A Way To Make Welfare Work
Putting unused resources to work may be the way to deal with day-care shortages, suggests Stephanie Manauzzi.
“I went from welfare to work,” the Spokane woman said. “The state covers only one year of day care, and after that, if you have two children, it can run as much as $600 a month. For Title XX, which is the next step to get subsidized day care, there is a six-month to eight-month waiting list.
“I think they should turn some of these empty buildings into subsidized day-care centers, put some welfare mothers to work there and pay them $7 an hour. Then they could be off welfare. We would have happy children, nice areas.”
Uniform justice
At least two readers support the idea of a strong, independent citizens review panel to consider allegations of police misconduct.
“I feel that the police review board definitely should be reinstated and always maintained,” said Roseanna Boyd of Spokane. “That is a safety for the citizens.”
What might have been a suitable review panel suffered “death by asphyxiation,” according to David Bray of Spokane.
Bray says he believes the Spokane police force is an average one, staffed with decent as well as despicable officers.
“When I tell my 9-year-old daughter to run to a police officer when she needs help, I pray that she’ll be running to safety.”
Bray says Police Chief Terry Mangan has some city officials intimidated and that Mangan and the Police Guild have fought to prevent an effective review panel.
Any agency is too biased to investigate allegations of misconduct within its own ranks, says Bray.
“It takes a superhuman effort to condemn a fellow officer for wrongdoing when you work side by side with him or her and know how difficult each day can be,” he said.
“It’s only logical to reason that an entity designed and trained to examine the officers and the situations presented to them in an unbiased and objective manner actually could derail potential problem officers before they become headlines.”
Trading jabs
Roseanna Boyd also had this succinct reaction to hints that the Clinton administration is growing friendlier to the idea of fighting AIDS by giving clean syringes to intravenous drug users in exchange for their used ones.
“Yes,” said Boyd, “we should have a needle exchange.”
, DataTimes MEMO: “Bagpipes” appears Tuesdays and Thursdays. To respond, call Cityline at 458-8800, category 9881, from a Touch-Tone phone, or send a fax to 459-5098 or e-mail to dougf@spokesman.com. You also can leave Doug Floyd a message at 459-5577, extension 5466.