Letters To The Editor

Spokane matters

Council should get with the future

My husband and I moved to the Spokane area fairly recently, from Texas, where we were very active in community affairs.

One of the things that attracted me to this city was the development of River Park Square. Mind you, Texans take their shopping seriously, and I thought any city that undertakes the building of a new mall with current, stylish shops is worth taking a closer look at.

I give very high marks to River Park Square, the downtown art galleries, shops and events such as the Visual Arts Tour. All of these things are helping make downtown more attractive, productive and energized.

I give very low marks to the City Council, with its constant bickering and talk of foreclosing on River Park Square, defaulting loans, etc. Many City Council members have small-town minds with personal vendettas and do not want to advance Spokane into the 21st century.

I do not want to have to go to Seattle for shopping and culture. I want to spend my money right here in Spokane. To do that, there’s a need for City Council members who look to the future and see Spokane not as a mining town of days gone by but as a city with a plan. A plan to help bring in current shops, support more events like the Visual Arts Tour, develop downtown and, in whole, make Spokane more attractive so other couples and families will gladly choose to move to this could-be-great city. Suzanne E. Alvarez Spokane

Holmes, Greene were and are wrong

The hypocrisy spurting from the lips of Councilwomen Roberta Greene and Phyllis Holmes is enough to engage my body in total illness. Their flapping over needed recent changes at City Hall is either the heighth of arrogance or memory loss.

Both Greene and Holmes intensely supported the parking garage and River Park Square financing, and voted to deny the citizens an opportunity to vote on the projects after 12,000 signatures were gathered by Spokane residents. They also voted to deny our right after petition signatures were obtained to vote on the unneeded Lincoln Street bridge.

Both also tried to deny our right to be heard by voting to remove the public forum at the City Council meetings on Mondays. Now, is that open government? No! Their votes to deny our freedoms has resulted in massive financial messes that we will pay for.

Didn’t the public vote for change in the last election? Wake up, Greene and Holmes, that’s what’s taking place. You have to sweep the deck before you can enact new procedures and policies that are fair to the people who live in Spokane and that’s what Mayor John Talbott and Councilmembers Steve Corker, Cherie Rodgers and Steve Eugster did the other night.

Those who howl the loudest are just showing guilt. When the excrement starts hitting the whirling metal blades, the public will be very pleased with the recent council decisions. As a taxpayer, I applaud the four council people for their guts, honesty and integrity to finally do something to reverse this unholy trend and protect my money. Jonathan Swanstrom Sr. Spokane

What’s behind use of put-down?

In spite of the professional background, including his service in the area of animal control, critics of City Manager Henry Miggins have attempted to belittle his excellent qualifications by referring to him as a “dog catcher.” I wonder if the use of this slur, “dog catcher,” was prompted by the fear of exposure by those feeing at the public trough. Mary R. McDonnell Chewelah, Wash.

Northwest dams

Breaching, removal not the way

After spending six years and $20 million on a Lower Snake River fish passage study, the Walla Walla Corps of Engineers has settled on four options: bypass, bypass, bypass or we will take your dams out. No other options will be considered because the Walla Walla District wouldn’t exist without the money and jobs that their gold-plated bypass system creates.

I found out how desperate they are to protect their bypass and fish transport system when submitting idea CEPW930014, titled, “Improving Fish Passage through the Turbines,” on Oct. 13, 1992. On Oct. 14, 1992, they fired me.

As a fish person, I couldn’t stand watching fish screens and spillways kill 25 percent of the smolts when I knew my new turbine system could get fish mortality below 1 percent while increasing power output by 25 percent. I took my designs to Washington, D.C., and the turbine manufacturers. Today, every hydropower country is installing fish-friendly turbines or has ordered them. Idaho Power, the Bureau, Mid-Columbia PUDs and the Portland Corps have an ongoing, fish-friendly turbine project. Yet Walla Walla still refuses to consider enhanced turbine passage an option.

