Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Feet-to-the-fire time again?

Attorney Steve Eugster is again forced to remind the city of Spokane of its responsibilities. The city has the responsibility to ensure that all skywalks utilizing public space are open to public access.

Who would think that private business owners could hold a skywalk hostage while they bicker over their own interests?

If City Manager Roger Crum continues to rely on City Attorney Jim Sloane’s half-baked legal opinions, the taxpayers will ultimately pay for the litigation brought about by Eugster’s righteous contentions. Sloane’s assessment that skywalk access depends on a “substantial degree of voluntary compliance” is yet another rationalization in an attempt to appease a special-interest agenda at City Hall.

Apparently, Crum still hasn’t gotten the message that his team works for every taxpaying citizen of this city. When will they initiate responsible government without the threat of lawsuits and initiatives causing them to finally do what’s right?

Those who endure the Monday night City Council meetings know that committed citizens must all too often hold the city’s feet to the fire to achieve responsible government.

Sloane and his staff of 18 or so attorneys can certainly be expected to create ordinances to protect public access for skywalks without Eugster forcing the issue. Once again, the city finds its feet getting warm due to the lack of pro-active management and accountability.

We can only hope our City Council will figure out how to help Crum and Co. keep their feet out of the fire. The $7,000 council retreat would be a good time to discuss this. Pete Powell Spokane

Act to make city safer, better

I also was outraged and sickened by the Kevin Boot smirk.

I do, however, think that Doug Clark had a good point in his Jan. 10 column. He says the picture should make us angry and make us see how screwed up our system is.

The people of Spokane are so blind to what’s happening here that it’s sad. Spokane is not a nice little town any more. It’s full of violence and so full of fear that people just sit back and do nothing.

I would like to see this newspaper print some ways that we the people can change things for the better here in Spokane.

Let’s do it for Felicia Reese and for all of the other crime victims here in Spokane. Let’s make some changes so our people can be safe once again. Cheryl Peone Spokane

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Mankind making progress

The “Aging of Aquarius” from the Jan. 10 Spokesman-Review is highly significant.

Regardless of the explanation people may choose to give, we have faced horrendous changes in history over the past 50 years. No matter how sincere they may be, the efforts to retreat to the good old days are forever doomed to failure.

Old patterns of thinking in religion, the political process and all other areas of human existence are gradually, almost imperceptibly, being replaced with much better and more humane ones. The irrefutable evidence for this is clearly written on the pages of the history of the past 30 years, in particular.

Yes, much more needs to be done yet to have a kinder, gentler society. But let’s pause and give thanks for the progress we have seen, which is increasing more rapidly with each passing year.

The most significant aspect of all is the inner journey that multitudes have chosen. People are beginning to catch a new vision of the power that has been given them by the Creator and the possibilities of accessing it through the simple process of becoming still and listening to the gentle presence that is within.

This most exciting and rewarding journey is available to all who wish to pursue it. Tom Durst Spokane

Good parenting is not optional

It was nice to see the mother of John Duncan, the 12-year-old from Wenatchee, say she needed to take part of the responsibility for her son murdering Emilio Pruneda. Parents need to take on the responsibility of their children’s actions and quit blaming someone else.

Boundaries and limits must be taught and followed through from the beginning, so children can learn respect and consequences. Otherwise, they’ll learn them later on in a very destructive and desperate way.

If you as a parent don’t know these skills, please reparent yourself and your children before it’s too late, as it is for John. There are so many kids hurting so deeply without direction, sense of responsibility or respect.

Parenting is very difficult but you don’t give up or pass it on. Kids deserve to be taught these skills. It’s a lot of work but society needs help and hope desperately. L.R. LaVoie Spokane

BROTHERHOOD

Share dream of true equality

The 1960s was a decade of major change. The space race, Vietnam, drugs and new styles were only part of these amazing years. One man, one very talented man, swept the nation with his great ideas.

This man had a dream that we all would live as brother and sister.

He stood upon the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as he shared his dream with the world. As he spoke, there seemed to be no black or white, no male or female, no Protestant or Catholic. We were all one, brother and sister, sister and brother. Hatred seemed to disappear, while love took its place. Racism was a thing of the past.

