Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Southwest cities bad role models

To hold up the cities of the Southwest as models for Spokane to aspire to, as Norm W. Ellefson did in his letter of May 5, disturbs me.

I love the deserts, canyons, mountains and forests of the Southwest; I journey there almost every year. However, the cities are water- and electricity-sucking examples of congested, polluted urban sprawl with no end in sight.

As for the wages, I have some experience myself in the building trades in Arizona. In Phoenix, for example, the base of the whole boom economy is the sweat of the undocumented Mexican laborer. The temporary agencies often pay subminimum wages and, if caught, nothing happens to them. The city depends on these workers. A friend of mine makes $8 per hour supervising a landscaping crew for a large hospital. His employees, predominantly undocumented workers, are paid $3 to $4 per hour by the temp agency, which bills the hospital $12 per hour. A few get rich at the expense of a sizable underclass. Business as usual in Phoenix. Antone G. Holmquist Moscow

Urban sprawl is not our problem

In her article on the environmental awakening of Spokane attributed to the world’s fair, staff writer Karen Dorn Steele asserted that “urban sprawl” is directly responsible for eliminating forests, farms and wildlife habitat in Spokane County.

While I cannot argue that the population density has risen in the last 25 hears, growth has occurred mainly in a compact area of our county. Also, the development that has occurred has been monitored and regulated through numerous laws (i.e. Endangered Species Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Shorelines Management Act, National Environmental Policy Act and many more) to ensure that critical wildlife habitat areas were protected.

Growth in Spokane is not rapid. We barely meet the criteria to be a candidate for the Growth Management Act. In an area with average incomes below national and state averages, the rise in land prices due to the implementations of the GMA, as seen in other jurisdictions, will price many of our residents out of the American dream of owning a home.

We do have real environmental problems in our area. But as has been seen in the past, there’s no reason to think we won’t be able to find solutions to problems as they arise. We’ve been able to make vast improvements in air quality, sewage treatment, waste disposal and even groundwater protection in Spokane County while continuing to grow. Our environmental problems were caused by a combination of ignorance and oversight, not simply urban sprawl. With wise land use planning, we can have a future with economic prosperity and a healthy environment. Joel P. White Jr. Spokane

Emphasis on roads misplaced

Mayor John Talbott would rather see a bond to repair the streets than to expand and maintain our parks. City Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers would rather allow six acres of Spokane’s best Riverfront property go to commercial investment than to a science center and a renewed park. Do either of these leaders have Spokane’s future in mind?

Renewing Spokane’s parks, including a regional science center an a new Imax, would greatly improve the city’s image and attraction. The Pavilion of our cityscape would regain its meaning. Bringing more people downtown would provide increased business to all of downtown, and as a result increase the city’s revenue.

People do not visit a city with a “We’ve got great roads” slogan. If a bond was levied to improve the roads, they would simply be in the same condition in another 10 years. Reviving the park would bring in more revenue an provide money to actually maintain the roads. The project would also benefit educators, parents and Spokane’s youths, creating another place for fun, education and entertainment.

Support the park expansion project and prevent our leaders from stifling Spokane’s future. Ryan C. Wickre Spokane

Thieves, don’t steal from the dead

Memorial Day will soon be here. I just went through a terrible Mother’s Day because some inconsiderate person (and I use that word loosely) just helped themselves to a plant I had taken to my mother’s grave for Mother’s Day. She has been gone for only six months and this was my first Mother’s Day without that dear woman.

I cannot believe some people steal things, but to steal from the dead is unforgivable.

I really wanted to bring that rose plant back home to remember that day. Now I have nothing.

Please, people, if you need a plant, buy one yourself or at least wait until the holiday is over.

Memorial Day is for remembering loved ones with thoughts, love and flowers. Please, thieves, leave the dead alone. One day they might rise up to get you. Carolyn Aubrey Spokane

Back yard billboards - ugh!

There goes the neighborhood! Just when you think things can’t get any worse, billboards have started springing up in back yards. So much for views, property values and visual clutter. Jan R. Hannink Spokane

IN THE PUBLIC EYE

More to stew about than Chertok

I am a friend of Spokane Police Chief Alan Chertok. I have seen him work continuously since his appointment. He has worked seven days a week, usually putting in 70 and 80 hours a week, not complaining, but telling me he loves this community and enjoys his work immensely.

Now, we hear that he was rude to a driver’s license agent and told a class at Ferris High School that among the thousands of leads the serial killer task force has received, even the former police chief was mentioned - not saying Terry Mangan was a suspect, just making the point that all sorts of people had been mentioned in some way. Oh yes, and there was the jumper cable matter.

For these things he is on suspension? I don’t understand. Here is a man selected from a large number of candidates. Because his style is different than what the Spokane Police Guild would like, they call him an ineffectual leader.

