Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Survey question is unconstitutional

The misleading editorial criticizing County Commissioner Phil Harris (Feb. 24) omits enough of the facts to make your criticism plausible.

Fact: The survey, as proposed by the Health District bureaucrats, specifically inquires about the religious beliefs of the persons surveyed. Harris stated the inquiry about religious belief is intrusive when any conceivable legitimate government interest could be served by classifications using neutral information, such as zip codes.

Query: Why does the Health District need to target religious belief to inquire about pregnancy and sex education? Why do bureaucrats need a database containing religious affiliation cross-referenced to sexual information? If the survey hinted at diverting tax funds to religious groups, the editorial board would be weeping at the high wall separating church and state.

There are some questions government at any level is not permitted to ask. One established interpretation of the First Amendment is that if there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, religion or other matters of opinion, nor inquire into nor force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.

If the Health Board persists, the legal fees that will be expended litigating the constitutional problems will diminish the prospect of funds being available for the inevitable follow-up survey.

Some attorneys might even view that prospect as the positive side of this controversy. Dr. Frank Conklin, professor of law Gonzaga University, Spokane

GMA is anti-property rights

Jean Johnson’s Feb. 21 letter lauding the Growth Management Act was a very good argument for repealing GMA.

“Some may feel slighted by not having the opportunity to subdivide land … to help fund their retirement. Sacrifices will be made for the good of all.”

At whose cost?

A heretofore fundamental principle of property ownership is that when an individual is required to give up his property for the good of the community, he will be reimbursed by that same community. This has been part of the social contract between the people and our government since its inception.

Article 5 of the Bill of Rights: ” … nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.” Article 14: ” … nor shall any state deprive any person of … property without due process of law.”

Johnson may think we only “rent” property while we are alive, that private property rights should change to the rights of everyone. Property owners tend to have an entirely different, non-socialist point of view. I bought mine with my sweat and I intend to pass it, or the profits from it, on to my children.

As for supporting the hearing boards, I find the idea terrifying that a board I can’t vote for has the kind of power over my property spelled out by the GMA. A root cause of the Soviet Union’s collapse was government destruction of private property rights. If one cannot own and profit from property, confident that it won’t be seized, there is no incentive to strive for a better life. Curt Messex Cheney

Boundaries decision an abuse of power

The commissioners’ recent decision on the interim urban growth boundaries sadly reminded me of the oath doctors take: “First, do no harm.”

Hundreds of people came to testify at the four IUGA hearings - many of them retired individuals who would lose their retirement income with the recommended boundaries. These people planned their lives for over 15 years based on the current comprehensive plan and urban impact area boundaries - both of which took years of local planning to create. They had a right to expect a certain continuity in the county’s land planning.

By setting the boundaries at the current UIA, the commissioners could have displayed real statesmanship and done no harm. They could have recognized the overwhelming unfairness of removing someone’s inheritance or retirement by setting an unforeseen no-growth boundary.

During this process, various people, including a commissioner and City Council member, have stated that investing in land shouldn’t be treated any differently than investing in the stock market. If an individual loses everything, that’s just too bad.

Maybe they are partially correct. Life holds few guarantees. But one it should hold is the right to plan the use of your property based on local, longstanding planning patterns.

Maybe land should be compared to blue chip stocks. When we buy them we don’t expect a huge, instant return but we do expect that we won’t lose our shirts. Lori Gray Spokane

Urge Locke to block Dawn plan

The county commissioners should be commended for their unanimous vote against importation of radioactive wastes at the expense of our federal, state and local taxpayers. However, their efforts will not be realized until Gov. Gary Locke has rescinded Dawn Mining Co.’s license.

If you do not like to pay additional federal, state and local taxes, please contact Gov. Locke and state your support for the commissioners on rescinding Dawn Mining Co.’s license (WN-1043-2). Kim Davis Spokane

Planners should demand harmony, too

While I lived in Spokane for 12 years, I always enjoyed going downtown for shopping, dining and just walking around. Spokane is blessed with several amazing buildings that help create an overall architecture of red brick beauty and grace.

On a recent trip to Spokane, I was saddened to see a new motel that has risen on the east end of the city that stands out as an eyesore and, despite its newness, already appears old and dirty. Its light blue plaster exterior has no connection to or relationship with the surrounding buildings.

Are there no building codes or planning guides to prevent such an atrocity in one of the potentially most beautiful downtown areas in the Northwest? I hope those responsible for city planning will take their task seriously as several new projects are being planned and thus help to avoid another architectural disaster. Randi Von Ellefson Chicago, Ill.

Mangan’s attitude not pervasive

Effective management manifests itself at all work levels. Conversely, the Wyatt Earp attitude often shown by Police Chief Terry Mangan will likewise fester in a similar attitude by some of the city patrol staff.

However, rest assured that most of this city’s police force is comprised of men and women you call neighbor. Marc Ramsey Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Group’s opinion shouldn’t count

Re: “Shelter faces tough choice” (Feb. 24), why is a radical group of animal rightists being consulted about whether shelter animals should go to Washington State University? The Association of Veterinarians For Animal Rights is unlike every legitimate veterinary organization in that it does not require that its members be veterinarians.

In fact, the actual number of veterinarians in AVFAR is far outnumbered by non-veterinarian members. It is just another money-grubbing animal rights group whose home base is California. Why would a group from California be consulted about issues facing veterinarians in Washington and Idaho?

This group has called for the legislated extinction of domesticated animals through the passage of mandatory spay-neuter ordinances. Unwanted, disposable animals should be put to good use.

I would not want a veterinarian to treat my animals without having had the benefit of learning his or her skills on live animals. My husband has had three heart procedures to correct a birth defect. All of the procedures were developed using dogs. Dogs, too, have heart defects that can now be corrected.

Spaying and neutering has been the focal point of the animal rights movement’s thrust against the perpetuation of animal ownership. Now it’s being offered for free and they are still protesting. Cherie Graves Newport, Wash.

We need new attitude for new era

Hal Robinson (Letters, Feb. 17) may be entirely correct about the Bible being written by well-educated scholars. However, his statement, “Everyone, with the exception of atheists, cares about the Bible,” is quite bold and pompous. Such a narrow-minded point of view is exactly what’s wrong with society these days.

I’ve often wondered if the Australian aborigines talk about the word of Christ during one of their own spiritual ceremonies, or even if they really care. Based on how rich these cultures already are, maybe the Bible just isn’t for them. Do you suppose the nomadic tribesmen of the savanna, the !Kung, sit around their fires peering at the heavens and discussing the Bible? I don’t believe so. So does this make these people “outcasts”?

Based on how long these peoples’ ancestral beliefs have existed - more than 20,000 years, thereby dwarfing the time of existence of Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions put together - I think these people, as well as other indigenous cultures around the globe, deserve a bit more respect. Spirituality is not always a religious-based feeling.

If one says that the Jewish, Christian and Moslem faiths are the only chosen religions of God and everyone else is an outcast, then that would alienate over 2 billion people. Openness and acceptance of a culture’s belief system ought to be part of the new criteria for the coming of a new millennia. Let’s not go back to more separation and exclusion. Edgar Newstadt Hayden