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Sheriff no expert on issue

Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich’s position on coal trains is full of holes.

My professors taught me always to cite my sources, as Ozzie does not. He claims “2-to-1 support” for massive coal trains, but he cites no sources for this suspect claim. What possible interest could Spokane have in boosting train traffic?

If I as a medical professional were rash enough to tell him how to make the public safer, I would overstep my meager range of expertise. Just so, he inappropriately uses his bully pulpit as a sheriff to address a topic that lies outside his authority.

Were he to speak of polluted air and water, dangerous derailments, or explosions of runaway trains like the one that killed 47 in Canada, I might share his concern. Instead, he focuses on citizen activism. He would discourage public demonstrations, squelch democracy, and prop up a dilapidated economy of resource extraction.

What harm has the last century of participatory democracy caused in Spokane?

Michael Beasley

Spokane

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