Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Need is for strong manager, council

Steve Eugster correctly concluded that Spokane city government needs much stronger leadership. He deserves our thanks.

But now the public has rejected a strong, politicized mayor.

I am convinced that Eugster should have urged a very strong City Council, and an even stronger city manager. The City Council should be strong enough to say: City manager, either cut unrealistic costs, then demand polite, expeditious handling of citizen needs, or you will necessarily be replaced.

A $108 million budget has been poorly managed by past councils and managers. Just witness the spectacle of a city manager being given full pension at age 50, or health insurance so costly that it becomes a $17,000 golden parachute for a healthy ex-manager.

Or, a council that, in the face of deteriorating streets, seems passively to acquiesce in a mere 10.7 percent share of state gasoline tax revenues, when many Spokane vehicles seldom leave the confines of the city.

There are good people on our City Council, and many good employees in city government. However, the call for strong leadership is obvious, and can and should be wellhandled under a strong city manger. John E. Sonneland Spokane

Better rethink road repair issue

Re: Opinion editor John Webster’s editorial on the public’s refusal to accept a tax hike to fix Spokane’s streets.

First, many streets slotted for repair were not those that needed the “major surgery” he alluded to. It appears that the Band-Aid was more of an appeasement to the major money contributors to local politicians. What about the many miles of unpaved roads here in Spokane? Second, if our city government, mainly the council, would divert some of its consulting fee fund to street work, slowly but surely the streets would be improved. Ten thousand dollars here and there would definitely be useful on Second Avenue.

Third, the proposed rejuvenation of the streets lacks foresight. If Spokane planners would do a little research they would know concrete is a more cost-effective long-term solution than asphalt. Asphalt deteriorates at a much faster rate. Yet, it is a cheaper purchase than concrete - a perfect line for the public.

Next time Webster decides to preach from the soapbox in order to save his vehicle from damage, please have him listen to the people before he whines. Craig S. Van Devender Spokane

Here’s a fine way to fix streets

I have a suggestion for funding our street repairs. We should fine each candidate $1 per sign for each day that their campaign signs are left up after the elections, starting with losers in the primaries. If it goes as in years past, a lot of money will be raised.

Oh, don’t forget the lovely street bond signs the city put up. Sharon Grunwald Spokane

German experience an eye-opener

My wife and I just got home from three weeks of vacation in Germany. What do I read first thing in the morning? Another bond defeat and continuation of our awful roads.

We drove 2,980 miles in a rental car and covered just central and southern Germany, and a little bit of Austria. We paid 1.60 Deutsch Marks per liter, equivalent to U.S. $4.30 per gallon, to drive on absolutely perfect roads. Mercedes and BMWs cruise at 135 mph routinely on the Autobahn.

It was the city streets that amazed us. Even in the large cities, streets were smooth and well maintained. Why? The tax on the $4.30/gal is two-thirds of the price! Did our German hosts complain? Sure. They pay 50 percent tax on their income as middle class residents. But they are willing to pay to maintain the quality of life they have. How sad we are not.

I told our host ours is one of 25 worst cities in the United States for running red lights. He pointed out that before a light turned green, it went to yellow first. Simultaneously, the light was red for the other direction. A second of delay to prevent accidents.

In the main intersections, they had flashing yellow lights 100 feet before the light telling you to begin stopping. I never saw anyone run a light.

We will not complain about our taxes or gas prices ever again. Joe J. Kramarz Spokane

Fair becoming less so all the time

Fairs have always been a great family social event, an annual opportunity to share and compete in varied forms of agricultural endeavors.

The Spokane Interstate Fair used to be just that, but now politics have become involved. Tax dollars have paid for many worthwhile improvements.

The fair is a place to bring the whole family for wholesome fun and enjoyment? Not so! Admission is $7.50 per adult and somewhat less for children.

Management bragged about revenue being way up, but attendance was way down. Charges to exhibitors keep going up and up. Next year, it will cost $3 to park your car.

If the trend continues, the fair board members can entertain each other in all that space.

Remember the story of the greedy gus who killed the goose that laid the golden eggs?

Wake up, county commissioners, and do something to stop the trend while it can still be done. What used to be entertainment for the masses is now only for the affluent. M.H. Leighton Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Non-participants, you make me sick

The primary election is over and the majority have spoken with their vote. Right.

