Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE ISSUES

Name suits picnic in the park

Regarding “Give event a more appetizing name” by Merle R. Craner (Letters), since when did the unofficial end-of-summer picnic in the park turn into a brunch of tea and crumpets?

“Pig Out in the Park” is a fun, tongue-in-cheek name for a fun event. If Craner feels he needs another degree of sophistication, then let him join the country club. Cindy J. Mitchell Spokane

Cancellation of office moves wise

Kudos to Commissioners McCaslin, Harris and Roskelley for their wisdom to cancel the much-anticipated move of certain Courthouse offices to the infamous Greybar Building (Spokesman-Review, Sept. 18). Their action sends a message that strong leadership, at times, is having the fortitude to reverse itself, as economic debate in this case encircled a previous decision.

I can now breathe a sigh of relief.

Rick R. Mendoza Courthouse employee, Spokane

City revitalization should continue

David Sabey was a disaster for downtown Spokane. He destroyed Frederick & Nelson. He paid J.C. Penney to abandon downtown. Now he hopes to ensure that downtown remains distressed.

Sabey made an investment in NorthTown knowing that roads and utilities were inadequate to support major expansion unless the taxpayers would provide him more than $30 million in financial assistance to expand access and infrastructure. Sabey made a bargain in NorthTown, and the taxpayers have now provided $30 million-plus for improving access and infrastructure.

Instead of NorthTown, Sabey could have purchased property to develop a regional mall where facilities were already in place and built to service his needs.

Does it seem presumptuous of Sabey, who neither lives nor votes in Spokane, to rail over our rights to cast ballots and to criticize how Spokane taxpayers spend our monies?

In materials distributed by a group called Spokane for a New Century, supported by Sabey, our mayor and City Council are criticized for supporting downtown revitalization and River Park Square. All of the council’s actions have had the broad-based support of the community, and I for one hope our elected leaders continue to show solid leadership to help Spokane become a world-class city with new development and jobs. Our city officials made a good decision for Spokane, representing us as they were elected to do.

With the opening of the new downtown Eddie Bauer store, we can see the beginning of a new Spokane. Don’t let a small group led by a Seattle developer stop the revitalization of our city. Ron Wells Wells and Co., Spokane

Driving on Rockwood truly pleasant

Before the publicity generated by the efforts aimed at diverting traffic from Rockwood Boulevard during resurfacing of Grand Boulevard, I had forgotten what a truly pleasant experience driving on Rockwood is. The street and sidewalks are clean and in near perfect condition. The yards are well groomed and the homes well maintained. The drive using the Rockwood Boulevard route between the upper South Side and downtown can be extremely pleasant and almost as rapid, when traveling at the legal speed limit, as most of the alternative rough and often crowded streets. Ray O’Keefe Spokane

‘Fall Feast’ instead of ‘Pig Out’?

As a Midwest farm girl when growing up, the name “Pig Out in the Park” does not sound unappetizing or uncouth to me, as expressed by Merle R. Craner of Cheney (Letters, Sept. 16). But to those who haven’t had the farm experiences, I can understand their views.

I didn’t respond favorably to his titled suggestion, so I’m offering mine: Spokane’s Fall Feast by the Falls. Julia E. Moreland Spokane

Is it a bridge or a street?

Our city charter requires that people vote on capital expenditure projects before such projects proceed. Mayor Geraghty explained to me that the people are not required to vote on the Lincoln Street Bridge project, which is clearly a controversial capital expenditure project. The city attorney had ruled that since street maintenance and construction is exempt by Section 85 of our charter, ipso facto, bridge construction is obviously exempt. How could I be so dumb as to not recognize that a street is a bridge?

I see this ruling by the city attorney as subterfuge, I assume concurred in by the city manager.

Spokane’s paraphrase of Abe’s statement is: Our government is of the staff, by the staff and for the staff. Herein is the root cause of our very regrettable lack of trust in government.

