Letters To The Editor

(From Letters to the editor, August 24, 2000): Superior Court judge candidate David Savage has had more than 20 years of experience in legal practice in Whitman County. The length of time mentioned in an Aug. 20 letter was incorrect.

SPOKANE MATTERS

Don’t kill our public transit

In response to the guest column of Aug. 9, I would like to know if the Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation has even one member who is a bus-riding pedestrian. If not, why not?

Anyone who is exclusively an automobile driver is bound to be prejudiced in favor of more highways and more cars. Unless we eventually want Washington state to look like Southern California, with mammoth highways choked with cars and with unbreathable air so bad that children at school cannot go outside to exercise, our thinking on this matter has to drastically change.

With the threat of Initiative 745 coming up in November, people need to understand that ruining public transportation is not the way to improve life in Washington state. The projected massive cuts that would happen in Spokane if I-745 passes involve discontinuing two major bus routes and also stopping van service for the handicapped and elderly. Other cuts would also happen.

STA cannot lose $27 million in yearly revenue and survive intact. Dorothy E. Carter Spokane

Not a time to lose dams

Recently, The Spokesman-Review ran an article reporting that representatives of the state’s largest electrical utilities say it’s unlikely Washington will suffer from the same type of energy price spikes currently happening in California.

The article failed to mention that Washington has already seen the loss of thousands of jobs as a direct result of higher energy costs. For example, Vanalco, a Vancouver aluminum plant, has laid off more than 450 workers since June due to the high cost of electricity. Bellingham Cold Storage laid off 270 workers due to energy costs. Georgia Pacific West, also in Bellingham, has laid off 600 workers for the same reason.

It is imperative that Washington not allow its electrical utilities to soft-sell the current power situation. Affordable electricity is the cornerstone of this state’s prosperity. When it is in peril, so is our economy.

At a time when policy makers are considering breaching Northwest dams in an effort to save salmon, they should consider the effect such a decision would have on a region that is so dependent on hydropower. Don C. Brunell president, Association of Washington Business, Olympia

Elect Conniff to oversee insurance

The upcoming insurance commissioner election is one of the most important decisions facing the people of Washington State this year. The insurance commissioner protects the public interest in insurance matters. The commissioner thus has a profound impact on your insurance coverage, premiums and the choices available to you as a consumer.

As a professional who has over 20 years experience assisting employer/employee groups and individuals in purchasing insurance, I urge you to support John Conniff for this important office.

As deputy insurance commissioner, Conniff has broad experience in insurance regulation. He also knows what it will take to restore the integrity and professionalism of the insurance Commissioner’s office, thereby better serving consumers’ interest and ensuring the industry’s financial viability. Conniff is the only candidate for this office who has experience in regulating the business of insurance.

In addition, and perhaps most importantly, Conniff understands that to be a true health insurance consumer advocate, the commissioner must take the steps necessary to restore the vibrancy and competitiveness of the private insurance industry, giving consumers adequate choices between a number of health insurance options.

Won’t you join me in voting for Conniff? Mark M. Newbold Spokane

THE JUDICIARY

Elect Savage to Whitman bench

Twelve years ago, during the last contested Superior Court election in Whitman County, we had the opportunity to co-chair a campaign. Again, we have come together in support of a candidate because we believe a Superior Court judgeship is a public office of vital importance to the citizens of this county. It deserves the most skilled and experienced individual the legal profession has to offer, David Savage.

Savage has practiced law for over two years in Whitman County. He has extensive experience in all aspects of Superior Court practice. Lawyers he has worked with and judges he has appeared before hold him in high esteem.

His professional rating for both legal skills and integrity are excellent. His peers have given him high evaluations as a fair, impartial and effective decision maker.

Savage’s understanding of the legal system and experience with a broad array of complex issues make him the best qualified candidate for judge.

Join us in electing Savage Whitman County Superior Court judge. Bea Nagel and Ken Casavant Pullman

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Contentions about south laughable

George Thomas diatribe about southerners is another example of looking at the world through the wide end of a funnel (Letters, Aug. 13).

No one I know from the south supports slavery in any form. Rich, powerful people dominate just as much in the north and west as they do in the south. Education in northern and many western cities is no better than in the south. People are working at two jobs throughout the nation because so many new jobs created in the last eight years under the Clinton-Gore administration are minimum-wage positions. This administration has driven many high-paying jobs out of the country, just as Ross Perot predicted, but the unions are forgiving.

I don’t seen the Republican Party as being dominated by southerners. Governors of many northern states, including New York, are Republicans.