Many people changed a lot, and others a little. Even if you totally disagreed with what this individual had to say, you had to listen. His dream changed the world. Who was this man?

Martin Luther King Jr.

He appeared clear; he was not black, he was not white. He was a symbol of love. He used children a lot when he spoke. Martin Luther King realized that children would be a lot easier to change than adults. If you educate a child that all men are created equal, that child will grow up with no prejudice and maybe even less fear of others.

If we all educated our children with this knowledge, we would all be living like Martin Luther King dreamt.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a true hero with no fear. He went against the law and other people’s beliefs. Ashley Jo Miller, age 11 Spokane

LAW AND JUSTICE

Let’s have drug tests for Congress

Amidst ruffles and flourishes, the House of Representatives passed HR-1, the Congressional Accountability Act. This same act passed by it last year was blocked by the U.S. Senate. Let us hope that this 104th Senate is willing to live by the same rules and regulations which the federal government has imposed upon its non-congressional citizens.

One glaring example of this double standard is the random drug testing forced upon men and women in the transportation industry.

These men and women, some of whom have invested thousands of dollars in their own equipment, have no objection to drug and alcohol testing. They fully realize that there are a few irresponsible drivers on the highways. Drug testing is one means of identifying them. However, past experience reveals many irresponsible Congressmen. What could be more hazardous to our nation’s welfare than individuals under the influence as they attempt to pass laws governing the rest of us?

Members of Congress should also have to suffer the ignominy of urinating in a bottle while under the watchful eye of a federal drug tester.

All of us must be accountable for our actions. America cannot function under double standards anymore. Norma Reinhardt Orofino, Idaho

We are penny wise, pound foolish

A lot of people are missing a point when they question Judge Marcus Kelly for allowing incarcerated kids to walk away with a slap on the hand.

How many people voted yes on a juvenile detention center? Where is the judge supposed to send misguided children if their little villa is full? People voted against more taxes for this center, never realizing that they might pay one way or the other, whether it’s through replacement of property, hospital costs or loss of life.

Loss of life is tragic when a dollar can’t be spent for preventing crime but now must be spent on funeral costs.

Not incarcerating hoodlums produces a vicious circle of destruction, but a warden can’t pull up to a cell and yell “Fill ‘er up!”

Vote with your heart, not always your pocketbook. Mike Craddock Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Cutting? Don’t exempt entitlements

There is political posturing by both parties that promise reduction of taxes for middle class Americans. Politicians are talking about “fiscal responsibility,” reducing the budget deficit, cutting government spending and eliminating outdated, inefficient programs.

Wow! Politicians of both parties are “talking the talk” and are also united in saying “excluding Social Security and Medicare, of course.”

I believe Social Security and Medicare should be subjected to cost-reducing analysis just like other programs. These huge programs are almost sure to be subjected to waste, abuse and inefficiency.

I have paid into the Social Security and Medicare programs for almost 50 years; I started work at age 17 and worked to age 69. I was a devoted follower of F.D.R. and I believed that he intended the program to be a retirement insurance program for American workers.

For years, all funds were deposited in an interestbearing account and it accumulated vast sums of money. But Congress finally succeeded in making the funds a part of the general fund and the rest is sad history.

Good program. Bad results. Donald. B. Morrison Spokane

Replace income tax with sales tax

Much has been written and debated regarding the idea of a flat tax vs. our current regressive, graduated income tax system. I do agree that the flat tax system appears to be a fairer, easier to understand system than the present one. However, any type of tax based on income has the potential for abuse and fraud.

Many of the problems associated with any form of income tax would still be there with a flat tax, i.e. unreported, under-the-table income, shelters, deferred income, tax-free income, illegal income, etc.

It seems to me that a better way would be to eliminate all forms of income tax and replace them with a national sales tax. A national sales tax on all items, tangible or intangible, would substantially reduce most of the current abuses.

Perhaps a smaller percentage should be levied on essentials such as food, clothing, shelter and utilities than on nonessentials, if this system were to be implemented. Doing so would help minimize the burden on lowerincome individuals and families.

I believe all of us have a responsibility to help pay for whatever government programs and duties we delegate to the feds. I cannot think of a more fair system than a sales tax. This system would be much easier to police and certainly the wealthy would pay a larger amount than the poor, with the middle class paying, as they should, an amount in between the two income extremes. David A. Clark Spokane

Welfare where’s the justice?

