Downtown Looked Inviting But Problems Got In The Way

Tue., July 7, 1998

Doug Floyd Interactive Editor

It was 1994 and Geraldine McColly was in Spokane looking for a home.

“I stayed at a hotel on the river and loved the idea that I could just walk around downtown.”

She was enthralled, she recalls, with “the magnificent park and the whole thing.”

Downtown living in such a setting appealed to her.

“But then I discovered there’s nothing to buy downtown and it was not even safe downtown, once you get away from the basic center area around the park, so I ended up coming to Gleneden.”

McColly loves her present neighborhood in North Spokane but if it weren’t for those obstacles - plus motor vehicle traffic - she still would prefer living downtown.

“I would rather have streets that are pedestrian-friendly,” she says. “Keep the cars away, which means that the Lincoln Street Bridge really is a very bad idea.”

Slow learners

Washington state has had a public disclosure law for more than 20 years - plenty of time for people who engage in political activity to master the basics.

Why, then, have both sides in the Initiative 200 campaign stumbled into areas where their reporting of financial support is dubious? Initiative 200, which will appear on the ballot in November, would do away with affirmative action in government hiring, contract awards and college admissions.

Proponents have neglected to report nearly $35,000 worth of radio advertising provided by billionaire publisher Steve Forbes. Opponents took a $50,000 pledge from a person who remained anonymous by funneling the gift through a foundation.

Washington voters made it clear in 1976 that they want more openness in their political campaigns. What’s keeping so many politicians from honoring that fundamental expectation?

Declaration of interdependence

Another Fourth of July is in the books. Another celebration of the nation’s independence is behind us.

Meanwhile, communitarian thinkers say our heritage of rugged individualism has placed too much emphasis on personal independence while neglecting the social connectedness that was prevalent among frontier settlers.

What is needed, some believe, is a Declaration of Interdependence.

What would such a document say, and how would we celebrate Interdependence Day?

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