute to homelessness.

Washingtonians work hard to contribute to our state’s economy and strengthen our communities. We deserve predictable housing. Which is why I support HB 1217 and SB 5222 and why I hope legislators will pass it this year.

Not just to help for every one of my people in Spokane, but wholesomely, too.

I know from experience how it feels to be lost without a paddle and nowhere to swim. It feels like you may be drowning in debt, bills, rent, child care, food, car, emergency problems possibly arising. It never seems to feel like there is an end, when you’re a young adult just learning how to survive on your own in the real world. Some things just don’t come easy.

However, rent. Well, that should be the one steady thing you know that won’t increase blindly.

Alisha Driggs

Spokane

Legislators address recycling

I applaud Washington’s legislators’ efforts to finally address recycling in Washington. It’s time for local governments to come clean on recycling rates. Most counties calculate their recycling rate on what they collect, not what actually gets recycled into new products.

Spokane is a good example of how the reported recycling rate is simply not true. All of the glass that’s collected in the blue bins ends up in a landfill, not used to make recycled glass. Any plastic other than Nos. 1 or 2 is either landfilled or burned in the incinerator. It’s time to fix the system.

Wayne Krafft

Spokane

Mann-Granstaff care stands out

My husband is a disabled veteran. Because his disabilities are service connected, he has been able to receive care at the Mann-Granstaff facility here in Spokane. The care he has received, and the individuals providing that care, have always been exemplary.

I read with immense disappointment the fact that these wonderful people, who care for our veteran population with such skill and dedication, were the most recent recipients of the Elon Musk generated, Donald Trump endorsed “justify your existence” “failure to respond will be considered a resignation” threat letter.

To treat individuals who have done so much with such disrespect is appalling, and to do anything that limits the care they can provide to the veteran population – the people who literally sacrificed themselves to “Make America Great” – intolerable. As a community, we owe them our thanks and support: as an individual, they certainly have mine.

Sandra King

Spokane

Thousands of veterans just became unemployed

I was a federal employee with the USDA in the D.C. area for more than 12 years before moving to Spokane three years ago. It is difficult to fire federal employees; OPM estimates that 3.7% are poor performers. It is easy to fire employees with probationary status, which varies from one to three years by agency. Unfortunately, this rarely results in weeding out the poor performers.

Firing all of the probationary employees across the federal government is a thoughtless and lazy approach to reducing the workforce. Yes, it was easy, but it will make the government less efficient. These probationary employees are high achievers. They are the smartest and most energetic employees across the entire government. They work harder than others because of their probationary status.

The fired USDA hop scientist, who got his doctorate at WSU, was only four months from completing his three-year probationary period. His position at WSU’s Prosser research station exists to support Washington’s hop industry, where more than 70% of U.S. hops are produced. But now, the fruits of his research will never be realized and someone new will have to start from scratch.

If you really wanted to make the government more efficient, you would take the time to identify and eliminate the poor performers. Since 30% of the federal workforce are veterans, thousands of veterans just became unemployed, without any consideration of their actual performance.

Bill Doley

Spokane