Letters To The Editor
SPOKANE MATTERS
Manners? Pool personnel are all wet
As a stay-at-home-mom of two energetic boys, I am a regular customer of the Spokane County pools and have been for the past four years. I have yet to make it through one summer without encountering rudeness from the staff.
Today I took my kids and their friend to Shadle pool to cool off, only to be told that I couldn’t pay for my entrance with $20 bill. The cashier said she didn’t have change that early in the day, at 1:15 p.m. I was then told that the kids, ages 4 and 6, could go in alone and I could watch from outside. I finally convinced the cashier to let us in and paid when we left two hours later.
A few years ago, I recall, the pool staff complained publicly that parents use the pools as “baby sitters.” Yet when a responsible parent does want to spend time with their kids, they are turned away. Not many businesses start their day with less than $20 in change. And it surprised me the staff would rather have three small children swimming alone than to be able to make change.
I noticed when I left a sign had been posted in angry red letters that under no circumstances would $10 or $20 bills be accepted.
Here’s an idea: Let’s encourage family activities. Be kind to the children who use the pools and courteous to the parents who take the time to be with their kids.
I understand the staff works hard to ensure everyone’s safety at our pools and they do a fine job. They need to work on their people skills. Amy J. Hagins Spokane
Strive for more quality jobs
In two recent Chamber of Commerce meetings (downtown and Valley) I heard a common theme from the men in ties that lead our public agencies. They say we need more programs and bigger facilities to attract new people and businesses to Spokane. Wrong focus.
We moved to Spokane for the lifestyle; the economy was secondary. Like most who immigrated in the 1970s and ‘80s, we knowingly compromised career growth for that lifestyle.
Today, modern technology has created a virtual business community that can minimize that tradeoff. While we will never become another Silicon Valley, we can become an integral part of the virtual business community and maintain our cherished lifestyle. Let’s work on ways to extend the Seattle and Sunnyvale jobs into Spokane, as with Wall Data and F5 Networks, and forget the numbers game.
Few Spokanites care about big conventions but we all care about quality careers. More convention traffic may lead to more temporary jobs (refer to Ed Thomas’ letter in The Inlander) but our focus should be on quality, not quantity (refer to article about David Bray in The Spokesman-Review).
Our children leave Spokane for professional jobs and won’t be brought back by new service jobs. Improving skilled and professional jobs will keep our best and brightest in Spokane and naturally stimulate more jobs of all types. Let’s concentrate on connecting to the virtual business world and quit trying to apply outdated paradigms to become something we can never be nor want to be. Norm Leatha Veradale
Rodgers out to suppress the oppressed
It’s about control and it’s a sleeper with teeth that will bite every Spokane citizen. Former mayor Dave Rodgers doesn’t trust the people of Spokane. He wants to make it so costly and time consuming for us to access the ballot that we’ll be defeated before we begin. You see, you can’t control the will of the people when they vote but you can control, or at least influence, a much smaller number of people, like a City Council.
Rodgers wants to triple the number of signatures required for us to place anything on the ballot that isn’t put there by our City Council. He wants to make it “reasonably difficult.” Bull! Simply put, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
The Superior Court says he’s wrong but he and his group don’t care.
I challenge his experience and working knowledge in such a process. I question his purpose after more than 20 years. I want to know who is in the “group” of supporters are. Why now? Are they threatened by an electorate that sees a dire need for change? Is there a specific target here or does he want to reverse all the charter amendments made over the past 20 years? Is this just a maneuver to kill current citizen efforts at the ballot until they die an unnatural death?
The term “naysayers” is a handy weapon easily fired at anyone who disagrees with City Hall or downtown interests. Who’s the real naysayer here? David Bray Spokane
We need five new faces on council
City Councilwoman Cherie Rogers questioned on July 19 why we would put on the fast track for the September ballot the purchase of land north of the river for more Spokane toys. She asked why buy without pollution cleanup costs, proper right of way surveys, clear unbiased appraisal, 45 free parking spots for Don Barbieri and will we be asked for money for this property in the future. Why the hurry to purchase with these questions unanswered?
Councilwoman Phyllis Holmes, a member of the “chain gang of five” called Rogers’ inquiries a “cheap shot.”
