As Spokane Mayor Condon’s second terms nears conclusion, it feels right to bookend eight years with a reflection on our progress.

When issues of importance are on the line, the people deserve more than misleading half-truths. A recent article published by the Associated Press regarding changes to the sex identifier on Idaho birth certificates deserves clarification. This article fails to accurately represent the federal court ruling in F.V. v. Barron. It implies that Idaho was mandated to allow individuals to change the sex on their birth certificate and hints that even the requirement for a minor to have a signature from a professional before changing the sex identifier runs counter to this ruling. All rolled together, this paints a picture of helplessness on the part of state agents responsible for initiating these changes and allows them to conveniently sidestep public objections. This is unacceptable.

The Washington State Department of Transportation, under the direction of Gov. Jay Inslee, has released a list of transportation projects that would be deferred due to the recent passage of Initiative 976, which reduces or eliminates car tabs. Surprisingly, the long-awaited North Spokane Corridor (NSC) project, also called the North-South Freeway, which has been promised to voters for decades and was fully funded in the 2015 Connecting Washington transportation package, was on that list. Though it may be easy and convenient to pin the blame on the car tab-cutting initiative, the deferral list is ultimately a product of political choice. State DOT Secretary Roger Millar, under the direction of the Governor, states in a November 26th letter that the purpose of delaying projects that are not yet underway is to provide “the Governor and Legislature more funding flexibility” as they tackle the transportation budget during the upcoming 2020 legislative session. This includes projects that were funded by the 11.9 cent gas tax increase that passed as a part of Connecting Washington – projects like the North Spokane Corridor construction of new lanes between Sprague Ave. and the Spokane River. Some have said that the deferral list includes projects like the North-South Freeway because it is funded by Connecting Washington funds, which included other car taxes and fees. While it’s true that the Connecting Washington package included other increases in taxes and fees, WSDOT confirms that the North-South Freeway is funded solely by the gas tax increase.

The Invest in Idaho citizen ballot initiative is about investing in our children and the future of our state. A generation of kids has already been left behind. We can’t afford to saddle the next generation with the same problems.

Since the first cases of what is now called EVALI (e-cigarette and vaping-related lung injury) were reported in April 2019, more than 2,200 individuals have been sickened, most hospitalized, and more than 40 have died. A 17-year-old underwent a double-lung transplant; the surgeon, with more than 20 years of experience, was quoted by the Detroit News as saying the inflammation and scarring on the boy’s lungs were “… nothing that I have ever seen … It was an evil that I hadn’t faced before.”