It seems that our city manager, Chertok’s boss, has been totally lacking in support of this man since the first incident. Instead of conducting an investigation of the cable incident and telling these guys to deal with it internally and not wasted the city manager’s time, everyone would be a lot better off. I can’t believe the leaders of this city spend their time on these ridiculous accusations while real problems go unnoticed. Stephen Berde Spokane

WASHINGTON STATE

Proposed freeway going wrong way

My suspicions have been confirmed. The Spokesman-Review article of April 28 (“Freeway deemed `wasteful’) reported on the proposed north-south freeway making a list of the nation’s 50 most wasteful projects. The freeway project Spokane has waited for isn’t what we’d thought.

The Washington state Department of Transportation has indicated in community meetings that the freeway is designed to bring commerce from Canada to Mexico. I’d always assumed it was to ease some of our own local transportation issues.

I’ve learned that the early phase of the freeway project has been redesigned to cut through a wooded neighborhood that I’ve lived in for 40 years, will not link up to downtown or Interstate 90 without more money being allocated, is targeted in the Taxpayers for Common Sense and Friends of the Earth report, and is designed to help trucks get to Mexico quicker. This is not worth hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. Maxine L. Materne Spokane

House stalled critical funding

Much blame for the delay in construction of critical highway projects has been aimed at the state Legislature because of its failure to approve a two-year transportation budget by the end of the 105-day legislative session on April 25.

Instead of blaming the entire Legislature, critics should focus their ire squarely where it belongs: on the House of Representatives, where efforts to quickly address our worsening transportation crisis were stymied.

As chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, I can say unequivocally that my committee did everything possible to put taxpayers’ money to work for them now, not when political “turf wars” are settled.

On Feb. 3, the Senate, by a 44-5 vote, approved a supplemental budget that would have provided enough money immediately to begin work on at least 10 major projects this spring. That budget languished in the House.

Instead of passing it, the House Transportation Committee tacked the supplemental budget onto its own two-year transportation budget, leaving us with an all-or-none proposition. Nothing can get done until we all agree on the full two-year budget. Instead of breaking ground now, the projects needed to keep people and freight moving have been taken hostage.

The Senate’s bipartisan actions were intended to avoid such a situation. We knew the public wanted us to take action immediately; they gave us an unprecedented opportunity to aggressively address our transportation crisis by approving Referendum 49.

I hope we’re able to quickly settle our differences when we return to Olympia. This is a situation we should not be in. Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen 10th Legislative District, Olympia

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Contract out know-nothing positions

Kaiser’s ad, “A perspective on fairness and common sense,” refers to one job - mowing lawns for $45,000 a year, salary and benefits - out of 700 jobs they might want to contract out. This is no doubt the most effective example to make their point. Kaiser doesn’t mention positions that require the worker to operate heavy equipment, do construction around molten metal, clean up chemical spills, etc.

Kaiser contracted out some of that chemical cleanup work in 1988 (Kaiser lawsuit story, April 27) and five workers ended up with respiratory and/or permanent brain damage.

Other jobs they want to contract out are even bigger safety concerns. I’ve seen asbestos removal crews (contractors) with no respirators, shirts off and uncovered loads blowing around, affecting everyone.

Kaiser has so many layers of management, the top decision makers don’t know what we do. Consultants are paid millions to ask us what we do and report back to them. Something gets lost in the middle and could get someone killed.

In the 10 years I’ve been there, I’ve seen Ray Milchovich in the mill twice - both times giving tours. Maybe we could contract out his job. Can you be a good tour guide for $3 million per year? Mike E. Kamps USWA millwright, Post Falls

Replacement workers endangered

I can’t help but wonder if, six months after a union-Kaiser settlement, anyone is going to care about the plight of the replacement workers. Most likely not, as can be seen by the reactions of County Commissioner Phil Harris and other officials about the replacement workers’ safety now. We not only get pelted with obscenities, but have our property and bodies pelted with rocks, nails, fists, etc. Yet officials worry about upsetting the union Steelworkers.

This violence is appalling. We stand up screaming about the kids in Littleton, Colo., yet strikers have pointed guns at replacement workers, stalked them and caused physical and property damage. I know not all union strikers are this way but it’s the rotten apples that ruin it for the whole bunch.

We must realize we all are trying to do what’s best for our families. We are all human beings and we must treat each other with some respect. Daniel Marie Ripp Spokane

Let’s check out Kaiser’s shopping list

Re: Washington State Patrol people being hired by Kaiser.

Again, Kaiser Aluminum has shown it’s true colors! What better way to get the law on your side than to buy it? Of course Kaiser’s Susan Ashe denies any wrongdoing. Isn’t she the same person who said, “Maxxam and Charles Hurwitz have nothing to do with Kaiser Aluminum”?

We should know by now that the only things we can count on from Kaiser are lies and back-alley buyouts. It’s pretty scary to think that WSP is in charge of investigating Kaiser’s illegal hiring practices.

I’m starting my investigation into who else Kaiser has in its back pocket. Campaign contributions, anyone? Then we’ll hear, “I took that $20,000 but I didn’t let it affect my decision.”

Give us a break. Eric Moe Spokane