Letters To The Editor

Spokane matters

STA should push pedestrians’ cause

Spokane Transit Authority just doesn’t get it. STA thinks cute advertising will make more people ride the bus.

The problem isn’t the bus, it’s getting to the bus. The problem is being a pedestrian in pedestrian-unfriendly Spokane.

What would Spokane look like if it were pedestrian friendly? Sidewalks would be separated from busy streets to protect pedestrians from splashing and road debris.

Sidewalks would be clear of snow and snow piles. They would be wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair, scooter or several passing pedestrians. You wouldn’t find telephone poles or street signs blocking the sidewalk. Sidewalk space would not be stolen to increase restaurant seating. Crossings would be marked well and located for the pedestrian’s convenience.

Intersections would be designed for safe crossing. Walk signals would stay lit until the walker was safely across the street. Building entrances would be located adjacent to the sidewalk to eliminate the dangerous walk across the parking lot. Bus benches would be set back from the road in a green area. Curb cuts would be designed for the safety of the user. Walk-over bridges would be used to cross wide streets and highways. Pedestrian right-of-way would be enforced.

If walking to and waiting for the bus was safer and more pleasant, more people would be willing to ride the bus. STA’s customer is the pedestrian. STA needs to support its customers by advocating pedestrian rights. Dorothy H. Mehl Spokane

Such a deal - heaven help us

It’s no wonder that the parties involved in the River Park Square parking garage wanted the terms of their arrangement kept secret. It costs Nordstrom $1 per year for use of the garage!

Our city’s planners just had to keep Nordstrom in Spokane to “revitalize” downtown - apparently, at any cost. We now know the burden for Spokane citizens will amount to about $150,000 per month or $1,800,000 per year, if it must be carried along that long.

Libertarians warned against this public-private partnership but our words fell on deaf ears. City “planners” decreed the deal would be done without voter approval and it was. Parking meter revenues that were only to be used as a last resort are the first resort to saving the failing garage.

When any project is viable and potentially profitable, the private sector won’t come looking for government help. Private-public partnerships are the worst deal for taxpayers. Taxpayers assume all the risks and get no benefit even if the project succeeds.

I would love to recommend that the city of Spokane just sell the garage but don’t know if that is even possible considering the complicated nature of the deal.

All public officials (past and present) who voted for this deal should be held accountable. Can we fine them or charge them with fraud? The next time a politician tells you about a great private-public partnership deal, hold on to your wallet! Janice M. Moerschel Spokane

Government and politics

Primaries typical of what is wrong

Gov. George W. Bush has won the primary races - but at what cost? His subservience to the religious right, his collection of so much unidentified private money that he could refuse federal funds, his employment of telephone callers to slander his opponent and his ill-disguised arrogance have alienated both young voters and independents. No wonder the polls show that he will run less well against Vice President Al Gore than the man he defeated.

All in all, this primary season has been a thoroughly dismal one.

Democrats have again shown, as in the Clinton elections, that they will choose an electoral triumph over an opportunity to bring a man as honorable as Bill Bradley to head their cause. Republicans have shown that they will choose preservation of the party bureaucracy over the victory, reform and enlargement of the party tendered by the John McCain candidacy. Don Barnes Spokane

Bush a highly capable, unbiased leader

In response to recent editorials criticizing Gov. George W. Bush’s recent visit to Bob Jones University, I am pleased that the voters of Washington were able to see the ridiculous mud slinging of Sen. John McCain and his followers for what it was - a desperate attempt to clinch the Republican nomination at any cost.

Having lived in Texas until recently, I feel compelled to defend Bush for what he truly is - a man of the greatest integrity, true vision and a leader who unites and speaks for all people. As a Christian living in Texas, I attended and raised my own family in the Catholic church for 22 years. I never felt like a target of prejudice or considered Bush biased in his personal or political beliefs. He has united the people of Texas, regardless of race or religion, as no governor before him has.

His remarkable record speaks for itself and any attempt to smear his character or compare him to President Clinton is ludicrous. Bush has raised education standards dramatically, reduced crime (especially among juveniles) and instituted a large tax cut that benefits all citizens. Under his leadership, Texas has prospered and now has one of the healthiest economies in the world.

Perhaps the voters of Washington and the states of Super Tuesday have seen what people from Texas have been saying all along - they are proud to call Bush their governor and will be even prouder to call him their president. Sharron G. Severyn Spokane

Negative campaigning is informative

What is all this outcry about negative campaigning? However avid a reader a voter is, it is difficult to keep track of all the things, right or wrong, a candidate does. How else would you have known about the controversy surrounding the Bob Jones University? How else would you have gauged candidate George Bush’s turn “right” to win South Carolina and then trying to come back, saying he is all-inclusive?

Negative interpretations have their pluses - for the electorate as well as the candidates. The candidates will know how their actions could be interpreted in the media and their honed responses will show the electorate how the candidate reacts to the critics. As long as the candidates do not resort to personal attacks, like saying the opponent is a bozo, I get a lot more from negative campaigning than by reading the voter pamphlet. Mallur Nandagopal Spokane

Violence

Children kill children and we bicker

I cried for my country today, just laid my head down and wept. I suppose I cried for myself, as well. I cried because another child had picked up another gun and killed yet another child.

I cried because even though this time, both of the children were just a few years out of diapers, it warranted less attention locally and nationally than the recently aired, “I want to marry a millionaire.”

I cried because I am afraid that we are rapidly approaching the day - August, perhaps? - when the journey from cradle to grave will be made even shorter by a yet younger child wielding yet another weapon.

I cried because the more frequently this happens the less it matters. I cried because I am part of a nation that has created a culture in which this is becoming acceptable. I cried because if it were not acceptable, it would not continue to happen.

I cried because of the insanity of a nation that would rather bicker about whether or not it’s guns that kill people or people that kill people. I cried because the ongoing struggle to find out who is “right” about that debate is seemingly more important than to stop the killing. Period. End of discussion. I cried for a nation that has apparently forgotten how to.

God Bless America. Stacy Hersrud, M.S. Spokane