Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Hasson, Harris out in left field

Why doesn’t it surprise me that our county commissioners continue to be intent on taking control of the health district? (“County still covets health district,” Region, June 26).

In the face of what appears to be overwhelming public and private dissatisfaction with their position, Commissioners Steve Hasson and Phil Harris insist that theirs is the better way. I haven’t heard a single solid argument from them to support their decision.

Hasson defends himself by attacking the media, the city, the Legislature, the health board, the freeholders and every other convenient target while saying he wants county government to control all regional services. His personal problems with anyone who disagrees with his own unique thought process lets me think that this is a pure and simple power play by someone who only wants to play when they can make the rules.

Now Hasson says that the City Council has too much say on health issues, so let’s throw those awful council people off the health board. It reeks of sour grapes to me.

Maybe Hasson fancies himself as the Arnold Schwarzenegger of local politics. The difference is that Schwarzenegger is an action hero who wants to be funny Hasson is a funny man who wants to be an action hero.

It looks as if Hasson and Harris are making a joke of the Health Advisory Board, which they set up a year ago as a way to mitigate criticism for their move. Maybe they’ll start listening to people soon. Otherwise, I can only wait until September and pray. Ian Cunningham Spokane

Make do with what you have

Where does our tax money go?

Being raised in a blue collar family, I learned the value of a dollar the hard-work way. So for that I now get to pay $235.52 per month in property taxes.

Now they are suggesting that I pay an additional $15-plus so as to fix the streets. Please remember that I paid only $40,000 for the house in the first place. My current taxes are more than the monthly payments on the mortgage!

Washington is rated as among the highest in gas tax. Automobile license fees - what happened to that money? Actually, there are more people than just us city folks who tear up the streets. Figure a way to let them join in. The more the merrier.

Because we did not spend everything we made, and more, we do not qualify for the old-folks exemption.

Might I suggest that we quit paying people $1,500 per month for not showing up? Make our staff lean and mean. Show some fiscal responsibility for a change.

Sell about half of our city and county cars and make the employees toe the line - furnish their own cars or ride the bus. Run the offices like they were a for-profit business. Shape up or ship out. Retirement doesn’t start until later. Today, you are supposed to work.

And no, “work” is not a dirty, four-letter word. Charles E. McCollim Spokane

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION

Criticize and you’re just a crank

Thank you, Staff Writer Jonathan Martin, for your balanced reporting on the situation at Madison Elementary School. My only question is, why has it taken so long for this story to be published? Also, thanks to KREM-2’s Tom Grant.

Kudos to the parent who had the foresight to document unpleasant incidents these past four years. Many times when a parent has a complaint they are told they are the only one who has ever expressed such, and are made to feel like a fool.

In the spring I attended a meeting cosponsored by District 81. One of the speakers, an attorney, stressed the concerns of parents who call his office daily. They feel their views are not only made light of, but totally disregarded. In his opinion, there are “dark clouds on the horizon” if those in positions of educational leadership are so intolerant.

I think the storm is here.

I’ve noticed if some can’t defend their position they attack the opposing messenger. How ironic those who espouse tolerance and diversity do not live it. Did Joe Chrastil, who was paid over $100,000 to teach parents how to work with the schools, ever talk with these parents who have been labeled everything from critics of change to KKK? Whose children are these?

We are celebrating America’s independence. One of the complaints of the people was taxation without representation.

When an elitist empire, foreign or local, ignores its covenant, that is called tyranny. Lord Acton wrote, “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Donna Kuhn Spokane

Beaudreau should resign

The comment of School District 81 Board of Directors President Terrie Beaudreau associating anyone with the KKK is unconscionable.

Even without knowing any of the facts about the situation at Madison Elementary or her relationship with the media, I would suggest it’s time for Beaudreau to write that letter of resignation. The president does speak for the board and were I the board I would certainly be embarrassed. R.E. “Tiny” Jorgensen Spokane

WASHINGTON STATE

Toward safer, better - rarer - care

I have been an adult family home sponsor for the last eight years and have been a care giver for 12. In the last year or two many changes made at the state legislative level have greatly affected adult family homes.

We have gone from being family oriented service providers to being small business owners governed by state rules and regulations designed to protect our residents.

It has become almost impossible to care for the elderly in your home because of the many rules imposed. I fear of an inspector walking into my home and finding a gate my 10-year-old left open or a bottle of Listerine my 19-year-old left out on the bathroom counter.

The burnout rate for care givers is high. At least it is for the good ones, who carry all the responsibility on their shoulders. The people they take care of live in the care givers’ home. These people don’t go home after an eight-hour shift. They can look in the eyes of the people they care for and tell you if they are not feeling well.

The rigid rules and regulations imposed, the pressure of not being able to relax in your own home, will weed out the good care givers who only want to provide a loving home for two or three people.

As for me, well, I have no choice but to buy a larger home, become a businesswoman, and grandma will become a resident.

By making sure our elderly loved ones have all their rights, are we leaving them with none? Donna Terry Chewelah, Wash.

Require skull buckets for all

Why isn’t the Washington Traffic Safety Commission sponsoring a program to force adults to wear safety helmets, as well as seatbelts, when in their car?

If a helmet can save money on health care why not force all motorists wear them? The money saved with car drivers wearing helmets would be tenfold greater than the amount saved by making motorcyclists wear helmets.

Could it be that the commission people don’t want the discomfort or to get their hair messed up from helmets? If this is the case, who decided that cyclists must wear helmets but stopped short of making automobile drivers wear them?

We need more government control to help make it so people can be less responsible for their actions. Rick Nelson Mead

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Best candidate, McCloskey, overlooked

Please inform your political writer, Jim Lynch, that there are three candidates for the Democratic nomination for congressman. For the second time in two weeks, Lynch neglected to mention Don McCloskey as a candidate.

I can understand Lynch’s blindness. It must be difficult to see a candidate who is not a politician.

McCloskey has spent almost 20 years in Spokane actually being involved in meaningful change at the community level.

I met him when we were both working to convince District 81 to give parents a real role in participating in our children’s education. The result was the APPLE program, a vital, inclusive program in Spokane. It took years of work by many dedicated citizens. McCloskey was instrumental in keeping that group focused on building trust with the district board and administration. His message was to build bridges and find common ground, rather than coerce and intimidate. The attitude of cooperation still stands.

McCloskey, with his wife Magdalena, has facilitated many low-cost seminars in gender diversity and reconciliation. He also brought that training to the neighborhood community centers, especially in the West Central neighborhood, where McCloskey is the cocoordinator of the neighborhood conflict resolution team. He was also instrumental in KXLY’s Paint Your Heart Out project, which organizes volunteers to paint houses for low-income, elderly and handicapped homeowners.

McCloskey believes in building community from the bottom up, instead of from the top down like most politicians. He deserves to be acknowledged by your paper as a viable candidate for Congress. Martin Yacker Spokane

Bad deal for retired federal workers

A few months ago Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin disinvested $40 billion in the federal employees’ retirement fund to keep our government from defaulting on financial obligations. As a result, federal employees are the only group of retirees that will be asked to accept a continued three-month delay of their cost of living allowances.

Yet, did you know that retired military people will have their COLA restored Jan. 1, 1997, as a result of a recently enacted defense spending bill?

The thanks we get is, “Well, you have to bite the bullet again in the name of deficit reduction.” This is nothing less than a slap in the face for all retired federal employees.

My questions to all our elected officials is why just single out retired federal employees? How about all you retired legislators taking a cut in your pension to help pay off the deficit, instead of just laying it on the federal retired employees? Robert Elmore, Washington state treasurer National Association of Retired Federal Employees, Spokane