Letters To The Editor

Coeur d’Alene

We do need a community center

I voted for the community center. This community needs a place for its youth. A swimming pool should be part of that because many non-athletic people can still use a pool for recreation and entertainment.

I was crushed when Coeur d’Alene lost its YMCA. My daughter went swimming there. It was a place for kids to go. Now they only seem to have downtown. They need a place; it will help keep them out of trouble.

Many low-income families cannot afford health club membership. They can, however, afford to let their children visit a center with a daily fee once in a while. It also provides a place where friends can help pay for each other - something you can only do on a limited basis at a health club. Most health clubs limit visits by “visitors.”

Also, adults do not get enough exercise. If there was a facility, I think more would exercise. Leila Elliff Coeur d’Alene

I don’t want to pay for more `stuff’

If the city can reorganize its existing budget as a business would, that’s great. If it has to “find” the money somewhere else, as in raise taxes, then people are fed up with paying for more stuff. Besides, we have a huge lake for swimming in. Why on Earth would anybody want to swim in a community pool full of other people and chlorine, as opposed to playing on the city beach or somewhere else on the lake?

I would never use it and have no desire to pay for anything more. Most of the stuff I pay for I don’t use, like public schools. I send my child to private school but still pay for the public school system, which doesn’t work. We have lots here already - organized softball, the lake and the beach. How much entertainment do people really need? How much is too much? Leslie Curran Coeur d’Alene

We need an all-county center

As a resident of Kootenai County for nearly 20 years, I realize a community center is needed in all of the communities. In fact, at the town meeting in Rathdrum last week, it was discussed as part of the downtown revitalization. This would be wonderful but is not feasible.

What we need is a center centrally located in the county, where the major population is. This center should consist of meeting halls, swimming pool, basketball courts and possibly be used for conventions or even concerts. It could be used for graduations and wedding receptions.

It’s time that all of the communities in Kootenai County get together and work on a center that will benefit all of the residents and then find ways of financing it without taking it out of the taxpayers. Beverly Young Rathdrum

Make center for whole county

There should be a countywide community center located in Coeur d’Alene or Post Falls. This center could be undertaken in phases, i.e. swimming pool, exercise rooms, so that the total expense is not felt at one time.

The ugliness of this campaign was startling and eye-opening to many who are newer to this area. I was dismayed at obvious misinformation and inflammatory comments. Politics get such a bum rap from people such as those who opposed this venture. The extent to which they went was enough to make us throw up our hands and give up.

We know we can’t do that but would certainly enter into any political activities with extreme caution. Is it worth it? Garth Gill Coeur d’Alene

More must be planned, known

Cost is the big issue. If the community center is to be paid for by property tax increases, would the property taxpayers be exempt from use fees? What about the senior citizens on fixed incomes? Do they also pay an increased property tax, even though they probably will never set foot inside the community center?

There are many renters in the area and many vacationers. What is their cost? If we all pay the same use fee, local property taxpayers carry a disproportionately large share of the burden.

Property tax is not the only choice for the basis of revenue gathering. Why not divert some sales tax dollars? Or a portion of the bed tax? Divert some of the fines levied in court to the center costs. Perhaps some benevolent groups might want to contribute. Is there grant money at state or federal levels?

Publish the plans that have been developed by the group that found out it would cost $6.3 million. They may have some sketches or drawings of what taxpayers would get for their dollars. Include information on all their efforts at developing the plan so we can see how hard they have worked at providing the taxpayers with the best alternative.

I have never voted to go ahead with a plan when the plan was a secret. Poor communication leads to lack of support. Need you ask why so many people said no on the recent ballot? Don R Geske Coeur d’Alene

Tribe has already broken the trail

All I read is complaints of teenagers hanging out on Sherman drinking a beer with their friends. Was it really that long ago when you were sitting down on Sherman doing the same thing? The only difference is that they now listen to the wrong music.

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe, in an effort to slow down or stop that type of activity, has built a Wellness Center where people of all ages can go and swim, lift weights to build those sledgehammer arms every guy dreams of, or that fabulous figure the young ladies desire. There is Tae-Bo, physical therapy, diabetic programs, food and soft drinks, conference rooms, after-school programs, day care, basketball, volleyball, karate, handball, racquetball, kiddie pool, steam room, hot tubs. The kids still are hanging out but doing something positive, fun, and healthy.

