Letters To The Editor

WASHINGTON STATE

Give CPS support, not backbiting

Staff writer Jim Lynch’s story (Sept. 27) about the state House Children and Family Services Subcommittee hearing on Child Protective Services (CPS) conducted by Rep. Val Stevens (R-Arlington) expresses some of the drama of the evening while ignoring the complexity of the issue.

There are two sides to every story. CPS is bound by confidentiality laws and can’t address the allegations made. Please know that for each family that lost custody of their children, that action was taken in court with full review of the case, and not by a CPS worker acting in isolation.

The irony is that CPS is under scrutiny because children have died in abusive situations and CPS workers are accused of not doing enough. At the hearing they were accused of doing too much.

Should they err on the side of caution and lose a child or should they recommend removal of a child from a potentially dangerous situation? That decision is never made alone. Children can only be removed from their homes by law enforcement or court order.

Mistakes are made. However, Stevens would do better by working to improve the system instead of trying to dismantle it. Give CPS the resources to do the best job possible. More staff, more training and prevention programs will better assist the fight against child abuse than dismantling CPS ever will.

CPS is a matter of life and death. Our community deserves a thorough analysis of the matter, not the sensationalism presented by Lynch. Patt Earley Spokane County Head Start/ECEAP

Measure puts hands in your pocket

Supporters of Referendum 48 (formerly Initiative 164) try to make it sound like a chance to really balance the scales with government and its “horrible” regulations. They don’t want all that nasty interference from the government, such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) laws that insure employees a safe work place or zoning laws that keep bars and pornography shops away from schools.

As more people are learning, Referendum 48 does more than threaten the safety and well-being of neighborhoods. The law, if passed, would require taxpayers to pay for all studies to determine whether or not and how much profit a business would lose by obeying the law. Then, through local, state and federal governments, taxpayers would have to compensate, compensate, compensate.

Please vote no on 48 on November 7. Jean Johnson Spokane

Shift costs where they belong

You reported on a University of Washington study that stated Referendum 48 will be expensive for taxpayers. This study appears to have completely ignored the costs currently being imposed on property owners when their property is taken without compensation.

The loss of property taken by government is a cost to the owner just as real as property taxes and legal fees. Referendum 48 is designed to reduce these costs.

If overzealous bureaucrats continue to grab for private property after Referendum 48 passes, the cost will be spread among all taxpayers, rather than being heaped upon a few targeted property owners as it is now.

After this has happened a few times, hopefully, taxpayers will take the necessary stops to replace these bureaucrats with people more respectful of citizens’ property rights. David H. Wordinger Medical Lake

GRASS FIELD BURNING

Don’t just add flak to your smoke

Our summer was short this year. For people with respiratory problems, this summer did not exist. From Aug. 15, the beginning of the voluntary burning season, until its end on Sept. 30, every day that was not filled with rain was filled with the purple haze of grass smoke.

They tell us they only burn for a few days every year. This year, they burned on 19 days. But what they don’t say is what we all know: Once the smoke is in the air, it stays there literally until we have a heavy rain.

People are being hospitalized. People are prisoners in their homes. Children with cystic fibrosis are having their very lives threatened. And all of us are forced to live with air that is not fit to breathe.

Yet in answer to all the public outrage, the growers’ only response is to invest tens of thousands of dollars in a massive media campaign which basically tells us that we should trust them to teach us why they must continue burning. That full-page ad in the paper last week tells us we have many misconceptions and they will deal with our confusion and emotions. Nowhere in any of their ads is there mention of a reduction of the burning or use of alternatives.

If the grass growers want to salvage any kind of trust relationship with this community, they had better start talking phase-out. Arlene Barlow Spokane

JUDICIARY

Dellwo will work for equal justice

I have recently been faced with the decision of whom to support for a judicial election between Neil Rielly and state Rep. Dennis Dellwo.