A simple solution: The City Council hire a staff of about three professionals to do research and analytical studies. This staff would provide objective information and alternatives to the council.

Please ask candidates and current council members about this before Nov. 4. K. Julian Powers Spokane

SCHOOL ISSUE

Transfer can have positive side

Will the school district make this one exception, overload a class, therefore opening a floodgate? Hopefully those faced with this unenviable decision will not allow this to happen. As a parent of four children in District 81, I’ll be watching.

While I sympathize with Tiffany and her parents, I feel that classes are dangerously close to being too large already. It would be great if the district could hire aides or additional teachers every time there are too many students at a certain grade level. But in the real world, the funds are not available. We barely have enough school counselors, special-ed teachers, or art and music specialists (the list is endless) as it is.

It seems logical that the last students to register are the obvious choices for busing. Next year, when there is someone newer than Tiffany, won’t she want to be considered for some privileges before those who arrived after her?

It is not the fault of Woodridge or District 81 that there are so many students in certain areas of town. Until funds become readily available for overload situations, the classes must not become larger. This hurts everyone involved.

Tiffany, who is obviously a bright, adaptable young lady, would be an asset to any school she attends. I think her parents should help her see the positive in being bused. Things happen for a reason, and Tiffany may actually benefit from a tough lesson learned at an early age. Martha A. Agnew Spokane

District should abide by contract

Re: Tiffany Cook and the problem of class size at Woodridge Elementary School.

If what I hear on TV and read in the paper is accurate, I feel her parents are putting School District 81 to an added expense, not to mention inconvenience, in the position they are presently taking.

Apparently the union contract states class size will not exceed 29. Apparently Tiffany registered late, apparently on a first-come, first-served basis. Tiffany exceeded the union contract class size.

I don’t see how the district can ignore the contract condition, and I don’t see how Tiffany’s parents can expect them to. Doing what the district is currently doing to accommodate Tiffany has to be an added expense to the district, dollars that I know they could utilize in more productive areas - dollars that we taxpayers provide.

I also see a potential problem to the district in the future. If this arrangement is permitted to continue, obviously a precedent has been established. What do you do next time? Where do you stop?

My experience regarding children of military families is that they adapt much more quickly to a new environment than do most non-military children.

District 81 has excellent schools, and that certainly includes Browne Elementary. If Tiffany’s family moved to the Woodridge area because of their desire to have their daughter attend Woodridge Elementary, maybe they should have covered all of the bases before they finalized everything.

Let’s utilize our tax dollars and school resources in a way that is most beneficial to all. I am sure there is no excess. Wm. J. Hiatt Spokane

Keep kids in neighborhood schools

Can we complain that the children in our schools are the ones who come up with the short straw? Education is an investment that we can afford. Telling our school districts that we can’t sends a message from all of us that busing a child out of her neighborhood to a school four miles away will solve the problem of overcrowded classrooms. Would you be receptive to this policy if it were your child?

Let Tiffany Cook go to school in her own neighborhood with her sister and her friends, and let her have fond memories of growing up and going to school in Spokane. If District 81 is compelled to set a deadline, set one for the education of our kids. How far will you bus kids when all of the classrooms are full? Kenji Toelken Spokane

School’s problem is lack of teachers

The Tiffany Cook situation is an example of what’s wrong with School District 81. The last time I checked, it was the district’s responsibility to educate - not bus, not banter, not chastise, not intimidate our finest students. The problem at Woodridge is the lack of teachers, not too many students. The parents of all Woodridge students should be standing out front demanding the immediate resignation of Principal Bob Pederson for the way this has been handled.

Superintendent Gary Livingston is responsible for the likes of Laurie Dolan. Dolan’s comment that to leave Tiffany in the conference room is “not educationally responsible,” but to split up her family and bus her to a different school than her siblings is somehow OK makes me sick.

