Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Criticism of engineer unwarranted

Re: “Engineer’s behavior inappropriate,” Letters, April 21.

Michael C. Phillips’ comments regarding Spokane County Engineer Bill Johns were completely unwarranted. Phillips obviously has little or no acquaintance with Johns or the outstanding work he has accomplished for both the city and county of Spokane.

I had the rare privilege of working with Johns during my employment with the city of Spokane and continuing that relationship after he sought employment with Spokane County. I always felt he would make a fine city engineer. Johns’ dedication to the high quality of engineering that went into each project and his concern for the taxpayers who were footing the bill was outstanding. He made himself available to address the concerns of every person who had an interest in the project at hand.

Johns always went the extra mile, putting in additional time and effort necessary to get the work done. He dealt fairly and equitably with taxpayers and contractors alike. He made the extra effort, at no cost to the city or county, to concern himself with the Washington state standard specifications for road, bridge and municipal construction. The importance of this contribution to initiate changes to the state specifications which are the basis for most municipal construction project cannot be overstated.

Phillips completely missed the point of Johns’ appearance at the Terminal Annex. Johns is protesting the high cost of government at every level. Johns’ concern shows in both his private and public life.

I’m glad to know there is at least one county employees looking out for the “little guy.” Robert A. Costigan Spirit Lake, Idaho

Humane Society dumped contract

In Dona Van Gelder’s letters of April 10 and 17, the truth is so distorted that it’s very difficult to follow. I wish to clarify.

Four days prior to the expiration of the Humane Society-SpokAnimal joint contract with the city, the Humane Society chose not to continue its portion. The society put out a press release, reported in your paper, stating it would no longer accept strays from the city and that they should be taken to SpokAnimal CARE. In spite of this, the society continued accepting strays even though the city not only told them not to but asked them to refer people to either bring the animals to SpokAnimal or take them home for us to pick up.

When the entire contract fell in our lap that week, I contacted Susan Canterbury, executive director of the Humane Society and asked if she would present to her board of directors the idea of 1, contracting for the housing of city strays; 2, crematory services; and 3, licensing of pets adopted by city residents.

Canterbury told me her board wanted no part of any of the proposals.

The next step toward sharing services was to contact Kim West, the Humane Society’s new interim director. I discussed with her some joint options as well. She told me her board members said they would rather spend all their money, go bankrupt and close their doors than to even talk about merging with SpokAnimal.

It’s time for this attack against SpokAnimal to end. It was the Humane Society’s choice to dump the city contract. Gail B. Mackie, executive director SpokAnimal CARE, Spokane

Thanks for returning gift sunglasses

On Junior Bloomsday, I lost a pair of Ken Griffey Jr. Gargoyle sunglasses in the parking lot at Joe Albi Stadium. I had gotten them as a Christmas gift from my parents.

A girl picked them up and turned them in to a security lady, who turned them in to the lost and found. I would like to thank that girl for turning them in, and to the Junior Bloomsday Association for being organized.

My parents have always taught me to be honest and always try to do the right thing. I’m glad there are other parents out there teaching their kids to do the same. Jordan M. Schatz, age 9 Spokane

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Police put squeeze on alarm owners

I’ve just received a letter from our Spokane Police Department stating that unless I pay them $l0 within seven days, police will not respond to my alarm company’s report of a break-in at my home. They aren’t singling me out because of a nuisance false alarm record; everyone with a monitored alarm system is getting an identical threat.

Apparently, our City Council is responding to our police chief’s frustration in funding police manpower used in checking false alarms. But, I really don’t comprehend how money will solve the basic problem.

When I was growing up in an Eastern inner-city neighborhood, young men would visit store owners and offer to protect the establishment from vandalism if the owners agreed to pay $50 per month for their services. Those who chose not to pay frequently wound up with smashed storefront windows or unexplained fires. This is called a protection racket - an anti-social occurrence that I was under the impression the police were supposed to protect its citizens against, not initiate.

