Letters To The Editor

Spokane matters

Better scenery won’t help businesses

There are areas of Spokane that are very scenic but the billboards along Sprague, Division and Trent, for example, are not obscuring a view of lush vegetation or unique architecture.

It was suggested in the county commissioners’ meeting that banning billboards would create jobs in removal. But those would be temporary jobs. Robert McGuinness (Letters, Oct. 11) tells us not to be concerned because “several people lose their jobs every day in Spokane.”

Can someone so concerned about a scenic Spokane be so callous about other citizens’ livelihood?

McGuinness also told us that “local businesses will prosper after billboards are gone because we will now be able to see their store fronts.” Aren’t billboards about 20 feet above the ground? Does he really believe local businesses are hidden and we will discover them once the billboards are gone?

According to Scenic Spokane, removing billboards will entice companies to move here or start-up businesses here. I don’t know what fantasy world they live in but I believe companies did not move their businesses to Mexico and Third world countries because of the scenery. It was for cheap labor!

McGuinness quoted David Ogilvy, “Only the people who make money out of them” are in favor.” I don’t make money out of billboards. I don’t advertise on billboards. I won’t lose any money if the billboards are removed. I just believe this is another incident of a small group of people deciding what is best for the majority. Barbara Hill Spokane

A new museum - what a waste

Ground is now being cleared in earnest for a new museum in Browne’s Addition. This extravagant warehouse for the artifacts of the dead will carry a high price tag. Ironically, I doubt that the dead themselves would condone such nonsense.

Dollar for dollar, the big bucks being spent on this pet project would save the eyesight of 100,000 people. Let me repeat that. For the same amount of money, the eyesight of 100,000 human beings could quite literally be saved. Instead of using these economic resources to alleviate human suffering wherever we may find it, we are raising clouds of dust, filling the air with noise pollution and carbon monoxide, wasting gasoline and diesel fuel, and creating a tourist attraction.

Of course art deserves a place of honor. We need that. But surely we could have found a better way. Rhett Jamesson Spokane

I have faith in Greene’s leadership

A leader is a person who works with and listens to the people they are leading at establishing a clear vision of the future. This person creates, sells and drives the strategy of the organization that they are representing or leading.

This person serves as the spokesperson for the organization and demonstrates confidence in the potential for success. This person takes charge, pushes for action and instills a sense of urgency to achieve the organization’s goals. Roberta Greene is an exemplary leader with a clear vision and big goals for Spokane.

The easiest thing in life is to sit back and criticize everything that goes on around you. It is easy to establish a personal agenda and not listen to other ideas, suggestions or strategies. It is easy to run a campaign that has absolutely nothing positive to say about Spokane or its current leaders. It is easy to say that general change is necessary without any specifics. What’s challenging is to step up, contribute and make a difference, to listen to all sides, establish a vision and lead an organization like Spokane to that vision.

Over the last four years, Greene has stepped up, listened to Spokane and established a clear vision. With a long future ahead of me and my generation in Spokane, I have faith that Greene is the kind of leader who will successfully lead Spokane into the new millennium. Chud J. Wendle Spokane

The kindhearted could use some help

Re: the Oct. 10 article regarding Jean and Jack Axtman and the colony of feral cats they are taking care of.

I think it’s great what they are doing, and wish that more people would get involved in the fight against pet overpopulation. I was, however, a little perturbed at the statement Gail Mackie, director of SpokAnimal made. “If all the people taking care of feral cat colonies were like Jean, we’d have less of a problem. Simply putting out food without doing anything about sterilizing the animals just perpetuates the problem.”

About a year ago I had an elderly neighbor who was feeding five to seven stray cats in our area. Due to her limited income, she was unable to do much else, let alone get them all spayed-neutered. I decided to call SpokAnimal on her behalf to see if she could get one or more spay-neuter vouchers. I was told that the cats needed to be licensed before any voucher would be given out. If she couldn’t afford to spay-neuter them, she couldn’t afford to license them either. Even though I had explained the situation - that these cats weren’t owned by anyone but were strays - I was given no further consideration and the conversation was dismissed.

Although there are many caring animal lovers out there, not everyone can afford to “be like Jean.” How about a little help, Gail Mackie? Monica Sisson Spokane

Washington state

Take a bite out of fiscal inequity

I reluctantly support Initiative 695. I write reluctantly because it is such a meager step in the right direction to correct some of the inequities of our current tax structure.