I stood in line at the grocery store yesterday, contemplating if we could really afford the extra two bags of frozen vegetables I had selected because they were on sale.

We only have $100 to spend on groceries this month, $50 less than usual, so I needed to be particularly frugal. We have to eat as healthy as possible; we can’t afford junk food or the resulting medical bills.

The obviously well-fed lady in front of me had a full buggy. As I watched it being rung through, I noticed that what it held was almost all junk: a machine which dispensed M&Ms, at least eight packs of potato chips, pop, some frozen meals and much more. I almost wished I could afford to shop like that.

Her bill came to $164. As I watched her pull out a wad of food stamps, I stood there suddenly indignant, realizing why I can barely afford what we need, never mind stuff like that - I was paying for her junk

She left, stopping to plug the pop machine, and I stood there feeling like I’d just been robbed. I paid my $5 and carried my food and toddler to the car.

If people are really in need, I’m the first to say let’s help. But where are the limits? Why should we, a young family barely scraping by, have to buy junk for people who probably rake in a lot more than we do?

As much as I am against more government controls, something has to be done about the welfare system! Catherine Donnelly Airway Heights

No one mocking welfare recipients

In his state of the state address on Tuesday, Gov. Mike Lowry is reported to have said, “It’s easy to blame people on welfare, or new immigrants, or anyone else having trouble securing a stable place in our society. Mocking them, denying them aid, keeping their children from receiving care or going to school does neither help them nor help society.”

Rep. “Sandanista” Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, thought it was a dandy speech. “He didn’t oversimplify or make wild-eyed generalizations,” she said.

Some of the statements sounded like generalizations and oversimplifications to me. I don’t know of anyone mocking those on welfare, including legal immigrants, denying them aid or keeping their children from attending school and receiving care from any individual or group that wishes to extend it.

More accurate and to the point is the statement by California Gov. Pete Wilson in his inaugural address on Saturday: “Is it fair that the welfare system taxes working people who can’t afford children and pays people who don’t work for having more children?” Ed Davis Spokane

IN THE PAPER

Facts are needed, missed

(Business columnist) Frank Bartel continues to inadequately address some important facts concerning the government’s involvement in agriculture.

I’ve been farming for 40 years. During that time, the number of farms has been in a precipitous decline. This doesn’t support the contention that farming is a gravy train of government assistance.

The huge percentage of farmers who’ve been forced out has fostered a survival-of-the-fittest instinct that has been a boon to the American consumer, in that they spend less disposable income on food than any other people in the world. With very many fewer farmers, this competition will be seriously jeopardized.

In these 40 years we’ve had an idealistic but ineffective program of political lip service to maintain the family farm. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has dramatically increased its focus on social and politically centered concepts typified by food stamps, Third World country food giveaways and State Department-approved subsidies and credits for political objectives through food aid. This vast bureaucracy’s main concerns go far beyond the individual farm boundaries.

Bartel has a poor understanding of the real basis of the farm dilemma. The individual farmer is a helpless observer of what passes for agricultural policing. Driving additional farmers out will eventually result in large corporation-dominated farming - a bitter harvest for the American public.

As for Bartel’s Jan. prescription for farmers to learn self-reliance again, I wouldn’t agree we’ve lost it. But farming is a high-risk business. For individual farmers to survive long-term, we need better public understanding of our strengths as well as of our problems. Glenn Leitz Fairfield, Wash.

Story wrong: No audit, no probe

In regard to the Jan. 7 article, “State auditors investigating fire department,” I can confidently state that the Airway Heights Volunteer Firefighters Association is not under any investigation and has no legal responsibility to deliver financial records to the city offices for audit.

The Spokesman-Review article was uninformed and makes the Airway Heights Fire Department look to be under attack from the state. The article was one-sided and misleading. As the chief officer of the Airway Heights Fire Department, I feel that I should have at least been given the courtesy of commenting in an article in which my department came under fire.

I hope that the citizens of Airway Heights can read between the lines of the propaganda and realize that the volunteers of the fire department work hard to save lives, not to reap monetary benefits. Toby R.H. Combs, fire chief Airway Heights Fire Department