Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE CITY GOVERNMENT

Under gun, council caves in

The City Council voted Monday night to accept a traffic report from city staff on the Thorpe Road tunnels. City traffic engineer Bruce Steele and his staff prepared this inadequate document in an attempt to convince the council the 80-year-old tunnels are safe today and will still be safe when 790 apartment units are built at Mission Springs.

An uncomfortable traffic engineer presented this flawed report to the council, knowing full well nobody would believe him.

Mayor Geraghty was defensive and visibly angry several times as citizens questioned the report and the integrity of a council that was about to accept it. It was no secret the council had been warned by City Attorney Jim Sloane that a no vote would jeopardize individual council members who are being sued by the Mission Springs developer.

Impassioned testimony from concerned citizens fell on embarrassed ears.

The very real threat of Spokane citizens being hurt and killed as a result of the council’s action was overshadowed by legal threats from California land developers.

Ironically, the 1991 traffic report used by staff in this 1995 report was prepared for Dan Clardy, the developer.

Bob Dellwo, former city councilman, planning commission member and respected attorney, wasn’t able to sway the vote with his credible testimony. He testified that in his many miles of travel through Eastern Washington, he did not know of a more dangerous area than these infamous tunnels.

Common sense and credibility were wasted on this council. Pete Powell Spokane

Bad move by people possessed

About a month ago, the City Council voted to block construction permits on the Mission Springs project. Council members were willing to do battle with the developer, based on their beliefs the area of the Thorpe Road tunnels posed a potential safety problem.

Then on Monday night, with the exception of Councilmen Chris Anderson and Orville Barnes, aliens from the planets of Uptick, Downtick, Whip and Churn invaded the bodies of the mayor and the council. They all looked the same, but this time declared that the area of the tunnels could be made safe by posting speed limit signs.

I thought for a moment they were going to Tom Sawyer someone into painting the tunnels white - making it much easier to see the oncoming truck that’s about to hit you.

We who oppose the Mission Springs project were given a chance to tell the council why we thought these tunnels presented a potential safety hazard. I for one don’t believe it’s possible to squeeze 3,000-plus cars through those tunnels in less than an hour if people have to outrun a firestorm. I would not sit in my apartment with a raging inferno roaring down on me, even if the unit did have overhead sprinklers. The council must think otherwise.

This is irresponsible decision making behavior and I want the real bodies of the mayor and the council back - the ones who think of people’s safety first.

Until then, I’ll be wearing my neckbrace to council meetings. The whiplash is getting painful. Carol Allen Spokane

DOWNTOWN SPOKANE

Make bus facility serve people

What’s your idea of a bus terminal? Mine is of a warm room with rows and rows of comfortable seating and somewhere a microphone announcing the arrival and departure of buses.

I recently visited our so-called bus terminal, built at the cost of many thousands of dollars. The building itself was practically empty. There were nine or 10 people sitting on the two benches that are located across the room and around the corner from doors leading outside to the bus lines.

The splash of the falls against hard surfaces became irritating, so much so that it was hard to hear when I asked for directions to catch my bus.

I understand there will be more action when the vendors are in their stalls - is this the reason for the ornate building? I thought it was to accommodate the bus riders.

Come on Spokane Transit Authority, let’s have more seating for weary shoppers and clerks who’ve been on their feet all day. They need to be placed so they can see the coming and going of the buses, in the dry and warm enclosure, provided for their use. Marcella M. Thibault Spokane

Using it is hardly rocket science

With all the complaining about the bus center, I wonder how many people know how it really works?

There is no need to sit on the sidewalk outside unless you are a smoker who can’t stand to be without a cigarette in your mouth and your lungs are so bad you can’t stand up long enough to consume it.

There are seats inside. They need more of them, true, but a lot of them are empty now. There is no need to wait outside for your bus. The many computer screens tell you when your next bus arrives and which zone it will arrive in. So you sit down inside and watch the clock until one minute before your bus arrives. Then you stroll out and get on it. You have four minutes to do this before it leaves.

I guess the bus company should conduct tours and explain all this to the people who can’t grasp it all. Dorothy E. Carter Spokane

Emulate Coeur d’Alene parking

I heartily applaud the city and downtown merchants for our great skywalk system, the Crescent Court, the new bus center and the proposed renovation of River Park Square.

But they still haven’t squarely faced the problem of getting more parking - and more of that at a reasonable rate.

All the facelifting in the world is wasted until this primary problem is solved. Wouldn’t it be great, when the RiverPark parking is taken over, if they would take a cue from Coeur d’Alene and offer free parking for the first hour or two, and have a reasonable rate for additional hours?