Many have already noted Washington has the sixth-highest per capita tax rate in the nation. Even after passing I-695, we will only drop to eighth or ninth place. We will still be taxed more heavily than Idaho, Oregon and even California. Imagine the benefits to our economy of allowing taxpayers to keep $550 million of their earnings. Tax revenue from all other sources will increase as consumers enjoy their higher standard of living. As for those opponents who say $142 per car is too small to make a difference, they can forward their savings to me. They may not notice a difference, but I certainly will.

Currently, less than 20 percent of the motor vehicle excise tax is used to build and maintain roads and bridges.

If taxes collected from automotive sources such as MVET, fuel taxes and sales taxes collected by auto dealers were used directly to support auto transportation, we could have better roads, a north-south expressway or two and a wider Interstate 90. Instead, politicians are balancing numerous unrelated programs on the backs of car owners. Unfortunately, this inequity will continue even after I-695 is passed.

As a Libertarian, I would like to welcome the Republicans who have finally joined us in supporting I-695. David H. Wordinger Medical Lake

Maybe passing I-695 will cut waste

The engineer in charge of the Sprague Avenue interchange recently told me the project is not fully funded. Yet the state spends millions in feasibility and preliminary design studies for projects such as light rail, a Lincoln Street bridge and north-south freeway that will probably never be built.

My yes vote on Initiative 695 perhaps will eliminate these wasteful expenditures. Robert Vaughn Spokane

Tell others about I-695

Ten facts you should know before voting on Initiative 695.

1. Reducing license tabs to $30 will reduce revenue $1.1 billion for a two-year budget.

2. This is one-seventieth of the city, county and state budgets that use it. Less than 2 percent.

3. Olympia’s new two-year budget increased $4.6 billion, to $45.2 billion, and 6,200 full-time employees are to be hired.

4. The new increase is more than four times the I-695 reduction.

5. Opponents are trying to scare us with lies and threats.

6. They’ll put a state income tax on us? Impossible. Unconstitutional without a vote of the people.

7. Property tax on cars? Nonsense. Property tax lids are easily reached with existing tax base. They would have to decrease existing tax to add new. The Department of Revenue will push this hoax only until election day.

8. Referendum 49 was enacted in January. It specifies how the vehicle excise is to be spent - 32 percent to local transit systems, etc. All the programs were here before R-49. They’ll all be here after I-695 passes.

9. I-695 requires a vote of the people to raise taxes or fees. Colorado has had this since 1990. It is the 39th-highest taxed. We don’t have it, yet. Washington is the sixth highest.

10. Don’t assume your friends know these facts. Tell them. Discuss it. On Nov. 2, a yes vote will give you a small, deserved tax break and some badly needed tax control before this is the No. 1-taxed state. Dick Hansen Moses Lake

Current tax setup unacceptable

I bought a new car because I would rather pay a monthly payment than a costly repair bill. When I went shopping for a car, I quickly realized I would not be able to buy what I wanted because I knew I would not be able to afford the license fees each year.

It’s hard enough to make the payment on the car and pay the insurance. To then get hit with a huge tax payment each year is like having to pay the huge repair bill I was trying to avoid in the first place.

The amount of excise tax I paid is based on the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, not on the price I paid. Worse yet, the amount I pay in taxes will not be accurate to the price I paid until my car is three years old. Unfortunately, my car will not be worth what I paid in three years.

I’m not rich, by any means. I’m a single mom with a modest income who is tired of paying outlandish taxes to a wasteful government.

Initiative 695 will take away 2 percent of the budget. Instead of threatening to take away services, maybe Gov. Gary Locke should give up a couple of trips to our sister cities. Or try linoleum floors instead of marble.

I will vote yes for I-695 because I know our government wastes a lot more than 2 percent of the budget each year on needless expenses. Lisa Turner Spokane

Spokane people have nothing to lose

Re: Initiative 695, one only need to read all of the pathetic attempts to make the working men and women of our state feel guilty about an initiative that would at long last offer relief to what amounts to abusive taxation across the board.

Bureaucrats, liberals and government employees with the deep pockets threaten no road repair? Well, Spokane residents are continually driving on goat trails for city streets anyway. So the possibility of no road repair is already a reality! As far as police protection, our law enforcement agencies are highly adequate.