The majority sat at home on their duffs, probably watched the election results on TV and griped about how things turned out. What a disgusting lot you are.

Apathy? I’m sick of hearing that lame excuse. I don’t believe there’s a total lack of concern about how or who runs our government. There are plenty of snivelers out there to prove that. I do believe there is total laziness when it comes to voting. Voting: a right, a duty that each and every eligible person should be required to fulfill.

If you were a primary election candidate, it must make you sick to know 65 percent of potential votes were never cast. That’s especially true if you lost - knowing that just maybe some of that 65 percent could have put you in the winners’ column. If you won, did you really?

Much more could be said of the thousands who fought, shed their blood or gave their lives so we may have all the freedoms we enjoy today. Many countries we once fought bitter wars with now boast voter turnouts of over 90 percent. But if the majority in this country doesn’t give a damn, why mention it?

Open another beer, watch more garbage on TV, and when you think about it, snivel about your government. But don’t you dare vote in the general election. George Britton Spokane

Perverse twist can skew results

Top story in the Sept. 19 Region section of The Spokesman-Review is titled, “GOP freshmen know big battle has begun.”

I wonder if you considered that a number of voters who will vote for George Nethercutt in November may have voted for a weak Democratic candidate last Tuesday. In a primary election of this format, where a voter’s favorite candidate is running unopposed by any other member of his own party, such a strategy can be used to “dilute” the competition in the general election. This strategy would artificially lower the number of votes for the favorite candidate in the primary election, i.e. George Nethercutt. Thomas J. Bender Spokane

Term limits route to Easy Street

Term limits being in the news again, if it’s a two-term limit, I think I’ll become a happy politician and run for office.

I could retire after two terms, draw my pension, business grants, speeches, etc. I don’t play golf but I’d soon learn, and I’d travel.

I’m sure I would have a lot of competition. Where else could you get a job and retire in a few years? Norma Smith Spokane

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION

Hollow grades make for empty lives

Over the years, I have read almost all of Adell Cook’s letters and have never agreed with her that is, until her Sept. 18 Your Turn column.

I have a 15-year-old sophomore and an 11-year-old fifth-grader. I don’t want anyone handing out grades like party favors. It is vital for their futures that they earn the grades they get. Employers don’t give you paychecks if you don’t do the work for which they are paying.

I would rather my children receive F’s they earn than A’s they haven’t earned. Ultimately, they will learn from that F. They will learn that it takes hard work to achieve the gratification of good grades. They will learn that both failure and success come with a price. The only question is, which price do they want to pay and which goal do they want to achieve?

I feel confident that my children are receiving a good education in the Central Valley School District. If I didn’t feel that confidence, I’d pull them out.

Thank you, Adell Cook. I agree with what you say and I hope more school administrators and parents read your column and realize they are hurting their children and our country’s future by not expecting the best performance from our students.

We are not giving our children a gift when we give them grades they have not earned. The gift comes when they receive their education and experience the joy of using it in the real world. Deborah Lawrence Hale Greenacres

Better reforms than lawyer workfare

Kudos for the fine reporting concerning poor teachers in the classroom and current efforts for reform. As I read all the articles, I noted how positive teachers, parents and administrators were about improving the present system so that education could be its best.

The only truly negative comment was by John Binns, a Tacoma school attorney. He states clearly that positive efforts for change by the Washington Education Association are not to be believed. “They are absolutely untrustworthy…” No doubt that if teachers, administrators and parents can communicate effectively, he is out of a job. Lawyers like him find it in their best interest to sow seeds of suspicion so they can remain gainfully employed. The $100,000 bill to fire a teacher goes from the taxpayer directly into the lawyer’s pocket, after a brief stay in the school district’s coffers.

What a financial waste. Think what that amount of money could do for our schools. What a waste of energy poured into negative actions, when our public schools need exactly the opposite.

The slow wheel that grinds to purchase textbooks and rebuild crumbling schools is the same one that also moves so slowly to re-mediate, mentor and assist a struggling teacher. Little free time to give to quality teachers who might polish off a peer’s rough edges, before the problem escalates and children aren’t learning. Private industry would invest more time and money in an employee. Current pubic funding will not allow that in Idaho. Diane M. Riley Hayden, Idaho