Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Parks management less than stellar

I won’t be able to take my 9-year-old granddaughter swimming at Comstock Pool this summer after I get off work because “open swim” from 6 to 7 p.m. has been eliminated. In past years, open swim from 6 to 7 p.m. has been available at all six city pools. That time slot has been eliminated entirely at some pools.

A notice from the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department alludes to the cutback in operations because of budget concerns.

Next year, the program may be cut further if this year’s program doesn’t break even. This is extremely poor management of our pool system.

As a taxpayer, I’d rather see a cut in park maintenance or even a layoff of management personnel before we deprive kids and families of the recreational activities that they need and deserve. However, I feel there must be a way to provide this needed service without cutting back at all.

Recently, I observed a park employee mowing the grass in a downpour of rain along several blocks of the High Drive park strip. The next day, all of the sprinklers were running for several blocks, with water gushing into the streets. Perhaps an examination could be made to see where waste could be eliminated.

Open swimming for families should be maintained or expanded to keep with the spirit of the Park Department’s mission statement to provide recreational opportunities for all areas, and all skill and age levels.

Perhaps it’s time for a change in the Park Department system of government to make the decision makers accountable to the citizenry. Tim Swartout Spokane

Park Board, at least, is worthy

A big thank you to the Park Board members for not only giving their time and effort to our city parks but for enduring the horrific City Council meeting to defend their right to volunteer to help the city.

This mature, intelligent and impressive group has done great things for our city.

Thanks to the previous City Council for its excellent decisions in appointing these generous individuals.

Councilman Steve Eugster wanted to have the Park Board members elected. Just think, we could have ended up with a group of elected officials like our current City Council. These people are an embarrassment to this city. Regardless of any good or bad decisions they make, their behavior does not represent this city in a favorable manner at all.

Thank you again, Park Board members! Judy Aylward Spokane

Enough brawling - get busy

I have lived in Spokane since 1941. I’ve never seen our city disgraced like it was on June 12 by our City Council. Our council members acted like children instead of adults.

It’s time for council members to stop picking on each other and blaming each other, and act like adults. They have a problem to solve but they aren’t going to solve it until they all meet and work together to solve it.

Get the minutes of all the council meetings since River Park Square was started. See what was voted on and go from there. Be sure everything is the way you want it in writing, signed and dated, when you do make a decision. Then you can’t blame someone else. Why are we paying lawyers’ fees when some common sense and working together could solve this?

I would think the council members would be ashamed of their service after last Monday night’s meeting and the fighting they did. They better get busy and solve this problem soon or we will be using our tax dollars for lawyers’ fees.

The tapes the TV news showed were not flattering for the city. Ruth Herman Spokane

IN THE PAPER

Poor choices for Father’s Day

If the Sunday, June 18h, edition of The Spokesman-Review is the editors’ idea of a happy Father’s Day issue it was lost on me. The lead story, followed by full-color pages in the IN Life section, captioned “Missed Connection” got the greatest print space. It covered the sad story of Destiny Poor, a black teenage mother’s rejection of her child by a light-skinned father she now detests. Please save the Jerry Springer-type material for some other day. Robert S. Korkus Spokane

Some way to mark the day

Congratulations to The Spokesman-Review for the the excellent coverage and recognition on Father’s Day of the men who are more than just sperm donors. I was pleased to see that the same recognition given to mothers on Mother’s Day has been given to fathers on Father’s Day.

Thanks for helping to dispel the misconception that all fathers are either just a meal ticket or a deadbeat dad. I found the front page stories of maternal bonding and the courageous woman who volunteers at the elementary school in spite of her disability particularly relevant and enlightening.

I really am amazed that this was the best you could come up with on a day that originated here in Spokane and is recognized across the nation. John M. Timperio Newman Lake

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Birth mothers’ rights not whole of it

Re: “Some of us want to be reunited” (Letters, June 15). Two years ago I searched for my birth mother. Under Washington’s archaic law, I had to hire an intermediary to access my birth records. This in itself is ridiculous. Why should I have to hire a stranger to access my records? While I was not looking for a mother, I was looking for a few answers. Instead, I got a sketchy medical history and a note indicating “I do not appreciate this intrusion into my life.” I am lucky in that I am always surrounded by family and friends who love and support me. If I wasn’t, I might have been affected by her cruelty and selfishness. Instead, I view it as her loss. But it was a loss she shouldn’t have the right to decide.

Yes, Kay Russell, there are birth mothers who don’t want to be reunified. To blame that on adoptive families is ludicrous. Adoptive families are like none other. They take your unwanted children and while loving them endlessly provide them with all of life’s necessities. Their responsibility and devotion never ends.

I am tired of birth mothers screaming about their rights. I was born without rights just because the birth mother didn’t want me. Why should I have my rights taken away while hers are protected by law? What makes her rights more important than mine?

Birth mothers’ rights - give me a break. What about adoptee rights? Stacey Rutledge Coeur d’Alene

Population size is crucial

R. James Cook’s endorsement of genetically modified food concludes with his comment that such scientific work is needed “to help feed the eight billion people projected to be on Earth by 2030.”

That closing comment speaks to the heart of the trouble: We need science to bail us out because we cannot reduce our numbers to a healthy total, yet we know that virtually every increase in food supply leads to a bump in the population. A further irony has made it possible in many ways for the population to increase so much.

Only when we have success with rational and fair plans to stop population growth will we move away from the need to risk so much on scientific tinkering. Fred Glienna Coeur d’Alene