I have a monitored alarm system. An alternative is an ear-splitting siren-high-intensity strobe light system that will guarantee multiple 911 calls within the two surrounding blocks.

Don’t I pay for a potential police response through my taxes? If don’t pay what the police department demands, the fee I pay the alarm company is worthless because the company depends on the police to respond.

I’d guess our local burglar community would love to obtain the department’s list of nonpayers.

Will other city departments demand a little on the side to furnish services historically provided by our taxes? Charles M. Morris Spokane

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Heed children’s threats and get help

I’m a mother of a 7-year-old. Everyday when he leaves for school, I pray for his safety. In the past year, I pray even more that he doesn’t meet the eyes of a young killer looking for the wrong kind of attention.

In the past six months there have been more senseless killings than I care for my son to see in a lifetime. Everyone talks about gun control and how these little time bombs are being raised. What about the children who are told something might happen?

As parents, we have the responsibility to tell our children over and over how important it is to tell someone, anyone, if they hear of anything that could put someone in danger. Tell a parent, a teacher, a counselor, even a janitor - even if they think it may be just a joke.

Three of the last shooting sprees were taken only as a joke before the tragic bloodshed. It makes me sick to think of how all these incidents could have been prevented had the children gone to someone when told that something big was going to happen.

My son knows the importance of telling someone about anything that could be bad and so should yours. Frankly, I’m tired of reading about it in the paper and I’m terrified it’s going to happen at my son’s school next. Kamilla G. Chartrey Greenacres

Organ donors wrest lives from death

Since we have just observed National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week (April 19-26), I thought it appropriate to share our experience surrounding the gift of life.

Our youngest child Michelle, age 9, was an organ and cornea donor in 1993. It did not take an act of bravery or heroism to make the decision to give the gift of life and sight to others. What it took was compassion for others who too would die when there was no chance for our daughter to survive. The recent movie “Nicholas’ Gift” portrayed our sentiments surrounding organ donation perfectly.

As an editor for the National Kidney Foundation since the death of our daughter, I have had the opportunity to work with caring people such as the Greens, for which “Nicholas’ Gift” was written. When others are better educated on the facts about organ donation, they, too, will see this as a natural choice to help others live when their loved one no longer can.

To people who cringe at the thought of organ donation, I always ask how would they feel about the gift of life if their loved one needed and organ to survive. Cindy Greever Spokane

FIREARMS

Like drivers, train, license gun owners

David T. Buxton (Letters, April 29) gives a good argument against the gun-car analogy that gun advocates so often spout. I also have wondered about that argument.

If you want to hold gun users to the same standards as vehicle users, fine. To drive a car you must pass both written and ability tests. You are scored and then, after presenting your birth certificate and one other form of identification, you are issued a license with your picture on it.

This week, a woman in North Carolina grieves because a gun she “knew” she had unloaded was used by her 4-year-old grandson to kill her 6-year-old godson. The children believed they were playing with a toy gun as they had done so often before. One child is dead. One child will be affected for the rest of his life. And a woman who felt she needed a gun faces a criminal record and a lifetime of guilt.

So, take the classes. Pass the written test. Pass the operational test. Get a picture license using your birth certificate and other required identification. I have no problem with a law like this for gun owners. As long as you’re going to use the car-gun analogy, go all the way with it. Deborah Lawrence Hale Greenacres

Cars can be misused, just as guns can

Re: David P. Buxton’s letter on Apr. 29.

I think he missed a few points. Cars may be useful for everyday life, but they also pollute our air and irresponsible, careless, drunk individuals are a danger to society when operating a car or anything else.

He also forgets that owning a car is a privilege, not a right. Owning a firearm is a right and a responsibility guaranteed by our Bill of Rights. Firearms do serve a useful purpose. If you don’t believe me, just ask someone who has used one to save their life. Chris E. Justice Spokane

No useful purpose? Nonsense

David Buxton (Letters, April 29) puts his two cents in concerning gun control, stating guns don’t serve a useful purpose. His opinion is typical of many Americans who are prone to be led by a carrot on a string. The beauty of this country is that a person is free to express himself, even to maintaining that the world is flat.

