Letters To The Editor

IDAHO VIEWPOINTS

Attract people, then businesses

As Coeur d’Alene city officials and their hired guns enter a series of “community roundtables” to discuss our slumbering downtown, other powers that be are anxiously reviewing their bottom lines in anticipation of the president’s proposed minimum wage hike.

Minimum wages are, of course, the wages earned by most area workers employed in the tourism industry. Many civic leaders feel tourism is a key to long-term growth and prosperity.

Perhaps what they fail to see is what Coeur d’Alene is not: it is not Aspen, Jackson Hole or Sun Valley. Nor will it join their ranks, as topography, climate and location conspire against this whim. We may have fully tapped our potential for tourist dollars. Where does that leave downtown?

Certainly not as a center for “goods and services.” Our dollar votes have already pushed the retail and service centers northward. In the wake of this migration is infrastructure and green space to host a variety of needs unrelated to pure retail activity - namely, recreation, education and entertainment.

An ice rink, carousel, community center, theater, cinema, children’s museum, community garden and learning center would be a good start in returning downtown to its proper role in the community. Extending the NIC campus could also factor into the equation.

Once people are attracted in reliable numbers, the eateries and boutiques that cater to them will follow and prosper. Instead of empty store fronts and boarded-up buildings, visitors will be greeted by the warm bustle of a community enjoying itself, and perhaps stick around to enjoy it. Daniel E. Pocklington Coeur d’Alene

Not another office supply store

On a recent Sunday, I went to see a movie at the Coeur d’Alene Cinemas. As I emerged at about 4:30 p.m., I was struck by a mysterious evening sky. Although there was no apparent sunset on the horizon, the entire sky, as far as I could see, was a strange and beautiful combination of peculiar light and color. It was eerie in its beauty.

As I observed the sky from outside the doors of the cinemas, looking in all directions, I caught the view of the backside of the Safeway and Kmart complex. Against the austere sky, between two buildings, was a mass of scaffolding - filling the void only recently left as open space.

I stood with a group of friends, marveling at the wondrous sky. In that moment, when my moving glances brought my eyes to the obvious new construction, my wonder ceased.

I made a comment about it being a new office supply store or something crazy like that. I made the comment in frustration and in jest.

Monday morning, as I was driving to work on the highway past that area, I noticed a large sign, “Future Home of Office Depot.” My blood began to boil.

How many huge office supply box stores do we need? This is beyond reasonable development. This is exploitation of a community that reads out well on someone’s computer somewhere. I want to know how we, who care about filled up empty space in our skies and our soil, can say no - not here, not now. Darrell Dlouhy Coeur d’Alene

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Scabs aren’t just innocent job seekers

Re: “Kaiser workers do the scab things, too” (Jan. 20), asking for the definition of a scab.

A scab is someone who willingly goes to work for a company that already has employees on strike, fighting for the future of a secure job position. It’s not just for the money, as some want to believe. A scab willingly crosses a picket line, knowing that by doing so, they’re keeping permanent employees from going to work. Without scabs, Kaiser would have no alternative but to bargain in good faith and end the strike.

As far as Kaiser workers bidding for a job and getting the job, that only means they underbid your company for the work. Is this not done in America, in the work force every day? Do we hold against you the fact that you want to charge higher prices? And if you want to hold something against someone, you should be upset with the scabs for crossing the picket line, because if they hadn’t, the strikers would be working at Kaiser and not underbidding your jobs.

Anyone who wants to work and can find a job should be able to work. However, it should be honest work that doesn’t cause hardship to a fellow human being. Judy E. Sullivan Spokane

Kaiser’s game plan is revealing

Working-class, taxpaying citizens are getting a rare opportunity to educate themselves on how a company like Kaiser would create a strike by exploiting experienced, record-producing union workers.

Issues:

Kaiser calls it a pay raise when it takes bonus money away and gives some of it back over a five-year period.

Demanding forced overtime on our days off.

Cutting production jobs and department seniority but keeping a 3-1 management ratio and paying for it by giving more work to remaining workers, with no pay increases.

Eliminating all contract language, so unprofessional abuses can run rampant.

Cutting more in-house craft jobs so Kaiser can contract-out those jobs to lower-paid outsiders, with no benefits.

Inequitable 12-hour shifts and pension factors.

Zero sick time and 401(k) contributions.

Fewer vacation slots.

Finally, creating a hostile work environment by disciplining the injured.

As for the scabs, they undermine their own reasons for scabbing. They state the need to find good-paying jobs with benefits. Yet they leach off of the union’s hardfought contract gains. If the union is broken, they too will be left with fewer local hirings, harder workloads, forced overtime, lower wages, fewer benefits and rights.

Unions provide a good check and balance against corporate abuses. We must stand tall and remind Kaiser that it once instilled the pride of joint efforts and of fair, equitable bargaining. Vincent E. Blindauer Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Brains don’t guarantee common sense

I’m sure we all agree that members of Congress and, of course, slurpy Starr, are all educated people. But like the old adage reminds us, education and power without common sense is a worthless, even dangerous commodity.

Nowhere is such stupidity more evident than in the witch hunt against President Clinton. It proves the adage to be absolutely true. Lillian P. Flemming Spokane

Clinton’s flaws known all along

Re: President Clinton-State of the Union address

Clinton reminds me of a tale that I think is appropriate in understanding his behavior. A young girl is walking through the woods and comes across an injured viper. The deadly snake asks for her help but the girl is afraid she might be bitten. The snake assures her that he will not bite. The girl takes the snake and nurses it to health. Just before she is ready to release the snake back to nature, it strikes and bites her. Very shocked she asks the snake why it bit her after she had been assured that this wouldn’t happen. The snake replies, “You knew what I was when you picked me up.”

So why are we surprised at his behavior? We knew what he was when he was elected. Vernon J. Nelson, M.D. Spokane

Foundation keeps blind living fully

Re: Gene Fierce’s Your Turn (Opinion, Dec. 30) concerning his wife’s blindness.

My mother had an eye condition that caused blindness. As a young woman, I saw her deteriorate emotionally and felt saddened because of her helplessness, and our failure to be able to help. You can imagine my fear when several years later I was diagnosed with the same condition.

Fortunately, my husband and friends found an agency, Lilac Blind Foundation, that provides training and support to blind and low-vision people.

The foundation provides free services to the visually impaired and blind, regardless of income. Rehabilitation teachers provide individualized instruction in the use of a variety of devices and strategies to help deal with the loss of sight. Instructors will provide in-home teaching to help the person with failing vision adjust to their circumstances and to maintain their independence.

I am now able to travel wherever I want using public transportation. I do so safely by using my long white cane, which I consider a badge of independence. I am able to manage our home and entertain guests. I am active in my church and in organizations. I do not feel I am a burden to my husband or family, but rather a competent, contributing family member.

The Lilac Blind Foundation has been in the business of helping people overcome the barriers of blindness for nearly 25 years. Without training, blindness is a horrible and frightening condition. But with training, life can be restored to the wonderful experience we all want and deserve. Marlee Naddy Spokane