Letters To The Editor

Wed., May 10, 2000

SPOKANE MATTERS

Cooperation in city’s best interest

Have I missed something? I don’t recall that City Councilman Steve Eugster has been elected our new strong mayor, at least yet. But he sure acts like it.

To him I say get over River Park Square and please start working with the developers and the City Council to resolve the current issues that are getting older than “General Hospital,” instead of working against everything down there.

To Betsy Cowles I say a big thank you. You have got a lot of people out here who want to thank you for what you have done to help bring downtown Spokane back from the dead. The mall is beautiful and will only get better. AMC 20 is the only theater in town I go to and I love the spinoffs (restaurants) that have opened because of the mall.

Hang in there, thank you and keep your head held high. There are very many Spokanites who really appreciate your care and concern for this city and its downtown. Personally I don’t think too many people will recognize downtown in 10 or 15 years, thanks to you.

To our mayor and City Council, including Eugster, I ask, could you please, please resolve this issue and work with the developers of River Park Square so Spokane can continue to move forward, instead of one step forward, two steps back all the time? Tom Harding Spokane

Petard there for a hoisting

I’ll stretch the meaning of the phrase “ius primae noctis” (right of first night) to right to abuse or weaken the Spokane City Council, of which the outspoken Steve Eugster is a member.

Will the minority bow before a potential Caesarean assault (anticipating votes of confidence/no-confidence on City Attorney Jim Sloane - and potentially City Manager Henry Miggins, if he doesn’t follow orders)?

Rise up, you of the minority, and examine your charter. Perhaps on the basis of their actions council members themselves can be subjected to a confidence vote. The results, publicly examined, might offer discipline, possibly reprimand where needed.

An attentive public awaits - as does their vote of confidence. Dr. Roy R. Lamb Spokane

Full accountability essential

As I watch the events surrounding the River Park Square parking garage unfold I see good people on both sides of this issue. People appear at City Council meetings wearing buttons or badges that challenge one to perceive them as symbols of bravado or cries for support. The real and only procedure we absolutely must follow is one that first gives us the truth.

To simply donate parking meter income contributed not only by city residents but county residents and visitors from around this country is to submit to the easiest path without regard for the consequences or respect for what is right. It is cowardly. It’s beneath our responsibility to ourselves as citizens and our right to honest government and integrity in our business ventures. Even worse, it gives permission for the same thing to happen again.

Accountability isn’t to be taken lightly or be easily dismissed. Responsibility is both a privilege and a duty. They go together and determine by the importance placed upon them the values, principles, maturity and courage of a people.

Americans are a forgiving bunch. To those who step up to the plate, make amends and act responsibly we will usually accept their sincerity and applaud their honesty under fire. Those who continually try to deceive, divert and diminish the reality of an uncomfortable and potentially self-damaging situation deserve the results such behavior requires.

We’ve suffered a great injustice. It’s perpetrators should be accountable and held responsible. Only then can we move on with heads held high. David Bray Spokane

Graham Road facility valuable

Re: expansion of the Graham Road recycling and disposal facility.

Our concern, as a generator of waste throughout our business, is that without expansion our disposal costs would increase dramatically. Using Graham Road at its present location for our disposal and recycling needs is an affordable expenditure that is cost effective for our bidding, jobs and land renovation requirements. It is to our economic advantage to have Graham Road as our disposal site.

As a user of the Graham Road facility, we have seen firsthand the quality of their operations. We have full confidence that Graham Road has achieved its first objective by offering a safe service, as this facility adheres to all safety regulations and requirements.

It is imperative that Graham Road Recycling and Disposal continue its operations. We offer full support of its expansion as it benefits the community in which the economic impact affects all of us. J. Tim Jackson, president IBEX Construction, Inc., Spokane

OVER THE LINE

Focus on real threats to aquifer

Thank God the legal system had the good sense to redirect the interest of Tom Flynn and our Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers’ recent lawsuit. If Flynn and Rodgers are looking for aquifer concerns, they should look farther than our own county.

Why are they not concerned about the vast quantities of hydrocarbons - gas, diesel, fuel oil, etc. - stored in the Hillyard and the Broadway industrial areas? These tanks do not begin to carry the proposed leakage or spill warning systems of the proposed Burlington Northern Santa Fe refueling depot. These tanks have no secondary containment other than an earth berm system. These berm systems will not contain fuel and do not begin to equate to the BNSF plan. We need to remove the grandfather clauses on all sites of this nature that pose this kind of danger to our aquifer.

If possible aquifer perils are their concern, they need to address our own pending dangers first. Why are these major storage facilities without state-of-the-art containment and secure secondary containment? Why doesn’t Spokane County or city have a nonpoint-source pollution plan like other major counties in the state?

Clean water is one of our area’s major resources and assets, and ought to be protected. But that needs to be done according to areas of importance and concerns. Larry L. Snyder Blue Ribbon Environmental Products, Inc., Spokane

It’s wrong to impose hardship

Re: “Farragut water controversy boils over,” May 3.

Why is Wayne Rubright, president of Farragut Village Property Association, trying to shut down the main or only source of water for up to 400 families? Does the spokesperson for this association of caring neighbors have any idea what hardship this will place on 400 families or does he even care?