Not being a politician, possibly a bond issue would be the way to go in Coeur d’Alene.

One thing: Do something for all the people of Coeur d’Alene now or quit complaining about the teenagers and cruisers.

I’m sure one of our Tribal Council members would be more than happy to share their thoughts. Paul Matheson Worley

`When will it be time?’

Where do we go from here? Until our town realizes the value of our youth, I think we’ll be stuck biding our time for another generation.

How sad that we can build and expand juvenile detention centers and jails, and not facilities that might steer some of these potential criminals on to more-productive courses.

The strength of the opposition to the community center lay in its presentation of several supposedly unresolved issues. I agree that taxing a larger area would be more equitable. But the fear of competition presented by the local athletic clubs is completely unfounded. The membership fees presented by the committee were fair and equitable.

The bottom line is, do we want to keep using hindsight and dealing with the consequences or do we want to step forward with a vision and reap the benefits of wisdom and resourcefulness?

I prefer the latter.

My daughter was small when the community center first was proposed; now she is grown. Another generation is growing up before our eyes. When will it be time? Jane Orto Coeur d’Alene

You don’t know what real need is

I live in Bonner County, so the community center in Coeur d’Alene does not affect me or my family in Blanchard. We are trying to get grants for a community center, basically just a building to hold the senior meal site, meetings, dances, etc.

The citizens of Coeur d’Alene have access to so much, it’s out here in Tiny Town that we’re lacking a much-needed gathering place. Charlene Luzynski Blanchard

Other topics

Where’s the equal outrage?

The death of adult homosexual Matt Shepard, in Wyoming last year, shocked the nation. It brought cries from the political opportunists for stronger laws against “hate” crimes. The president spoke out so commendably about the murder of Shepard.

So, have you heard about Jesse Dirkhising, the 13-year-old allegedly raped, tortured and murdered in Prairie Grove, Ark., last month by a 22-year-old homosexual and his 38-year-old “lover”? How selective we are with our indignation concerning hate crimes. John H. Tofflemire Post Falls

Gas prices cause for complaining

I wonder why it is that the price of unleaded gas is $1.11 in Arizona and $1.39 in Idaho. The wholesale price is the same in both states. And it is extremely unlikely that the gas stations in Arizona are losing money by selling gas that cheap.

You have to wonder why the oil companies are fleecing the folks here in Idaho. We certainly don’t get higher wages, and we all don’t drive Cadillacs.

Maybe it would help if more people complained about it. Tom Akren Post Falls

Thanks for your support

I thank the 464 citizens of Post Falls who voted for me in my run for City Council.

Although I didn’t win this time, I will stay involved to make sure Post Falls remains a great place to live. We all need to get involved ot help support the youth and families in our town. I wish Clay Larkin and Scott Grant the best of luck the next four years. Vicki L. Caughran Post Falls

This time, Rosemond went too far

A syndicated columnist and an expert on teaching parenting skills says that we shouldn’t teach our children that they are special. I refer to John Rosemond’s Oct. 18 column, “Self-esteem outranked by responsibility.” Rosemond targets a problem when he discovers a sign above a mirror in an Alabama school that reads, “You are now looking at one of the most special people in the whole wide world.”

Certainly, we shouldn’t teach our children that the world revolves around them. And we shouldn’t teach our children that they’re better than anyone else. But Rosemond says we shouldn’t tell them they’re special at all. He states that grandma and grandpa “wisely did not want one of their children thinking he or she was special” for fear the child would not learn about humility.

Each of my two children recently received a card from my parents telling them that grandma and grandpa thought they were special. So, if Rosemond is going to speak for our grandparents, perhaps he’d better go back to the source and make sure he’s got it right.

Every child needs to feel special. Contrary to Rosemond, this does not build an over-inflated self-esteem, but rather a sense of value for his or her life. This leads to a respect for life.

Rosemond reaches a wide audience and should be more careful of what he’s asking parents to do. I find it disturbing when a family psychologist says, “The truth is, no one is special.” That is certainly not what I want to teach my children. Irena P. Alles Liberty Lake