Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Citizens deserve full disclosure

On Jan. 13, The Spokesman-Review cited the Wall Street Journal’s front page article (“Downtown revival plan relying on HUD aid poses hard questions”) on Spokane’s $110 million River Park Square project. The lengthy Wall Street Journal article states, “officially imposed secrecy about certain terms … has fed worried that there are financial dangers to the city and its taxpayers that have been hidden from them. The worries are not unfounded…” However, your Jan. 13 article concerned only the leakage of a confidential city memo to the Wall Street Journal; The Spokesman-Review as yet has published nothing whatsoever in response to the very serious concerns raised by the Wall Street Journal article.

We are all aware of our deteriorating downtown. Those of us who have seen sadly devastated and economically depressed downtowns in once prosperous cites and who also have seen the opposite - busy, prosperous, revitalized downtowns - know what we would lose by not reviving vs. what can and must be done for our downtown. But if this city (and its taxpayers, excluded by city leaders from the decision making process) do in fact face financial risks from the adapted revitalization plan which have been hidden by the city officials and the publisher of The Spokesman-Review, do not said officials and The Spokesman-Review owe prompt and full disclosure of such risks to Spokane citizens? Charles S. Forve Spokane

Education crucial to future economy

For the past decade, the Spokane business community’s economic development initiatives have focused on diversifying our local economy to reduce the reliance and vulnerability we have experienced with commodity-based industries. Farming, timber products, mining and aluminum products have been major economic drivers for the past 50 years. All four commodities are currently affected by low international commodity prices.

Commodity-driven industries that compete in global markets are forced to look for productivity gains and exercise intense expense control in down markets. This has had negative impact on our local work force through job reductions, furloughs, plant closures, production cutbacks, etc. Kaiser Aluminum is currently dealing with this agonizing process, as are local lumber mills, silver mines and wheat growers.

This reinforces the importance of the community continuing our economic development efforts to diversify the local economy. In the rapidly changing global economy, many aspects of operating a business profitably are beyond local control. A primary defense we have against the loss of jobs is to continue to support the growth and development of local companies, and to attract diversified high-wage companies to the Spokane area. Higher education will play an expanding role to provide lifelong learning opportunities to adults adjusting their skills to meet the changing demands. Increased funding of higher education in the next biennial state budget is a critical element to meeting our diversification needs. It’s essential that we, as a community, support increased expenditures for higher education. An ongoing, intensive economic development effort, coupled with a well-trained and well-educated work force, are essential to sustaining a healthy economy in the future. David A. Clack Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Alliance with Flynt unholy

Thanks to the Clinton administration and all those liberal apologists, the morality of our nation is at an all-time low. Never in my wildest imagination could I conjure up a president with the most corrupt and sleazy actions.

And now my liberal friends are aligned with Larry Flynt, a pornographer and child molester. (His own daughter accused him of molesting her.) I have always been pretty much apolitical, but this goes beyond the pale. I have long heard the Democrats attack the Republicans as being “hateful,” but the Democrats are the real hate mongers. They are the ones engaged in personal destruction.

Now, besides James “Maddog” Carvel declaring war and vowing to destroy anyone who speaks against the president, Flynt and the White House are digging up dirt on Republicans. Flynt said he had the goods on 48 politicians, then 12, then eight and now five. What happened? Did the ones excluded happened to be Democrats?

How about it, my friends? Does this unholy alliance represent you? God Bless America! Because we sure need it. Jim F. Bennett Spokane

Federal retirement money taxed

Re: “Priorities need to be examined” (Letters, Jan. 10).

I agree with a number of things G. Kendall Wilder wrote, but on the other hand, I am a federal retired person and I am taxed on every dollar I get from my federal retirement. Also, I received the same COLA of 1.3 percent as Wilder. People under Social Security do not get taxed on every dollar.

Also, when I was working for the government, I worked at a second job at nights and weekends to keep up with inflation, because most government workers are underpaid compared to the outside. I was paying Social Security tax and had enough quarters in, but due to a law passed in the 1970s, a person working for the government can only draw half of his Social Security. Robert Elmore Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Childrearing should be focus of union

I think you should not have run the article about the woman with two husbands (Jan. 12). The trio craves attention, and that is exactly what they should not get.

A woman can certainly be in a stable and working marriage, she can be an excellent parent and still have a long-term extramarital relationship as long as she keeps it really extramarital. This is not the case of April Divilbliss.

Marriage is not about “who loved me” but mainly about bringing up children. Love based on this mission is much more than “sex in the ‘90s.”

The grandma is right to take the child out of that environment, but not because “the child sees her mother sleeping with two men.” That environment must be very unstable. How are decisions made in a “family” like that? Who is the primary authority for the child? If they are thinking about bringing another women into the relationship just because of sex, what are they thinking a marriage is about? Legal sex? If that’s the case they are really unfit to take care of a child.

But again, they deserve no publicity. Peter C. Dolina Veradale

Image of stinker more appropriate

A recent editorial cartoon portrayed President Clinton as the Roadrunner and the Republicans as Wylie E. Coyote. I suggest a more accurate cartoon image of our Looney Tune president is Pepe Le Pew. It’s time for him to go. Rick Melanson Spokane