I’m sure that if you spoke to the 2.1 million men and women last year who used a firearm in self-defense, they might possibly have a different opinion. The same might go for the hundreds of thousands of hunters who provide meat for the dinner table while at the same time assuring a prolific wildlife population. Police officers who dutifully strap a firearm to their hip every day might have something to say about how useless their guns are, too.

Although I applaud Buxton for having the courage to express opinion in a public forum, I caution that when making groundless, emotional claims, silence is better than stupidity. Michael B. Harmon Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

WSU has many professional schools

Reading the paper this morning, I found a couple of errors as to fact. The first was in the nice article written by Peter Harriman about the retiring of Borje Gustafsson. The fourth paragraph states, “Gustafsson presided during an unusually productive era for WSU’s only professional school.”

Only professional school? I am sure there are thousands of WSU graduates who will be disappointed to find out they are no longer considered professionals.

I am a graduate of WSU’s School of Pharmacy. I guess it was just my large ego which led me to believe that a pharmacist is a professional. My daughter is just about to graduate as an architect. Should she not be able to consider herself a professional architect? What about all the professional teachers, musicians, writers, geologists, archaeologists, etc., who graduated from WSU?

The second error which could have been fixed by really reading the article is in staff writer Dan Hansen’s article regarding outboard motors. It includes the statement, “Four-cycles - engines that don’t run on straight gasoline - are nearly always cleaner burning than two-cycles.”

I was always under the impression that four-cycle engines run on straight gasoline while two-cycle engines run on gas-oil mix. Greg Munter, R.Ph., WSU ‘72 Spokane

Politics nobody’s dainty tea social

Ellen Goodman’s Opinion column of April 23, “Combative commentators, take leave,” reads like a sheltered, aristocratic version of Rodney King’s famous “Can’t we all just get along?”

The fact is, we’ll never all get along, particularly when the subject is politics. Most lawmakers and pundits pretend the debate is a game, and everyone should be polite and follow the rules of nicety. However, nothing government does resembles “nice,” and at the heart of the “argument culture” are groups fighting to prevent the heavy yoke of government coercion from falling on their shoulders.

Is the IRS “civil” when it seizes huge percentages of your income with threats of property seizure and jail? Are the jackbooted drug warriors with secret warrants “creating solutions” as they bust down the door of a California cancer patient, looking for medical marijuana, disregarding amendments as they go? Does your one vote for a single lawmaker once every few years feel like “national conversation” when government bureaucrats decide to regulate your business? As long as government continues intruding where it shouldn’t, from retirement plans to education to medical care, the battles will get more intense as people either defend their freedoms or fight to gain control of the increasingly powerful state.

Goodman quotes, saying “democracy begins in conversation.” Great. That’ll comfort the politically less powerful, who are forced by government to submit their taxes and freedoms to a disagreeable purpose. Democracy and civil conversation are garbage. Limited government and free markets are hallmarks of a just society. Greg D. Holmes Spangle, Wash.

Timber sales generate tax revenues

Please show me a government agency that actually operates in the black year in and year out. There are none! Below-cost timber sales - maybe.

Visit any district ranger station of any national forest and follow a timber sale from start to finish. You would be amazed at the expenses incurred just to get ready for the sale.

When and if a timber parcel is sold, follow the money some logging or timber company used for the purchase. A raw product is harvested and converted into a usable product, then sold to the public. That below-cost timber sale dollar suddenly becomes very profitable for our government through all the taxes incurred against the purchase of equipment, road tax, sales tax, property tax, inventory tax, income tax - starting to get the point?

I’m able to pay taxes working in the timber industry. So next time, please get all the facts before you go to press. Tom Vande Vanter Newport, Wash.