C'mon editorial board, give our new mayor, Mary Verner, a break. She hasn't even been in office for 30 days and you are all over her about her lack of judgment in revealing the names of her transition team ("Stumbling start," Dec. 8). Dennis Hession had a very secretive administration (the Matrix report and solid waste director selection come to mind) and you didn't seem to have any problem with that. You even endorsed him in the election. He wasn't about to reveal anything about his decisions if he didn't choose to as he was the "strong" mayor and didn't have to.

Instead of being negative and finding fault with the mayor you need to support her. Look for the positive and we'll all be better for it. Anything will be better than what we had under Dennis Hession.
Phyllis Rollins
Spokane

Aside from what seemed like amnesia on how often our editorials took Dennis Hession's administration to task for secrecy, I was struck by this letter. Is it reasonable to hold off on a new leader for a while before being critical on his/her style and policy?

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