There wouldn’t be much trouble attracting shoppers then. Sherm Blake Spokane

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Homosexuality a spreading cancer

Whether or not the little girl Coroner Dexter Amend performed the autopsy on was abused by a pedophile or a homosexual is of little consequence to me. What does matter to me is that Amend had the courage to publicly denounce homosexuality for what it is - an insidious cancer spreading throughout the fabric of humankind.

His words may cost him his job, but that’s a chance everyone takes when they refuse to be so politically correct that they remain silent because their views aren’t in line with the popular notions of the day.

I shudder to think offhand, nonchalant acceptance of homosexuality could lead to acceptance of pedophiliac and psycho murders, as well. After all, they think, gays and lesbians claim they “can’t help it.”

Would other public officials have the courage to reveal their true feelings on the subject, rather than pander to the gay rights groups, in order to gain their vote at the ballot box? Edward B. Hanson Spokane

Too many not ‘right with God’

Spokane County Coroner Dexter Amend is right. Homosexuality is a cancer on society. God calls this immoral lifestyle an abomination (Leviticus 20:13) and it brings down His fierce judgment.

However, homosexuality isn’t the only cancer on our society. It’s one of many blights withering our culture. These societal ills are symptoms of a greater problem. That problem is sin - rebellion against God. Anytime we turn our back on God and say, “I’ll do it my way,” we become part of the problem.

For the penitent sinner who humbles himself or herself before God, casting himself or herself upon the mercy of God, there is, instead of the certainty of impending doom, the marvelous touch of God; the touch of pardon, peace, and cleansing, a new hope, a new life, and a new destiny.

“Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, … nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexual offenders … shall inherit the kingdom of God. And that’s what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. - I Corinthians 6:9b, 10b, 11a.

Let’s get right with God, for we all need His pardon. Joyce Huff Spokane

Back to the closet, sodomites

The saga of Dr. Dexter Amend brings to mind that ancient sage who coined the phrase, “It’s the truth that hurts.” The psychobabble reaction from that minute segment of the population indicates the phrase still applies.

Most everyone recognizes that the Spokane Human Rights Commission is merely a front for the Spokane sodomites. Their call for Amend to resign is a farce. If they do not appreciate a public officeholder voicing his opinion, why was their applause so loud supporting the recently deceased state Sen. Cal Anderson, who used his public office to support the agenda of sodomites, over and above the rights of the normal population? It would be more appropriate for the Human Rights Commission to resign.

Regardless of the smokescreen of doubletalk, it is a historical fact that sodomy is a learned perversion. Obviously, if you are a student of the common schools you would never have learned this fact, as the sodomites have infected even the schools’ curriculum. In addition, when the lukewarm Judas segment of religious clergy condone this perversion, one could easily vomit.

King County has come under the control of these perverts, and now they lust after a control of Spokane. Their shrill rhetoric only enhances the stand of Dr. Amend, who represents the accurate opinion of the vast majority of Spokanites.

In conclusion, if the sodomites don’t like the spotlight, they should crawl back into their closets. Joe Bell Spokane

LAW AND JUSTICE

Why segregate Smith in prison?

I am appalled by the gruesome murders committed by Susan Smith. I can’t imagine the horrible deaths Alex and Michael suffered.

These two innocent children will never experience the thrill of running the bases in a Little League game or the enjoyment of hanging out with friends on a Friday night. No more Halloweens. No more magical Christmases. No more Easter Bunny. Nothing.

Their father, and the rest of their family, won’t get to see them play together in the backyard, watch them graduate from high school or see them raise children of their own. There will be nothing and life will be empty without them because of the selfishness of one person - their mother.

If I had been on the jury for this case, I don’t know if I could have voted for the death penalty. It’s a huge decision, but the ruling of life in prison shouldn’t mean Susan Smith lives out the rest of her life in isolation, protected from herself and other inmates. If she really wanted to commit suicide, she’s had her chances. Put her with other inmates - that would be fitting punishment.

America, don’t forget who the real victims were. Jason S. Maupin Moscow

Now, ends do justify means

Our laws amaze me, as do crybaby citizens who cry foul when a person is given the death sentence for murder, or 10 or 12 years. What has happened to frontier justice? You murdered someone, you paid the price with your own life. You stole a horse, you paid with your life. Has life become meaningless anymore?

I believe we should go back to the old ways: you murder, you die now, not sit on death row for up to 30 years. They didn’t gas them or give them a shot. They hung them. That was true justice. Let’s go back to it and stop crying. Harry Davidson Spokane