These are your dams. You are paying for them. Dams don’t control the salmon population, gillnets do. The Corps has no right to extort money by threatening breaching.

Just fix the dams, leave the fish in the river where they belong and there will be no problem. These four multipurpose dams are the jewels of the Northwest. No one in their right mind would target them for removal. Del Lathim, commissioner Pasco

People said they want salmon saved

The recent Spokane public hearing on salmon recovery demonstrated strong support for restoring Snake River salmon and steelhead and for partially removing the four lower Snake River dams.

People from all walks of life and perspectives spoke from the heart on the importance of salmon to our region’s history, environment and economy. An estimated 87 people testified on behalf of dam removal and only 14 testified against. Many more attended and provided written comments.

Farmers, businessmen, outfitters, lifelong residents of Eastern Washington, young and old, testified on behalf of dam removal. Many of the stories wove salmon into people’s family and personal histories. The hearing was a testament to the importance of salmon to our region and our strong commitment to doing what it takes to restore, at least in part, one of the greatest salmon and steelhead fisheries in the world.

Now it is up to Sens. Patty Murray and Slade Gorton, Gov. Gary Locke and Rep. George Nethercutt to listen to their constituents and support bypassing the four lower Snake River dams. Sam Mace Washington Wildlife Federation, Spokane

Pinch was speaking for himself

Re: Feb. 9 article regarding a public hearing held on Feb. 8 concerning salmon recovery issues and the potential breaching of Snake River Dams.

Mark Pinch testified as to his support for breaching the dams. While offering his comments, Pinch indicated he was a member of the board of trustees of the Spokane Area Economic Development Council.

While Pinch is a valued member in good standing of the EDC board of trustees, I want to clarify that the testimony he provided represents his personal opinion and not that of the EDC.

The Spokane Area Economic Development Council is highly focused on its mission of recruiting businesses that will make available new jobs in the region. It has not adopted a position on salmon recovery policies or dam breaching. Mark E. Turner president and CEO, Spokane Area Economic Development Council

Beliefs

Put it out there, they will make fun

I disagree with Michae’l Alegria’s comments about the fish sign (Street Level, Feb. 6). There is no “new trend” in co-opting religious symbols as she claimed after seeing her first Darwin fish. Her first? The Darwin fish has been around as long as I can remember and I’m sure I’m older than she is.

I suggest the meaning of a symbol is less the focus of parody than the saturation factor. Any symbol - the fish, yin-yang, smiley face or golden arches - when displayed enough to saturate our view whenever we leave our homes, is eventually parodied. This type of response is not limited to Christians and is not proof of religious persecution at the hands of “some authority-hating, religion-avoiding, rebellious atheist.”

I suggest that those who display sacred symbols on dirty car bumpers, windshields, sweatpants, T-shirts and the like place the holy in the realm of the commercial, on the same level as stickers or shirts advertising one’s favorite tennis shoe or beer. To purposely place the sacred in that arena, long used for all sorts of irreverent humor, is in itself the first step toward demeaning such symbols. The trend I see, and regret, is that of churchgoers intentionally imitating commercial advertising practices to fit religion into mainstream popular culture. Parodies are inevitable. Karen Robie Spokane

Fish symbol alludes to evolution

Many people miss the more subtle and clearly humorous point of the Darwin fish: With its feet, it represents the lung fish that was an early transformational life form from aquatic to terrestrial habitats millions of years ago. Although it lived mainly in the water, its modified fins served as “feet’ and it could breathe air. This symbol appears to be a rather creative, esoteric reference to evolution. And yes, it’s somewhat of a pedantic smirk to creationism. Get over it!

There are many more important things to focus our collective energies on. Read Noam Chomsky’s political assays and learn how multinationals, and much of corporate America, exploit the masses - yes, even in good old America. More recently, the behavior of our local government is a microcosm of the aforementioned. It seems profits are privatized and costs are “publicized.” John F. Arnold Spokane