Letters To The Editor

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Gorton serving corporate interests

Last week Sen. Slade Gorton successfully attached a rider to a military and disaster relief spending bill that overrides a U.S. Department of Interior and Agriculture ruling that found Houston-based Battle Mountain Gold Company’s proposal to open-pit mine Buckhorn Mountain in Okanogan County violated the 1872 Mining Law.

Gorton said he did not believe “the government of the United States, in a free society, has the right to treat its citizens and constituents in this fashion.”

Orwellian doublespeak at its best, Gorton has defined a corporate interest as a citizen, clearly showing the chinks in his legislative authority. He is beholden not to citizens but to corporate backers and their select minions in the rural community who masquerade as grass-roots interests.

Enacted into law 127 years ago, the 1872 Mining Law permits minerals on public lands to be mined for virtually nothing and national forest and other public lands to be purchased for $5 or less an acre.

Mining corporations have put a stranglehold on modernizing the 1872 Law for decades, using their insider dealings to derail attempts to not only reform mining law, but even the cleanup of thousands of unreclaimed, polluting mines left abandoned after minerals were extracted.

Gorton said he didn’t know the “specific date of the ruling” he was overriding, only that he wanted to correct a law “that doesn’t meet the purpose that it’s designed for.”

The design that Gorton speaks of is really the veil of corporate control. Timothy J. Coleman Republic, Wash.

Dams `extreme’ worth debating

We elect representatives to Congress expecting them to protect and champion the interests of our region in the nation’s capital. Accepting that they cannot be expert in all matters, we trust the system of public debate and scrutiny to bring forth the information needed for the hard choices they must make. Extreme positions on either side of most issues have rightful places in the debate.

I am saddened, but not surprised, to read that Rep. Doc Hasting has proposed a resolution to take dam breaching off the table. He is supported by Rep. George Nethercutt, who said removing dams is an “extreme position.”

What are they afraid of? Maybe that their fellow Congressmen will learn the truth: that the benefits from the four lower Snake River dams are few and very small in comparison to their enormous cost in both dollars and salmon.

Furthermore, they sound as if extinction is not only acceptable but affordable. I say that allowing extinction to occur when it could be avoided is also an extreme position. The scientists have told us that unless the dams are breached, the Snake River fish are doomed.

The economic impact of neither extinction nor breaching is known at this time, but many experts are at work to bring these facts to the debate. These economic studies are due by the end of this year and must be allowed to be completed. Only when Congress has full access to both the science and the economics of dam breaching can we trust that they will make an informed, objective decision. Harvey Morrison Spokane

So, a clueless Nethercutt got elected?

In her May 31 letter to the editor, Marilyn Stamps refers to term limit advocates as “do-gooders,” “busybodies” and “uninformed,” because they supposedly don’t understand the importance of seniority, and then goes on to praise Rep. George Nethercutt and condemn what she calls a “jihad” by those asking him to honor his term-limit pledge.

But do I understand her correctly? Isn’t she saying that Nethercutt, when first elected, was too ignorant regarding something as significant as seniority to know what he was talking about? And talk about it he surely did.

Either that, or she must assume Nethercutt just plain lied to us. R. J. Rogers Spokane

CHIEF COMPLAINT

Process worked, all right - badly

In the May 28 Spokesman-Review, City Manager Bill Pupo is quoted as saying, “The process did work” and “Hiring Chertok was the right decision at the right time.”

Pupo is out of touch with reality. Not only did the process not work, the selection of Chertok has put our community through nine months of turmoil during a time when Spokane has a very serious serial killer case. It’s also cost the taxpayers an extra $65,000 in severance pay. If Pupo feels the hiring process is so good, maybe he should reimburse the city for the $65,000 out of his inflated salary.

The selection process ought to include more input from the police department and the final decision about our chief should certainly not be left up to our current city manager. Also, Pupo’s skills, competency and decision-making ability should be called into question by our City Council. We expect better leadership in our community. Susan J. Brown Spokane

Wrong official got canned

I read with great sadness and disgust that Police Chief Alan Chertok had resigned. Our city has lost a qualified chief, selected only nine months ago through an expensive and thorough process.

I’m disgusted at the city manager’s total lack of honor, courage and commitment. No honor because he failed to support the man he chose. No courage because he failed to stand up to the Spokane Police Guild’s infantile complaints. And no commitment to our community because he failed to foresee the long-range negative consequences of his actions.

We’ll have a new chief, eventually, after spending close to $100,000 (with the chief’s severance pay included) this time around. But we’ll not soon recover from the devastation to our law enforcement community Pupo has singlehandedly wrought. He has undermined the integrity and authority of the office of the chief of police.

The turning point in this whole affair was when he gave audience to the first jumper cable complaint lodged against Chertok. He should’ve responded with, Get back to your work of protecting our citizens, and don’t bother me with this kind of whining! Instead, he hauled his new chief in for a reprimand. From there, it was all downhill for the force, the chief and our city.

That downhill slide won’t be complete until Pupo is removed, we adopt a strong-mayor form of government and get rid of the city manager system, which provides the breeding ground for the kind of arrogant, unaccountable and arbitrary behavior we’ve seen in Pupo during this fiasco. Bill Dodge Spokane

`Dazed and battered’ - yeah, right

I see in the May 29 Spokesman-Review that the police feel “dazed and battered,” are having feelings of anxiety, are in need of closure over the City Manager Bill Pupo fiasco with Police Chief Alan Chertok. They probably got their closure by holding a celebration at the Spokane Police Guild that Thursday night. It was a great victory for them to see the dismissal of their chief.

What about Chertok? He has been demonized, vilified, tarred, feathered, put on a rail and run out of town like some kind of degenerate criminal. His career is in tatters and probably destroyed forever. I doubt he can get a job as a security guard at a discount store after this campaign to destroy him. I don’t know what he did but if all it was what was reported in the paper, he doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment. A severance check will never make up for his loss.

The big question is Pupo’s credibility and judgment. They have been tarnished even more after this affair. How will he ever be able to hire a new chief? It will be difficult at best to recruit anybody of quality to work for such a man. It’s very dangerous to get too close to the king. Pat M. O’Leary Spokane

Appears Chertok was railroaded

I sincerely hope there is more to the forced resignation of Alan Chertok than what has been reported. It seems we have lost our police chief of nine months because the police union took offense to an officer being corrected on matters of policy and/or procedure. To date, there has been no report of any sort of misconduct by Chertok that justifies him being placed on administrative leave, much less being forced to resign.

Perhaps this action is a result of our form of city government, in which these decisions are made by a city manager who is not directly responsible to the electorate. Mayor John Talbott, who has faced similar harassment, may wish to investigate just who pulls Pupo’s strings.

If we accept the reports at face value, however, one must conclude that a public employees’ union has triggered the boss’ removal without any public justification. As a community, we cannot allow the police officers’ unions to have the power to determine the chief of police.

We have seen the result of this type of control in another public arena, public education. I think we all agree that we would like our population protected somewhat better than our children are being taught. Don A. McManus Spokane

One bad move calls for another?

Regarding the resignation of Police Chief Alan Chertok.

Answering questions by the media on what he was going to do to get a new police chief, City Manager Bill Pupo said the process worked, so he would do the same thing again.

This is one of the most incredible statements I have ever heard. So far, this process, has cost the city about $100,000, several months of turmoil, several more months without a chief, plus additional costs to hire a new chief. If this process worked, I would hate to see one that didn’t. Maybe the City Council should be reevaluating Pupo’s performance!

I do not understand why the council doesn’t waive the degree requirements and promote Roger Bragdon to chief. Bragdon ran the department for over nine months while Chertok was being hired and it looks like he will run it for several more months while the selection process continues. This is not fair the Bragdon nor the Police Department, since needed changes cannot be implemented within the department without the city manager’s approval.

Sounds to me like the city manager wants to run the Police Department along with his job.

It is time for the City Council to stop wasting money and make Roger Bragdon the new Chief. The Police Department would be in much better shape and so will the community. Wayne Lythgoe Colbert

Sorry, and better luck to you, Chertok

I apologize to Alan Chertok for the incredible, unacceptable behavior demonstrated by the city of Spokane and the Spokane Police Department.

I was pleased when an “outsider” was chosen to fill the position of police chief to bring fresh, new ideas and public service to Spokane. For too many years Spokane was saddled with an individual with a Napoleon mindset, one who thought citizen brutality and citizen genocide should be the norm. Perhaps it’s this mentality the police department is having such a hard time relinquishing.

Hindsight though it is, perhaps City Manager Bill Pupo should have been sent packing instead.

God be with you, Chertok, in your next endeavor. I only hope you receive the full support and respect of your future constituents that you failed to receive from the powermongering, small-minded individuals who dictate Spokane. Linda Becker Veradale

OTHER TOPICS

I’m proud of homemaker husband

Why is it OK for a woman to stay home and raise her children and not OK for a man to do the same?

My husband is a stay-at-home dad. He lost his job, which he’d held for almost nine years without missing more than a total of two weeks, in September. Due to one of our children’s health issues, he has not returned to the kind of work that pays him for his services. Does it make him less of a man because he chooses to sacrifice his career in exchange for raising our children himself, rather than pay astronomical day care fees and worry about whether the provider can handle such health problems? I think not! It makes him a hero.

A co-worker of mine insists that we are “trash” and that my husband is “lazy” because we choose to raise our children ourselves, and says he is not making a contribution to society because of it. Hooey!

I applaud my husband for being the man that he is. I’m so proud and lucky to have found someone like him to spend my life with. My children are lucky to have a daddy who would make such a sacrifice for them. Lisa E. Williams Spokane

Demonizing of Makah repugnant

Re: “Makah hunt stirs up racism” (May 30).

The self-righteous hypocrisy and ignorant, shameful attitude of non-Indians against the Makah, and Indians in general, is despicable. Remarks concerning a “welfare race” are ludicrous.

Where are the protests against the massive welfare received by the extractive industries, ranchers and farmers in the form of giveaways, subsidies and cheap public land? Must be that only white people are deserving of welfare. And since when have the whales belonged only to whites? The whales belong to God, as do all Earthly creatures. Seems some people will never be satisfied until they have taken it all.

It is unfortunate this hunt has received so much media publicity. Why is the life of a whale more worthy than the life of other animals? Why are the multitudes not protesting the deaths of the thousands of animals slaughtered each year by the Wildlife Service’s Predator Control Program because their existence is inconvenient to farmers, ranchers and developers? Is it possible that because this carnage is being conducted by and for white people, it makes it permissible?

Within white society’s “pocketbook morality,” the assumed right to judge which animals and people are acceptable and which are not must make you feel very smug. And you have the nerve to judge the Makah!

Hatred of those who do not conform, those of differing beliefs, must have our Creator weeping copious sorrowful tears. How will those of you who espouse hatred and bigotry answer the Creator when your time comes? Yvonne McDonald Spokane

Making Internet taboo a mistake

Laura Schlessinger compares apples to oranges in her latest column, “Some freedoms not worth protecting.” She is right to attack the American Civil Liberties Union, which is an anti-American, terrorist organization that should be outlawed.

She is wrong, however, to put the sickos of ACLU in the same bag as the American Library Association. I haven’t read the manifesto she is referring to but I believe that everybody should have “unfettered access to the Internet,” including children.

The best way to make a subject attractive to kids is to restrict it. Then, they find ways how to beat the restriction. On top of that, people - and kids are no exception - are only touched by pictures or images they can relate to. A naked Laura Schlessinger or a depiction of a sexual act found on the Internet has no meaning to children; how can it harm or spoil them? Peter C. Dolina Veradale

Cartoonist drew a wrong comparison

The would-be cartoonist asks “What’s wrong with this picture” in his May 30 Roundtable sketch. A first-grader can answer that question. The guy is mixing oranges and apples. No comparison. Chris Stone Moses Lake