Mr. Rielly is a qualified member of the judicial fraternity. Mr. Dellwo has been a warrior, especially a warrior for equality in the health care delivery field. His legislation has been gutted at the state level and sidetracked at the federal level by Republican opposition.

There is a saying that if you want peace, work for justice. I can trust Denny Dellwo, a formidable Democratic warrior, to carry the banner for equal justice.

I want Neil Rielly’s name to remain on the list for future judgeship consideration, along with the others who have stepped forward lately. I am pleased to know that Gov. Mike Lowry reviewed his credentials and found him eligible. He will always have that compliment.

However, each race is a new one and each deserves a thorough study before deciding. My study indicates a vote for Denny Dellwo. Betty Drumheller Deer Park

Dellwo would be ‘exceptional judge’

I support Denny Dellwo for Superior Court judge. I’ve worked with Dellwo in his law firm for a few years. I’m not an attorney and don’t know all the ins and outs of law or government but I do know people.

As a staff member of this fast-paced firm, I see, hear and partake of so much, and Denny’s very presence has a calming and positive effect on this firm. There’s an innate goodness about him, a compassionate nature, a trustworthiness and a genuine decency that, to me, isn’t only one of the most important and basic traits of a leader, but one of a human being.

Find a truly exceptional human being and you’ll have the makings of an exceptional judge. Karen Wolfson-Bellmore Spokane

GOVERNING SPOKANE

Too many would be appointed

Citizens in November will vote on the unified city-county charter. It’s your right to vote on something you may or may not believe in - a right you’ll lose part of if the charter is passed.

Your right to choose who you think is qualified and competent to serve you as county assessor, auditor, clerk, coroner, prosecutor, sheriff, treasurer or commissioner will be lost. Under the charter, those positions will be eliminated or filled by appointment.

The charter will form a city-county legislative body made up of an elected executive and 13 elected members. The executive will appoint people to the positions mentioned above, which are now filled by election. Those elected have to answer to the citizens when they serve and run for re-election. They should continue to answer to the citizens. Citizens need to maintain the right to retain or remove people serving in those positions.

Under the charter, officials who make unpopular appointments may be removed from office when they come up for re-election. However, the appointee remains. Wouldn’t you rather make that decision and have that responsibility? Who knows better than you who is best suited to serve you as county assessor, sheriff, clerk, etc.?

Retain your voting rights. Vote no on the unified charter. George Britton Spokane

Consolidation means efficiency

I’m going to vote for city-county consolidation because of the efficiencies that the two merged governments bring.

A recent article in the Review indicated that the city of Lexington, Ky., eliminated nearly one-third of the employees in the public works area alone.

In Spokane, snow plowers, stripers and street sweepers all turn and go the other way because of an invisible line at the city boundaries. I would rather that the scheduling of personnel and equipment be based on the efficiency of the territory or geography to be served, rather than the invisible line in the road. Anne Ashley Spokane

Consolidation doesn’t figure

My thanks to Ken Stone and Margaret Smith for the city and county budgets. They’ve helped me to understand the enormousness and complexity of the proposed charter merger.

The county budget shows total general fund expenditures of $81.5 million. The all funds totals are $176.7 million. City government expenditures are $106.3 million. Total city expenditures are $298.4 million.

There are 1,803 county employees. The city has 2,048 employees. The county has 35 different departments and the city has 41.

The only comparison I could come up with that would have similar complexities and the same chance of success is as follows.

Imagine if you had a merger of the Seahawks and the Mariners into a new team called the Seamars. This team would play a game called footbase. It would make as much sense as the merger as now presented. There’s no footbase league, just as there’s no city-county league.

I’m not against considering other options. A minority report was submitted for consideration. The commissioners would not allow it on the ballot. Richard B. Hopp Spokane

LAW AND JUSTICE

Child’s killer getting off light

I’m sickened to learn of the release on bail of the man who acknowledged involvement in the death of baby Chelsey York. His vicious assault on this tiny, defenseless girl reveals him to be an inhuman beast and a profound detriment to the Spokane community and society at large.