If he really feels that the association should have less strict rules for water use, let him take his truck and get all his water the same way as these folks do. Why raise a fuss that will only hurt the folks who don’t have regular wells. Unless there is another reason that has nothing to do with water.

Maybe Bill Hanks is right in saying that the association thinks the folks getting water at this spring are an eyesore. The only way the good neighbors can make these country folks disappear is to shut down the source of water they depend on. Bill Jorden Spokane

WASHINGTON STATE

Pardon me for not quivering

Re: “Animal rights activists setting trap with initiative” (April 26). I’m glad that Fenton Roskelley warned me about the gray-haired army of terrorists now collecting signatures for the initiative to ban leg-hold traps. An elderly woman also approached me on this matter and like a fool I believed that the voters had a right to the initiative process and stupidly signed. Now, thanks to Roskelley, I know that this cadre of elderly crones is in fact a terrorist brigade about to usurp my rights, vandalize my facility and burn down my sense of reason.

Perhaps Roskelley should get a grip! His paranoia might be justified since there are only about 400 trappers out of Washington’s population of six million. It is amazing that this small but dedicated band of trappers manages to “provide essential scientific data,” “document animal-borne pathogens” and “provide the only accurate census of furbearing species.” The fact that there are more anti-trapping signature gatherers than there are trappers should say something to Roskelley.

Clearly, according to Roskelley, I should be putting my traps on the front doorstep where they would do the most good for animals by trapping geriatric animal rights terrorists. Bob Chorush Seattle

LAW AND JUSTICE

Menace-eradicating pattern clear

Re: “Love bug mutates, authorities hot on heels of perpetrator but experts warn of more computer terrorism to come.”

There really is a quick and easy cure. Here it is: 1, License all computers; 2, Require a five-day waiting period on all computer purchases; 3, Prohibit computer sales at flea markets, garage sales, etc., without background checks; 4, Allow only two ink cartridge refills to be purchased at a time; 5, Require locks on every mouse; and 6, If all else fails, go after IBM and Macintosh because we all know they are responsible for all of this.

There! Problem solved. Duh! Why didn’t I think of it sooner? Paul E. Baker Bonners Ferry, Idaho

Got a problem? Get a law passed

With tongue in cheek, I offer my sage advice on the following problems of American society that are political, but more economic in nature.

Since the only purpose for guns is to kill, perhaps we could successfully solve the problem by using the same format we’ve used in solving other social problems.

Let’s ban the use of drugs in the United States and keep our children drug free. Just say no to drugs. If we hire enough drug enforcement agents and pay people not to grow or use drugs, it will work.

There are far more alcoholics than drug addicts in the United States. Maybe we could pass a constitutional amendment to ban alcohol. Oops, I guess we did that already during the Prohibition era.

I wish we could pass a law that stopped our children from having access to tobacco products. Smoking causes so many health problems. Oh! There’s been a law for years? If we could license vehicles and drivers we can stop vehicular homicide. There would be no uninsured drivers, no unlicensed drivers and by all means no drunk drivers. We could stop teen deaths on the highways.

Child sexual abuse is known to be widespread and in need of a solution. Maybe a law that says predators have to stay away from children would be the answer. Last but not least is domestic abuse. Can’t we just pass another law to make it unlawful for a man to beat up his wife and children?

Yup, more laws will sure solve our problems. Ron Marsh Pullman

CONSUMER ISSUES

Added-on tip sometimes justified

Re: Lynn L. Jones’ May 2 letter about automatic gratuity.

I’ve been in the restaurant business for 25 years. Automatic gratuity is added to some bills because of the size of the party. When this is done it should be approved by the guest with the hostess at the time of the reservation. When a large party comes to dinner, the server and kitchen staff must work harder at everything and often the guests takes it for granted that someone else at the table will take care of the tip, resulting in no tip. Yet the server has to pay everyone else on the job as if they’ve received the assumed 15 percent gratuity and they end up paying for you to eat at the establishment.

Tips are not a gesture for people to add at will, since the government has taxed us on our total sales, including tips. We automatically pay taxes on this amount whether we are tipped or not.

All tips are automatically shared with others in the restaurant. This includes the hostess, bartender, cocktail servers and busers. Regardless of the amount of tip left by the guest, we are required to tip out a percentage of the total sales.

I’m a professional, and we are paid minimum wage because the house assumes we’ll be tipped a minimum of 15 percent to make up the difference in our lack of wages. Tipping is a part of the dining experience. People who don’t tip should probably eat at drive-through restaurants where there’s no service involved. Beth B. McIntosh Deer Park

Just un-require added-on tip

In response to Lynn L. Jones’ absolutely understandably irate letter (May 2) about added-on tips, I offer her and anyone else who experiences this extortion some advice.

A tip is indeed something a customer leaves only in the event of good service and decent food. If a restaurant has added this on as a matter of course, simply don’t pay it. That’s right, give them the amount for the meal only. What are they going to do, call the police? “Hey, get over here! Someone stiffed us on a tip!” I don’t think so.

Stand up for yourself! What they’re doing is robbery. And since they aren’t holding a gun to your head, in this case of attempted theft you can just walk away. Teresa Keene Spokane

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