The gang consists of Councilmembers Holmes, Roberta Greene, Jeff Colliton, Rob Higgins and Orville Barnes. They vote like sheep for the special interests while we pay. This group has denied our right to vote on the bridge and the parking garage, bought land when we lose fillings driving the streets, give lip service to neighborhoods and raised our property taxes four to five times the rate of inflation yearly.
If the park department lets our current toys rot, i.e. pavilion and other assets, when it gets $12 million a year from the budget, why should we give it more money for new toys?
Holmes, the cheap shot is from your gang of five for condemning responsible questioning, good planning and fair business practices deserved by the taxpayer. We’ve been burned before! Let’s delete Colliton and Greene from the City Council on election day. Spokane’s prosperity will arrive when all 200,000 of us are included in priorities. Jonathan Swanstrom Sr. Spokane
WELFARE
Forget coddling welfare mothers
It’s past time to introduce welfare moms to the real world. Otherwise, welfare reform and billions of dollars spent on WorkFirst are just another joke at the expense of the taxpayers.
The time has come for welfare mothers to take responsibility for themselves and their actions. In the real world, many non-welfare mothers with young children barely eke out a living. Very few can afford the luxury of staying home for even three months. For most, a year would be out of the question. Finding quality child care has never been easy and that’s one of the realities of being a parent.
For many, the welfare system has contributed to the demise of the family unit. Why marry the father when welfare can provide? And the more babies they have, the more the system rewards them. Those of us who supported ourselves and our youngsters through very lean times resent supporting benefits above and beyond those of working mothers. Beverly Robertson Spokane
Onus is not on government
Recent articles about welfare reform and infant child care are disturbing. It is unfortunate that so many young mothers are so poorly prepared for the demands that parenthood brings. This is a problem that is much larger than the welfare population and should be seen in this light.
My concern is what role should the state play in the solution of this problem? At some point, individuals have to take responsibility for their actions. I realize that the infant never had a voice in this matter but how much does society owe to those who make poor decisions?
I do not mean to be uncaring and I am certainly not uninformed, I just feel that each of us needs to be responsible for our actions and decisions. This is not always easy, pleasant, or short term. While welfare is an easy target, the problem is far more general and this is what needs to be recognized.
The solution? This starts with the foundation that every child receives, and this shouldn’t be from a state-run or sanctioned agency. No amount of good will or good intentions will ever substitute for the care and nurturing that a family (nuclear or extended) can offer. There are those who derive their livelihoods from our welfare system and it is important that second agendas don’t interfere with what is most important.
I realize that I am suggesting a difficult and long-term answer. Goals worth achieving don’t come easily. Vernon J. Nelson, M.D. Spokane
Don’t blame society for bad choices
Regarding the lawsuit threat by child advocates, in response to the WorkFirst requirement that new mothers return to work soon after childbirth (“WorkFirst change worries child advocates,” July 21): It appears to me they are simply going to perpetuate the myth that welfare mothers are victims of an unjust society.
Any thinking person would acknowledge that children are best raised by committed parents in a secure, bonded, loving environment. Jenny Pena, the mother quoted in the article, professes to put the best interest of her children first. The reality, however, is that she brought not one, but two children into this world with no father figure or plans to support them.
It is time society stops promoting such selfish, self-serving actions and look to positive solutions for this dilemma. With an abundance of responsible couples sometimes waiting years to adopt, it would seem to me that this should be the area of focus for professionals concerned about the welfare of children.
WorkFirst mothers are not victims of the system, they are victims of their own poor planning and unfortunately feel that the rest of society is somehow indebted to them as a result. Diane Delanoy Cusick, Wash.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Military buildup last thing we need
What’s the truth about the recent Balkan war? Was it a practice range to try out new weapons? Is it about U.S. expansion into Eastern Europe? Is it about inflating even more the military budget?
Our president requested $6 billion in “emergency” funds for the war. Congress gave him double that amount.Armaments manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon are raking in the taxpayers’ dough. We spend $265 billion a year on the military. Clinton wants to add another $112 billion in the next six years. Democrats and Republicans both want even more, including money for the Star Wars missile defense system.
Who is the phantom menace here? Our government is dreaming up numerous Darth Vaders to justify its insane drive to dominate the planet. This is not a glitzy movie but dangerous reality. World peace is at stake and military expansion and aggression against sovereign states is not the answer.
