Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Road project: Haste makes it a waste

For something that has such huge implications for Spokane County, the urban connector system is receiving surprisingly little attention.

City planners say it will result in urban sprawl. It will definitely slice through parks, encroach on protected areas and cut off wildlife corridors. For homeowners, it will mean truck bypasses through quiet neighborhoods and sinking property values.

Is this the best idea our engineers could come up with?

Why not talk about it and come up with a plan that really meets our needs? What’s the rush?

The project director was asked this question at the Mead public meeting. He responded that we need to get our request for funding in to Olympia before the West Side gets all the money. I understand the competition and have often wished we would get more consideration on this side of the mountains. But do we really want to get stampeded into a poorly conceived project simply because someone will give us money to do it? A.A. Fiddes Spokane

Council action foolish and unfair

Thousands of dollars in property taxes are waived each year for historic properties in Spokane. Why? To protect and preserve buildings of historic significance to the people. Before property owners can receive this tax break, their properties must meet specific criteria identified in the law.

The Landmarks Commission, a panel of respected technical experts in architecture, construction and historic preservation appointed by the City Council, makes these determinations.

Besides being qualified professionals, each commission member receives extensive training interpreting the criteria and evaluating the historic significance of potential properties.

Why, then, did the City Council recently overturn the valid, consistent decision of the Landmarks Commission and allow the Schade Brewery to be eligible for thousands of dollars in property tax credit without meeting the same criteria every other property owner receiving historic property tax credits had to meet? Owners of the Shade Brewery can do whatever they like with their building, but if they want dollars from my pocket, they’re going to have to follow the same rules.

Shame on you, City Council, for acquiescing to the demands of this property owner. Do you think your technical expertise in matters of historic significance is superior to that of trained professionals, or did you just do a favor for Steve Eugster, as Jeff Colliton stated?

You’re doing no favor to Spokane’s citizens by letting this project move forward without meeting even the minimum guidelines for historic structures. Bradley M. Kilby Spokane

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Union people really are family

On Nov. 27, Arron Duncan - my son - passed away at age 21. The huge hole in our family from the loss of Arron can never be filled.

My family has been lucky to have had so many people rally around us, not only family and friends but my fellow Steelworkers. My union brothers and sisters have embraced my family with their concern and support. They have shown time and again we are not just a “bunch of workers” but a family. Every day that goes by we grow stronger and more united. When I go to the union hall, I see friends I could never turn my back on.

I feel frustrated when the company states it wants to talk but never seems to make it to the table. It is frustrating not to have my job and some form of normalcy back in my life. It would be nice if the company would stop its propaganda and negotiate so we can all go back to work. George A. Hietala Spokane

Company won’t break union solidarity

I’m the proud wife of a striking Kaiser Steelworker. We have run through the entire gantlet of emotions, from disbelief to dismay to absolute faith in our union.

My husband joined Local 338 nine years ago because that was the only way to get a job at Kaiser. He rarely attended a meeting and was not involved with union activities.

Since the strike began, I have seen some amazing events, such as the union food bank, turkeys for all at Thanksgiving, rallies, Thanksgiving dinner for more than 80 people at the union hall, friendships built, unity, bonding and a determined commitment that cannot and will not be surpassed.

Kaiser management, listen up! All the money, lawyers, lies and propaganda cannot beat the personal integrity and commitment of over 3,100 Steelworkers, their wives, husbands, friends and family. We are thousands strong and we will win and survive this strike.

It amazes me that Kaiser would prefer the ethics of the scabs to the proud, skilled Steelworker work force that has kept that plant going for years. So, Kaiser, negotiate in good faith, so we can all put this strike behind us. Jaclyn K. Woods Hayden, Idaho

Hurwitz, Maxxam own Kaiser

Kaiser spokeswoman Susan Ashe says there is “no factual basis” that supports a link between Maxxam and the strike of Kaiser Aluminum by the United Steelworkers. Well, here are the facts.

1. Charles Hurwitz is the CEO and majority stockholder of Maxxam Inc., which owns the holding company, Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp.

2. KACC owns Kaiser Aluminum.

3. Hurwitz owns 63 percent (majority stock) of Kaiser Aluminum.

4. More than 80 percent of Maxxam’s overall profits are derived from Kaiser Aluminum.

Ashe does a good job of repeating the rhetoric supplied to her by Kaiser management, but the track record over the years of Hurwitz and Maxxam (decimated pensions, lost jobs, environmental destruction, savings and loan failure) says otherwise.

Please do not insult my intelligence or the public’s by suggesting that Hurwitz and Maxxam are merely observers in this struggle. Maxxam may not be involved in day-to-day operations of the five plants, but as far as negotiations are concerned, all one has to do is follow the money to see who is really calling the shots. Gregory F. Presley Spokane

WILDLIFE

Humans, bears can coexist in peace

Thanks to this newspaper and to reporter Ken Olsen for coverage of the grizzly bear debate. I suspect that most folks who oppose grizzly reintroduction in the lower 48 states have financial motives, the basest of motives, for their opposition.

Alaska residents have shown that humans and bears can coexist peaceably. While proverbial lions never will lie down with lambs in actuality, we rational mammals can re-learn to share these spaces we seized from native creatures. We can allow such species, that were here first, to reinhabit some of the grounds from which we systematically dispossessed them.

Olsen’s stories were thoughtful, detailed and engaging. Paul Lindholdt Cheney

Wolves not a threat to ranchers

Wolves are my passion, and the continuing sage of the rare Mexican wolf is very distressing. These are intelligent, gentle creatures that are trying to survive in the rugged terrain of the Arizona desert. I do not understand why people would want to destroy this magnificent animal.

What harm has the wolf actually done? The Arizona ranchers who are complaining the most say the wolves are a threat to children, livestock and the local deer population. But what children have they hurt? What livestock have they damaged? And why shouldn’t the wolves be allowed to hunt the deer? After all, aren’t they allowed to eat, as nature intended them to? Or are the ranchers worried that they might have to be deprived of their “sport”? How sad that the wolves have to perish because of a few selfish ranchers.

Please, if you would, the next time you print an article on the plight of these endangered animals, include an address where concerned citizens can write and offer help. It would be appreciated by many, I am sure. Victoria A. Daniels Spokane