There’s no act more cruel or vile than the intentional bodily harm of an infant. This killer should be separated from the community immediately. It should be urged, no, demanded, that charges against this man be upgraded to murder, for that’s the undeniable outcome of his actions.

It’s a matter of public record that repeated complaints about Chelsey’s abuse were conveyed to the child’s mother and to Child Protective Services. Neglect of this child by her own mother and by this agency played a role in her death, and the parties to this tragedy must be held accountable. Karen Briski Sylvester Pullman

Wealth helps, being black doesn’t

In response to Marcy Cady (Letters, Oct. 9), yes, these are sad times to be an American. But you make one error. It is only necessary to be rich and famous to get away with murder. Remember Claus Von Bulow?. Being black is usually a disadvantage, and that is also a cause for Americans to be sad. Ilene Bell Sandpoint

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

One thing’s certain: Reform is needed

As I was reading what the reporters had to say about the O.J. verdict, it painted a pretty clear picture in my mind. White America took a hard one to the chin.

It’s hard to say if O.J. Simpson was really guilty because of the possibility Mark Furhman contaminated the evidence. If Furhman had been fired long ago, as he should have been, people might have actually had the chance to see if Simpson did commit these terrible crimes.

It’s time for the people of our great country to come together, put the bickering aside and clean up our political system before our leaders bring us to extinction.

I’m voting for Colin Powell, if he chooses to run. Bud Phillips Inchelium, Wash.

Gorton abandons conservative cause

As a Republican activist, I’m troubled by Sen. Slade Gorton’s efforts to sabotage the Republican agenda in Congress.

I served as Spokane County GOP vice chairman last year. Grass roots activists have toiled many years in the field to send conservatives to Congress to roll back an oppressive, overgrown federal government. But a few Republicans like Gorton refuse to make the tough, principled decisions to abolish renegade programs like the Legal Services Corp.

LSC, described as a federally funded American Civil Liberties Union, has actively worked against the Republican agenda on welfare reform, parental involvement and limited government. Our tax dollars have been used by Legal Services attorneys to help illegal aliens garner welfare benefits, represent inmates in frivolous lawsuits, and defend drug dealers from eviction from public housing.

LSC is beyond reform. Taxpayers want Gorton to listen to them and not to self-serving attorney groups that thrive on LSC-related lawsuits. Hopefully, Rep. George Nethercutt will take the high road and vote to abolish LSC. Sandy Ogle Chattaroy

Diversity a source of our strength

Arch Jaecks (“We don’t need more immigrants,” Letters, Oct. 6) might have presented a couple of good points about immigration, but he completely blew it in the second to last paragraph.

America is not reserved for whites only. Ours is a multicultural, multiracial, multilingual country. The more integrated a city is, the stronger it is. It is racism and protectionism that will be our downfall. Carol May Spokane

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Coaches, what price victory?

On a recent Saturday, I had the opportunity to watch my 9-year-old son’s soccer game. It was a good game - close, real close.

As parents, we all sit and watch our children play. We shout “great job” when they make good plays and moan and cast our eyes down when they make a bad one. We’ve seen a great improvement in the team’s playing.

Down 2 to 1 going into the fourth period, I get to watch my son play (he splits time with another boy of the same skill). My son has only played one quarter so far.

But wait; he’s not in. The coach decides to go for the win and puts the elite in. No chance for a son to make a good play. No chance for dad to yell “great play” to his son. I don’t know who won, but it wasn’t my son.

I had to take him home, dry his tears and explain to him he may not be a great player, but he’s a super son.

I just hope all you coaches out there remember to show the fundamentals of the game - play the game to the best of one’s ability - and teach good sportsmanship. Don’t let your ego get in the way and break a child’s heart because he’s not one of your best. Greg Ostlie Spokane