Our so-called representatives need to stop insulting the intelligence of the working class people of our state. Their control mentality is not unlike a drug addict who is cut off from his source. They have acted irrationally and offensively to those of us who don’t get high on their drug of choice (control). They all need intensive therapy.

The bottom line: The thought of the public voting to pass or fail proposed tax initiatives in the future is what really puts a lump in their oatmeal. This jeopardizes their control - and it’s long overdue. John P. Lizee Spokane

Put `fat government’ on a diet

It amazes me how the opposition to Initiative 695 gets headline billing in the news media, while you have to search for the pros on it.

Scare tactics seem to be what politicians like to use. The first thing they want to cut is social programs, if I-695 passes. I thought we were supposed to live in a democratic society, not a socialistic society.

Fat government is the place to cut! Why are our road dollars going to social programs anyway? Why does a great portion go to support ferries on the coast? We had the Boston Tea Party to protest taxation without representation. Now, we have it with representation, but the representatives have forgotten who put them there. Special interest groups control their votes now.

We can argue the pros and cons of I-695 forever. The bottom line is, we have people in the state who are progressive and can think for themselves who will vote for I-695, and people who depend on the government to support them and do their thinking for them who will vote against it.

Isn’t it time to start having government answer to the people, like the Constitution intended? Jim Easling Greenacres

People in society

Emotion, faulty thinking behind bias

The terms “prejudice” and “emotional bias” are almost synonymous. What they have in common is a holding of preconceived, irrational opinions that result in attitudes of prejudgment without fair consideration. The consequence is often an intolerant outburst like a shotgun blast, which may make no distinction between the perceived intolerable person and a similar but innocent person. The invariable result is hurt and abuse that violate human rights, decency and respect for others.

Prejudice is an insidious antagonism that is often rooted in a real and tragic hurt that leaves an indelible mark. Most of us have experienced such an emotional trauma to one degree or another. Many in my generation, for example, find it hard to buy a Japanese car without a twinge of guilt.

It may not be easy, but only a confrontation with common sense, tolerance and a dose of reality will force us to shed the ghosts of the past and accept others as well-meaning fellow beings, thereby postponing any judgment.

No person should assume the authority to label another in a negative light simply on first impressions and then immediately act out a personal chastisement. The risks of error through mistaken identity are too great. Besides, this would be a violation of the Golden Rule.

Self-control and justice are marks of maturity and spiritual stature. Our faith requires this much of us. Harold Skinner Spokane

We seek to promote human rights

This letter concerns protection of human rights in our area.

United People is a grass-roots project for the adoption of globally acceptable ethical norms, regardless of religion, ethnicity or sex. It consults and advises academics, students and the general public worldwide. The theoretical foundation of this initiative is expounded in a treatise available on the Internet at http://www.ior.com/lshepard. Material contained therein has served as a guideline for publications dealing with subjects that have important moral dimensions. It is currently used as a text at the college level and has been chosen by Infoseek as a recommended ethics resource.

United People is affiliated with Action Without Borders, which is now conducting a freedom drive of 1,200 organizations around the world, particularly emphasizing human rights. Convinced that our region needs an entity working for this objective with integrity and fairness, United People wishes to operate locally in the defense of human rights.

Persons either subjected to or aware of abusive treatment, harassment and discrimination as well as other actions tampering with civil liberties are invited to get in touch with us. We are independent of any commercial interests and governmental agency and do not accept financial contributions. But we gratefully welcome the moral support and volunteer efforts of all those who, upon studying our aims and methods, have been persuaded of their merit. Lester A. Shepard, Ph.D. Spirit Lake, Idaho

Bible assaulted with babble

The letter by George Thomas (Oct. 9) was one of the most nonsensical pieces of writing I have seen in quite a while. It must be nice to be able to write something without being burdened by logic or facts.

The only way Thomas connected the racists who dragged a man behind their truck, the homophobes who tied a young man to a fence and Timothy McVeigh to Christianity was to mention them all in the same paragraph. In the reporting of those cases, I don’t recall any defendant claiming deep faith in God was the reason they committed their crimes. He may also want to cite the references he makes to the Bible, to give his statements some qualification.

One good point was made in the letter, I suspect unintentionally. He stated that the woman from Medical Lake was under the influence of the Bible. Was he agreeing with people of various faiths who believe that the things we watch, read, and listen to can impact our behavior? Scott Hogan Spokane