We must not abandon peaceful foreign policy pursuits such as the Start II Treaty with Russia. But we desperately need to look inward, to take care of our domestic problems that are endemic, i.e. Social Security. We need not create enemies abroad but friends in our own country. Sean Daly Colville, Wash.
Drug companies, pols and deja vu
Molly Ivins’ July 17 column (`Humanitarianism just an abstraction’) reminded me of an episode from a few years ago. As I recall, this occurred sometime in 1996, and it involved two of Idaho’s own. Her description of the “hanky panky” going on between Congress and the drug manufactures fit perfectly.
In a Senate vote, British drug company Glaxo-Wellcome finally lost the patent protection for the prescription drug Zantac. Consumer groups had been pushing for this overdue vote because Zantac was very expensive and if other companies were allowed to make their version of it, the price would drop considerably.
They didn’t have much time to congratulate themselves. After a short talk with, I believe it was Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., Sens. Larry Craig and Dirk Kempthorne exchanged their ayes for nays, which of course reinstated the patents.
This little snippet of Idaho history was worth many millions to Glaxo-Wellcome but I’ve always wondered what our guys got out of it - other than some tarnished reputations, that is. Thomas Osowski Rathdrum
Some wealth redistribution needed
The subheadline, “Global economic inequality `grotesque’,” prompts me to write.
I have nothing against making a good living or against the United States having the highest per capita income in the world but a few changes would make the United States a better place for all its citizens and leave enough over to help the many desperately poor debtor nations.
First, we can ensure the safety of Social Security and add drug coverage to Medicare by simply erasing the $70,000 cap on income subject to Social Security withholding. Right now, the middle class pays for 90 percent of it and the rich hardly notice.
Secondly, we can eliminate the trust fund tax dodge. We don’t need any more Wal-Mart-children billionaires or millionaires, for that matter. Six-hundred thousand dollars or thereabouts is enough to get your children going. The United States and the world need that money to spread the wealth a bit. Family farms and one-location small businesses could be exceptions.
Thirdly, capital gains should be treated like ordinary income with the present 20 percent as a minimum instead of debating whether capital gains should be lowered to 15 percent. Money from this can lower middle-class tax rates, where trickle-down economics really works.
All the above present policies are promoted as boons to the middle class. But what they really do is save fortunes in taxes for the rich. Government economics should address the issues of Social Security caps, trust funds, estate taxes and capital gains. Send me a politician who is not beholden to the rich and I’ll vote for him. Leonard Butters Spokane
Nethercutt doing `stupendous job’
I don’t understand any of the hoopla surrounding Rep. George Nethercutt’s bid for re-election. Nethercutt has been a great supporter of farmers’ rights and many of the things Eastern Washington believes in. He’s been a real advocate for Eastern Washington and has done a stupendous job as our representative.
Tom Foley did help our area in agriculture but he just wasn’t what we needed for a representative as far as families are concerned. Nethercutt has a proven record and has been a citizens’ advocate for us.
We don’t need some third-party candidate spoiling the race or the term limits group pushing its ideals onto us. We need to make up our own mind. If you fall for the advertisements on television against Nethercutt, you are kneeling to the out-of-state term limits people.
I work for the Washington State Crop Improvement Association and know that we might not be in business if it wasn’t for Nethercutt. The dams are a very important to this area and we’d like to see them stay, versus some environmental wacko who says tear them down.
I support Nethercutt not only because he’s a nice guy but he also holds many great positions in Congress and supports the main views of Eastern Washington. I’ve met him, and really liked the time he spent with the WSU College Republicans, asking our opinion on things.
He didn’t lie but changed his mind, as many of us do. He’s no Slick Willy.
Think about Nethercutt’s voting record and how good he’s been to us. Marvin L. Bird Jr. Chairman WSU College Republicans
PARTING SHOT
So Kennedy died - what’s the big deal?
I truly don’t understand America’s fascination with the Kennedy family. John Kennedy’s passing is a tragedy. It is a tragedy when any person leaves us. But “an American tragedy,” as the media have dubbed it?
Sorry, I don’t think so.
John Kennedy was simply a man born into privilege who ran a political magazine with as much credibility as Clinton under oath. I think a lot of Americans need to get their own lives rather than living them superficially through the highs and lows of others.
The only way John Kennedy’s death is an American tragedy is that the American people paid for a really expensive fishing trip. We finally catch something, then decided that it wasn’t good enough so we threw it back into the sea. J.L. Minnerly Spokane