Hotel Oil Spill Shouldn’t Hurt Renovation Plan

An apparently minor oil leak that the state attributes to the Davenport Hotel is no cause for public panic or stress, counsels utility executive Judy Cole.

The Spokane area manager for Washington Water Power Co. is seeking to allay concern over the future of the grand old hotel which may be raised by the latest state Ecology Department finding.

It says contamination directly beneath the long-mothballed grand hotel could represent a possible health or environmental hazard.

But the hotel’s ownership insists any pollution danger that may exist can easily be overcome.

Cole agrees. Such spills are commonplace, she says.

And the technology exists to clean them up.

She should know. Cole speaks from experience. She serves in a liaison capacity between her employer, which is responsible for a big oil spill in the Davenport district that does pose a considerable problem, and the surrounding business community.

The Davenport oil, the state has determined, is not related to the WWP spill.

“I’m afraid the adverse publicity may cause people to think that the Davenport cannot be reopened,” said Cole. “It’s not true. And for the public to get the wrong idea about these oil spills would be extremely unfortunate for all concerned - but most of all the community.

“We have to recognize as a community that an oil spill is not the end, and we can get beyond these things.

“They have their oil spill,” said Cole of the hotel. “And we have our oil spill. And we need to go on.

“We at WWP are going to address our problems and proceed with the clean-up as quickly possible.

“I want to see that block redeveloped and the Davenport reopened again (after 10 years) and vibrant,” Cole said.

“Undue negativism in that block is not good for anybody.”

Good point.

Last Tuesday’s big vote against incorporating a key hunk of the Valley as a separate city speaks well for the sense of community that exists here. And for common sense.

Splitting up the community to add one more layer of government in the Valley didn’t make good sense, and a solid majority of voters marked their ballots accordingly.

But lack of representative government in the Valley cannot continue to go unaddressed.

Tuesday’s turnout was an important vote for the cause of better government.

And there must be no more footdragging by the Spokane freeholders. Those elected to draft a proposed new government charter must cease bickering. Settle on a consolidation measure, and place it on the ballot.

We must take advantage of this timely opportunity to do away with factionalism and fractured responsibilities, and create one local government accountable to the citizens of the entire Spokane area.

Tuesday’s vote was significant in yet another way. Pollsters and political spin doctors offer many different excuses for why they blew the election predictions.

Their explanations are what you could call covering your rear end.

Yes, the anti-incorporation blitz at the end was highly effective. But, no, it did not work a miracle.

I’m sorry, but it looks to me like the pundits simply underestimated the intelligence of Valley residents.

Some may be cantankerous and independent, but they aren’t stupid. More government is not a solution.

So, what this vote really means is: We don’t have the big element of cranks and malcontents and isolationists that many have long contended inhabit the Valley.

And I say this despite a letter from a Valley reader who has a particular penchant for browbeating without sticking his own neck out publicly.

He prefers to vent his spleen in letters ending with this stock disclaimer: “You are not authorized to use my name for publication.”

The last such missive, which arrived just a few days before the election, scolded, “You still don’t get it! The Valley is not part of Spokane. Only in your mind has it ever been one community. Never happened!”

Well, I won’t use a name, simply because I’m a nice guy. But, for what it’s worth, the initials are V.S.

xxxx