Public Periscope

Waxing eloquent

People who complain about the poor quality of rhetoric at City Hall may have been pleasantly surprised last week.

Before voting on what to do about the proposed Lincoln Street bridge project, Councilman Orville Barnes held forth on the big picture - of life, not bridges. … “In a couple of years, I’ll be off the council. It won’t be long before everyone forgets I was on the council because that’s what happens, in case you want to know. We’re not going to be any great history that people are going to remember. And I say that because I worked for a man who was kind of a legend in Spokane - Earl McCarthy. … He’s practically forgotten, and you will be, too, and I will be, too. And that doesn’t bother me at all. … By the time it’s really needed - it probably isn’t needed right now - I’ll probably be someplace - one place or another - where it won’t make a bit of difference what vote I took tonight.”

The speech prompted colleague Mike Brewer to preface his remarks with the caveat: “I’m not going to be quite as long-winded as Orville.” To which Mayor Jack Geraghty replied: “That’s good, ‘cause we’re going to be shutting down.”

And in case you didn’t know

The Earl McCarthy mentioned above was a major developer in Spokane who built NorthTown and University City malls.

Insult to injury

Maybe it’s because he lost the election. Maybe it’s because the business is shutting down and doesn’t have to worry about niceties such as accuracy. But we were struck by the notice Dunson Ridpath Associates sent City Hall. … The company was warning of possible layoffs of hotel workers because the WestCoast Ridpath Hotel has been sold - a notice required by federal law. “Dear Mayor Garathy,” the letter began. … Federal law apparently doesn’t require the recipient’s name be spelled correctly.

Helping out an alum

We don’t usually write about charity drives, but this one is unusual enough that it showed up on our radar screen. Westview Elementary School and Metropolitan Mortgage are sponsoring blood drives at their respective premises Wednesday for Andrew Rypien, son of National Football League quarterback Mark Rypien and his wife Annette. The 2-year-old is being treated for a brain tumor. … The connection? Rypien is a Westview alum and the school has named its leadership award for him. Metropolitan has donated money to the school’s technology program over the years; when Westview officials found out the business was planning to hold a blood drive the same day as they were, they asked if it would donate its “blood credits” to Andrew. Metropolitan said sure.

Seasonal spirit

Eastern Washington University President Marshall Drummond was determined last week not to let state Sen. Jim West ruin the Christmas holidays. Sure, the Spokane Republican legislator wants to fold EWU into a branch campus of Washington State University. … But that didn’t stop Drummond from sending West a cheery Christmas card. “We can’t let these things get in the way of friendship,” Drummond said.

He’ll be looking up old friends

The Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce has a new rep in Olympia who’s an old rep - make that ex-state Rep. Todd Mielke, a Spokane Republican who served 2-1/2 terms in the House before quitting to take a job lobbying for Johnson & Johnson. … The chamber said it is seeking “aggressive action” on state issues to meet the goals of the New Century Plan. Mielke was aggressive as a problem-solver during his days in the Legislature.

, DataTimes MEMO: “Public Periscope” is published Mondays and is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports. You can contact us at The Spokesman-Review, Box 2160, Spokane 99210, or by fax at (509) 459-5482 or by e-mail at jimc@spokesman.com.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports