Letters To The Editor

CHIEF COMPLAINT

Anyone care to be a punching bag?

My thanks to The Spokesman-Review for its presentation of the written interaction between City Manager Bill Pupo and former police chief Alan Chertok. Unfortunately, it was also a glaring example of a city management gone awry.

Basing his questions to the chief on rumors, innuendo and secondhand information that was condemning in its context, the chief was forced into a defensive position that was indefensible. How does one respond to such nonspecific, unsubstantiated and inflammatory questioning?

Should Chertok have been shown the simple courtesy and respect befitting his position, of being able to have any perceived problems specifically and directly addressed in a timely manner? Does our future chief have to perform in the same atmosphere of suspicion and condemnation, always looking over his shoulder for some minor incident or difference to be blown out of proportion?

I was impressed with Chertok’s answers to Pupo’s questions. Chertok deserved answers to his concerns and was denied them. He was treated unconscionably by our city manger and the police department itself.

But my primary concern now is this: Why would anyone want to take the job of Spokane police chief under these negative, unsupportive conditions and how can we expect quality candidates in the future? David T. Bray Spokane

Chertok for - strong - mayor

Yo! “Resigned” Spokane Police Chief Alan Chertok, recent homeowner: Your friends and admirers urge you to view optimistically running for the strong-mayor position soon to be highlighted on the local ballot. Go for it! Dan Coyle Spokane

So long and good luck, Chertok

Alan Chertok, I wish you much luck and happiness on leaving this one-horse town. I’m surprised you took the abuse for as long as you did. Being head of a bunch of Keystone Cops would discourage anyone. Good luck, wherever you go. Betty Kitts Spokane

Chertok showed grace in adversity

I must commend Alan Chertok for the dignified way he has left his position. His statement in the May 28 Spokesman-Review that he is appreciative of all the support he has gotten inside and outside the department shows his pride in his profession.

After all the publicity, questions and humiliation, he is not leaving his position with one negative remark toward his peers or the citizens he has served. He is professional enough, as the old adage goes, not to burn any bridges. That speaks very highly of him.

I have been in a like situation and it’s very taxing on everyone. The true winners are those who rise above the situation and carry on without animosity and bitterness. Alan Chertok has graced you with dignity. Do the same for him. Sharie Stearns Medical Lake

LAW AND JUSTICE

Let the Wood tragedy rest

It would be a cheap shot for the Spokane County prosecutor’s office to release details of its investigation into the murder of Chris Wood, if its intent is only to convict his father of the crime in absentia. The brutal slaying was a tragedy but to prosecute a dead man in the media would be in poor taste.

Clearly, prosecutors felt they had enough evidence to indict Robert Wood. But unfortunately, he never had his day in court. Our justice system is impartial and protects the rights of the accused, presuming them to be innocent until proven guilty.

The prosecutor’s office is charged with the responsibility of protecting the public’s interests. I don’t think Wood is a threat to anyone now.

Did he get what he deserved? No Earthly tribunal, neither the criminal justice system nor the media circus, can ever answer that question, even if a note left behind implicates him. Hasn’t everyone in our community who was associated with the Woods family already suffered enough?

I hope both Chris and his father are enjoying whatever peace they deserve. The rest of us should celebrate life. Philip M. Hudson Spokane

VIOLENCE

Worse violence afoot than Littleton

Why were we so horrified at the violent tragedy in Littleton, Colo., when these same young men, committing the same acts of shooting and bombing innocent people, would be considered American heroes as members of the NATO forces in Kosovo?

Were we listening that day as President Clinton explained to us that “Violence is never the answer to our problems,” followed a few hours later by his announcement of a step-up in the bombing raids in Kosovo?

Why aren’t we horrified at the havoc our government is incurring to the tune of many billions of our tax dollars to carry out a Littleton tragedy every day for the past two months in Kosovo? Why is senseless violence considered wrong in Colorado but right in Yugoslavia?

When are we going to hang yellow ribbons for the ethnic Albanian people and their land that we are systematically destroying? Do we believe for one minute that there are “very few” casualties as this horror continues?

Is there really any difference between what NATO’s doing and what Milosevic has reportedly been doing?

Can we all thank God that NATO wasn’t a factor when we were so methodically “ethnically cleansing” the United States of the American Indian?

Where’s all this leading? Will our government not be satisfied until it has ignited a third world war?

Will we survive as leaders if China, Russia, Iran or the United States decides to launch a nuclear attack somewhere in the world? Vicki M. Hawkins Kennewick

Blame belongs to Harris, Klebold

Re: Littleton, Colo., tragedy.

Why must this country, more than anywhere else in the world, always seek to blame someone for any tragedy that strikes? Why can’t we accept the fact that the boys themselves are to blame? Why can’t we accept the fact that they had options to make their own little piece of the world better (like talking to counselors, their parents, some peer or adult)? Why can’t we accept that they chose to take the option they did?

Who are we to say that their parents didn’t do enough? Without knowing any of their personal, most intimate family circumstances, how can anyone say the parents are to blame?

If we must find someone to blame whenever there’s a school shooting, why don’t we blame ourselves? Maybe we all must share the blame when we refuse to vote for school bonds. School bonds that would fund new, more sophisticated buildings; or more counselors and nurses; and especially smaller class sizes so a teacher could get to know her students better and be able to communicate with that student or express concerns to other school officials or a students’ parents.

No one should bear the blame for Littleton but the two boys who committed the murders. Shirley Maike Medical Lake

OTHER TOPICS

Antonucci a friend when I needed one

Thank you for the beautiful article about Tony Antonucci (“The learning curve,” May 26). Please allow me to tell how he touched my life.

Nearly 20 years ago, I dropped out of high school. My parents encouraged me to re-enroll and finish school at Joseph Jantsch High School. It was there that I met the wonderful Mr. Antonucci.

His genuine love and concern for kids like me was exemplary. He encouraged me to run for an ASB office and I was elected. His humor was outstanding. He would poke his head inside our classroom door and burst into songs. He jokingly told me that someday I would have 10 kids (I am the proud mother of six!). He referred to me and many other students as “my dear.”

Upon meeting my fiancee, Antonucci told him I was a “wonderful woman.” His constant praise, encouragement, concern and friendship will stay with me for a lifetime. I thank God for putting Antonucci into my life at a time when I so desperately needed a mentor and friend who believed in me. I am grateful for the life I have today because of people like him.

God bless you, Antonucci, and thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Katie Jones-Youngren Joseph Jantsch High School class of 1982

Whale killing reaction not racism

Trying to overdramatize - as acts of racism - the public’s reactions to the Makah killing a young, defenseless whale is outrageous. The media seem obsessed with labeling any criticism of minorities as being inspired by racism, no matter the basis for the criticism or whether it is warranted.

The basis for the overwhelming denouncement of the Makah killing was not because the killers were Native Americans. It was because the act of killing an innocent, defenseless creature was indeed a cowardly act having no redeeming value. Had the kill been done by whites, blacks, Englishmen or Frenchmen, the same condemnation would have been warranted and undoubtedly given.

Press people should have consulted their dictionaries on the meaning of racism before trying further to sensationalize the event. Bill L. Scott Liberty Lake