Letters To The Editor

Spokane matters

Insinuations false, insulting

It’s too bad the special interests protecting County Commissioner John Roskelley have already started to attack the citizens who are trying to improve the economy of Spokane County. There are good people who have invested their time and money in this area who’d like to see this area truly embrace all that’s included in the term “quality of life.”

Such discussion must include prosperity and good family wage jobs. Our county has close to a 40 percent poverty level. Yes, there are low-wage jobs available and this is a beautiful place to live. However, it’s important that those in leadership embrace the real concerns of all of the members of this community.

Chris Marr insinuates blatantly that the people who are putting `their money where their mouths are” are something evil. He refers to the “fringe elements.” Marr also states that the developers are trying to buy this election. That is narrow-minded and insulting. Maybe they just want to have the leadership of Spokane County tell them what the rules are and then not change them once someone decides to invest in this county.

The developers happen to be good people, with children who live here. They are people who believe fresh air, clean water, affordable housing and good jobs are all quality of life issues.

It also implies that anyone who receives campaign contributions can be bought.

Marr is part of Roskelley’s campaign management team. Let us not attack. Let’s keep this campaign environment clean. Let’s seek to work together. Balance, not extremism. Spokane certainly would enjoy that fresh attitude. Kim D. Davis Spokane

Times indeed changing for nonprofits

Thank you, editor Chris Peck, for your (June 4) column on the philanthropic needs here in our Spokane community. As development director for The Arc of Spokane, I personally appreciated it as a very timely and important message for all Spokane nonprofits and individuals. Your column struck a chord with me, how we have operated in the “old reality” and are now facing a “new reality.”

The Arc is just one of those many nonprofit organizations that’s in a funding drive right now. There are dozens of worthwhile nonprofits here in Spokane, and we find ourselves caught in the middle of the old reality and the new reality.

Many of us in years past have relied on government funding and are now earnestly trying to learn how to promote and support ourselves. What used to work in the way of special events doesn’t work the way it used to. It’s not sufficient anymore to hold out our tin cup and say, “Please feel sorry for us.” It’s not good enough anymore to say, “If we just all pull together we can raise $100!” We’re at a fork in the road, between the bake sale mentality and sophisticated fund raising and donor development.

I think most of my fellow development colleagues realize this challenge. Now, we need people from our community to pick their passion and support a nonprofit. They need to understand that the wand of responsibility has been passed to them as individuals and each one of them is important to our success. Glenda J. Travis, development director The Arc if Spokane

Racism relatively rare here

Re staff writer Rob McDonald’s May 19 article on human rights.

As a resident, I am concerned about this city and county being portrayed as having a racist reputation.

I attended the meeting of the State Human Rights Commission on May 18 at City Hall. At that meeting it was reported that there were 109 human rights complains filed for Spokane County in 1999. This would lead one to believe that there were 109 human rights violations.

What was not reported was that a complaint is not a violation. It is only a perception of a violation. Of the 109 complaints, 74 were dismissed for no reasonable cause.

There were 29 racial discrimination complaints filed.

Sixteen were dismissed for no reasonable cause, four for failure to cooperate, three were withdrawn, two were withdrawn with settlement, three ended with a prefinding settlement and there was one private litigation.

The only people I have heard say that Spokane has a racist reputation are Spokane Human Rights Commission members and a number of university educators. With these statistics, Spokane deserves a more positive presentation.

It’s been reported in The Spokesman-Review that some black people don’t want to move here because of our reputation. I would say to them, please come. You will be judged by the content of your character, not the color of your skin.

I will put Spokane’s record of racial harmony against any city in the country and we will win. Richard N. Williams Spokane

Way to go, bike thief

I am utterly appalled at the rash of burglaries happening in our North Side neighborhood.

For a complete stranger to come through a closed gate into a back yard and steal a little 3-year-old’s bike is beyond my comprehension. It wasn’t even a new bike. This had to be pure spite on the part of the individual.

To that person: What pleasure did it give you to know you hurt a little baby, a 3-year-old? I feel very sorry for you. Please return the bike. By the way, thank you for having the consideration to close the gate. It was very kind of you. Judy T. Mazurik Newman Lake

The environment

Hearing locations mischief afoot?

The U.S. Forest Service is holding public hearings in Idaho to decide if our publicly owned roadless areas should be logged. The Forest Service has scheduled hearings in Orofino, Lewiston and two in Grangeville.

During informal hearings (Moscow was allotted one), Moscow’s attendance outnumbered Lewiston’s. While the Forest Service makes excuses as to why there is not a formal hearing in Moscow, the implications behind its decision seem dubious.

Has Potlatch Corp., which opposes the roadless initiative, had an influence on the hearing location? Is Moscow omitted from being the location for a formal hearing because of a more-liberal stance on environmental issues by its people? Moscow is closer than Orofino to the Clearwater National Forest but District Ranger Jim Caswell denies our community formal hearings to voice our opinions.

There will be a meeting in Lewiston on June 27. For more information, call 208-882-9755. Emily Loeb Moscow

Shame on the Forest Service

To the people of the U.S. Forest Service, shame on you! The American public has entrusted you with the task of protecting our forest heritage for future generations. Your preferred roadless alternative No. 2 is not what President Clinton intended and not what the American people want.

God gave us these wild forests and the pristine rivers that flow through them. When Lewis and Clark made their historic journey 200 years ago, they witnessed a vast panorama of unspoiled beauty. These were healthy forests even without the interference of man. But what do we see now? Vast expanses of land scarred by thousands of miles of roads and millions of acres of clearcuts. Rivers that drain from these forests have been polluted by excessive runoff and toxic wastes. Shame on you, Forest Service!

So what can you do to redeem yourselves in the eyes of God and the American public? Draw a line in the sand and say No more!

No more roads. No more logging of any kind. No more mining, oil and gas development or other harmful activities in our remaining unspoiled roadless areas. Don’t limit it just to areas of greater than 5,000 acres. Don’t skirt around the ORV issues. Include all roadless areas even if not previously inventoried.

For all we know our planet may be unlike any other in the universe. We were given these forests by a higher being. It is our responsibility to protect and nurture them.

So far, we have failed miserably. It’s not too late to redeem ourselves.

Save our remaining forests, because our very survival on the planet depends on it. Kenneth M. Mondal, M.D. Spokane

Prospects poor for land upkeep

Concerning the government expanding the inventory of public land: The federal government already owns one-third of the United States. This occurs while budgets for maintenance facilities are decreasing. The National Park Service has unfunded maintenance needs of more than $6 billion. Streams and ground water are polluted by dysfunctional sewage treatment procedures and plants. One-quarter of Park Service buildings are dilapidated, reports the Political Economy Research Center. The Forest Service’s backlog of road maintenance projects alone is more than $8.5 billion. It has a backlog of $1.7 billion in recreational maintenance. There is no rescue imminent.

Our socialized lands may be destined to deteriorate. Donald B. Reed Spokane

`Diatribe’ was outrageous

The Spokesman-Review has sunk to a new low in journalism. Wednesday’s full-page inflammatory diatribe against the national forest road policy of the administration and Al Gore is biased political advocacy at its worst. I read every word on this page and found nothing that identified it as an ad. Philip Waring Coeur d’Alene

Editor’s note: The full-page newspaper ad that appeared in Wednesday’s editions of both The Spokesman-Review and the Coeur d’Alene Press was purchased by a timber industry group, the Intermountain Forest Association.