The only thing that would be educationally responsible is to fire the overpaid Dolan and hire two teachers. If you want to shock your system, visit the school district’s administration main office to see all the people and all the fancy furniture and then think about the 10-year-old super whiz-kid Tiffany who needs a teacher. Rick W. Schirman Spokane

BURNING TOPIC

Fitzsimmons painted false picture

Of all the statements made in Tom Fitzsimmons’ recent letter concerning his stand on grass field burning, the last paragraph had to be the most obnoxious.

Department of Ecology director Fitzsimmons stated, “Instead of posturing interest groups against each other, let’s support the efforts those groups are making together to develop common interest and find a long-term solution.”

Fitzsimmons knows very well that all interest groups are not working together, and no progress is being made. Aside from the Agricultural Burning Task Force, which has only token non-agricultural representation, there is no vehicle for all sides to have equal input on this issue. In addition, although the grass industry has easy access to the director and he has visited their farms, Fitzsimmons has not responded to an invitation to meet with victims of the grass smoke.

Fitzsimmons deliberately painted a false picture for the public. We deserve better. Laura L. Ackerman Spokane

Fitzsimmons needs to wake up

When is the new director of the Department of Ecology, Tom Fitzsimmons, going to wake up and smell the blue grass burning?

He claims he wants to work with the groups he regulates and has promised to be less confrontational. He states that ecology is no longer in the command and control mode. The Department of Ecology is a regulatory agency and protecting air quality is their job.

What if our police department adopted this same arrogant attitude when it came to dealing with people who intentionally injured others? We wouldn’t need any prisons or weapons. Our officers could win over the most hard-core offenders with friendship.

Just remember, real friends don’t let friends burn blue grass. Renee R. Rodgers Spokane

STA

Canceling STA routes a hardship

With regard to the U-City Limited and East Sprague bus routes, I’d like to offer the following as a lifetime Spokane resident who has never purchased a car and has ridden both routes more times than I can count.

D.L. Rausch (Letters, Sept. 10) observes, “I will not ride the No. 9 (East Sprague) because of past experiences on this bus.” My experiences on this route have been that this bus seems to attract just enough of a certain type of rider to make the ride unpleasant for the rest of us. For example, the type of person who talks constantly, so loudly that everyone on the bus is forced to hear every word, and cannot complete a sentence without using a profanity. If I had a wife and child, I wouldn’t want them to experience this, but I would have no problem with them on the U-City Limited route.

If the STA executives would consider the human element rather than looking at numbers or lines on a map, they would be aware of this.

Rausch has the option of taking a car when the bus she/ he now takes is canceled, but how do those of us with no car get to work when our route is canceled?

Apparently STA route planners are to Spokane transportation what relief pitchers are to Seattle baseball. Bob Kirlin Spokane

STA changes a real concern

As a regular Spokane bus rider for the last 35 years, I believe I’m in a position to comment on the proposed route and service changes.

As a former resident of Oregon, where the winters are much milder, I’m not surprised that your Oregon consultant wouldn’t fully realize the impact that trying to get to a bus stop in the heavy snow and ice has on STA ridership. When the streets are plowed, the snow ends up stacked sky-high on sidewalks.

I am really concerned about the impact the proposed changes would have on the many elderly people and young mothers with children who use the bus as their only regular means of transportation.

There is a big push on to revitalize the downtown area to attract shoppers. Making it more difficult to get downtown is counterproductive The people I know who work or shop downtown depend on the bus to get them there, as it is a still a big hassle to park downtown.

STA, use some of your huge reserves of cash and expand your services. If you are really interested in providing a needed service and investing in Spokane’s future, then don’t go halfway. Your Plaza was a nice beginning.

Also, if the streets were properly resurfaced instead of Micky-Moused to cut costs, the heavy buses wouldn’t be a problem. Yes, the buses are noisy and lumbering, but those who leave their cars at home, car pool or ride the bus are doing their bit to cut down on air pollution. Barbara Jean Rice Spokane