Any fair-minded individual would recognize that he who puts in the largest share of funding in a venture should get the largest return. If I pay a larger share of our taxes than you, I should get a larger reduction in my taxes if and when that happens.

Thomas obviously has an agenda but it is either completely misguided or based on false premises. On the other hand, it did give me a good laugh. William H. Allison Medical Lake

Bush qualifies as corporations’ agent

The Bush candidacy is a cynical manipulation of the Republican faithful and the public. It is sad that the Republicans fell for it and it will be sadder still if the nation does.

George W. Bush fails almost all of the tests for serious Republican candidates. Bush Junior has no national experience or leadership. His best claim to fame as governor of Texas involved education, a local issue. He was a phony patriot, having served in an Army Reserve unit set aside for the children of the rich. Most of his business experience is a series of failures punctuated by infusions of cash from family connections. The press is giving him a pass on his history of substance abuse but the hint of that history would disqualify most other Republican candidates.

Ws primary qualification for office is his demonstrated loyalty to campaign donors. As governor of Texas, he consistently uses the power of his office to benefit financial supporters. This explains the rush to contribute to his campaign. Donors know their contributions are really investments in the corporate welfare and national resource giveaways that would surely follow Bush’s election.

And when the paybacks are over, who will govern the country - Cheney? Terrence V. Sawyer Spokane

Demand Nader be in on debates

Ralph Nader of the Green Party for president? Hah! A candidate for president of the United States who openly challenges corporate power doesn’t have a chance.

Any candidate who doesn’t own a car, is against so-called free trade policies and thumbs his nose at the same corporations that contribute millions to both Vice President Al Gore and Gov. George W. Bush’s campaigns must be a fringe wacko, right? Or maybe he is being kept out of the mass-media spotlight for a reason; he is a threat to the nonpartisan status quo.

Call Janet Brown, director of the Commission on Presidential Debates and demand that Nader be allowed to participate in the debates. He may not win this election year but he is sure to make both Gore and Bush sweat and squirm on national television. Derrick A. Knowles Cheney

IDAHO VIEWPOINTS

Taxpayers’ suit valid, in the right

Re: “Sales tax dispute argued in court,” (Aug. 11)

Who is this obviously biased reporter you sent on this assignment? What has happened to honest reporting? This hearing was an attempt by the county to dismiss a suit filed by a group of concerned taxpayers, (not a surly group representing one competitive newspaper,) who not only have the right to question the ethics of local government but have the obligation to do so when the Idaho Constitution is being violated.

What has happened to government of the people, for the people, by the people? Are we the people to be called surly by our commissioners who wish to dictate our future because we object to unlawful taxation? I suggest commissioners get back to basics, the Constitution.

Scott Reed, attorney for Concerned Taxpayers of Kootenai County, did a great job. We taxpayers who were present could see that Reed argues for lawful rights of all taxpayers. We cannot pay for unconstitutional decisions.

Property taxes are going up anyway! This is Commissioner Ron Rankin’s way of placing blame elsewhere, just because some of us have chosen to stand up for our constitutional rights.

Citizens of Kootenai County, it `s time to stop the lies. They said to vote for this half percent increase, (which they neglected to mention is illegal) and promised property taxes would not rise. However, property taxes are being raised, regardless of the outcome. Please make your voices heard. They can call me surly. At least I’m not just complaining. Mary J. Davis, Ph.D. Coeur d’Alene

Contentions about property dubious

I am writing in response to “Land swap issue hits campaign” (July 27) to publicly pose a question to Janine Blaeloch of the Western Land Exchange project. If, as she alleges, the Upper Priest Lake property that was exchanged to the Forest Service cost the “government more than $7 million due to inflated appraisal values, “ then what in her opinion should the appraised value have been for this one-of-a-kind property?

The gross merchantable volume was estimated at 38,035 MBF, while the net merchantable volume was 25,349 MBF. Of this volume, 76 percent was comprised of cedar sawlogs with a large percentage concluded to have export potential. While the profession of appraising is not an exact science, it is reasonable to expect qualified appraisers using federal guidelines to differ in their opinion of value by less than 10 percent. In fact, separate appraisals by two appraisers concluded the value of the Upper Priest Lake property to be $8.985 million and $8.75 million. This is approximately a 2 percent difference.

C’mon, Blaeloch. Do you expect the informed public to believe your allegations are true when you present no evidence to back your claims? If you had been the owner of this parcel, what appraised value would you have accepted to complete the transaction? It would be easy for me to believe that had you been the owner of this parcel, you would now profess the importance of private property rights versus the condemnation of public land exchanges. Harold A. Ockert Nordman, Idaho