Public Periscope

Bill’s excellent adventure

Spokane Assistant City Manager Bill Pupo had just returned from his early morning run last Monday when his wife gave him the shocking news: A bomb had gone off at City Hall. Pupo raced downtown in his black spandex pants and sweat shirt without wasting time to change. … Thus was he attired when giving press and staff briefings on the bombing - prompting a few giggles from several female employees. … But he did manage one quick change. At the urging of Spokane Arena officials, he shed an out-of-town baseball cap and donned an Arena cap. That allowed him to appear on national media with a boost for the city’s prize possession.

Credit where it’s due

All kidding aside, we at “Periscope” often are quick to jump on the miscues and mishaps of those in the public sector. So it seems only fair to note a job well-done. … That was very much the case last Monday as the Police Department, city manager’s office and mayor’s office all did a commendable job of keeping the public informed on the day of the bombing.

Enough of that niceness

Of course, we can’t help but mention one little misstep, which occurred shortly before 2 p.m. when Mayor Jack Geraghty arrived at City Hall’s south doors to lead an entourage of city employees and media types back inside the building after the bombing. … The doors were locked.

Talk about touchy

Seems no one - not Congress, oil companies, distributors, dealers or drivers - wants the blame for rising gasoline prices. Even the state Department of Transportation went on the defensive last week, sending out a pointed press release that the state’s 23-cent gas tax is not causing the increase. Not only that, it said, but Washington state does not have the highest gas tax in the United States. … It ranks 19th. Illinois has the highest tax, at 37.86 cents per gallon. Alaska, at 8 cents per gallon, is lowest.

Y ask Wye?

We never claim to be perfect, so it is only in the interests of clarity that “Periscope” points out that the state’s 20-year traffic plan has a slight spelling problem. It refers to the North Division “Y” as the “Wye.” … If we’re going to change the spelling, we’d vote for “Why” - as in “why am I stuck in traffic?” Or “why is the north Spokane freeway still just a plan?” Or “why build houses where the roads can’t support them?”

Fax of the week

We received advance warning of the first World Skeptics Congress next month in Buffalo, N.Y. We’d like to say it sounds interesting and worthwhile. But we’re not so sure.

, DataTimes MEMO: “Public Periscope,” published Mondays, is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports. If you’ve got a question about local government, growth or development, we’d like to help you find an answer. You can write us c/o The Spokesman-Review, Box 2160, Spokane 99210. Or send e-mail to jimc@spokesman.com or a fax to (509) 459-5482. Or call Cityline at 458-8800, press 9120 to leave a message.

This sidebar appeared with the story: HOT TOPICS Wednesday: At noon, City Plan Commission will be briefed on how well the interim ordinance on sandwich signs in the downtown area is working, then hold a hearing at 4:15 p.m. on the interim urban growth boundary required by state law. The briefing’s in the council chambers, the hearing in Conference Room 2B.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports