Letters for North Side Voice

Mann Center story incorrect

I read the North Side Voice article (May 8) about last week’s City Council actions regarding Mann Army Reserve Center in northeast Spokane.

I’m guessing that the staff reporter did not attend the meeting – reported someone else’s uninformed opinion about what actually happened – and didn’t check to get the facts. During the meeting the City Council amended the original advisory committee recommendations to something like: “Recommended use as educational with an emphasis on manufacturing development and worker training.”

This purpose was the heart of the northeast community’s proposal for Mann Hall, not Spokane Public Schools’. Yet, The S-R reported that the city passed the Spokane Public Schools proposal. Spokane Public Schools’ own testimony earlier stated they are prohibited from doing either of these activities, because the school district’s charter is to provide education for K-12 only. (Never mind that work-force training takes place in high schools and the Skills Center in Hillyard anyway.)

I don’t understand two things: First, why Spokane Public Schools can’t find a way to cooperate with others for the good of the community, and second, what is The S-R’s agenda, since it is not accuracy in reporting about what happens in Spokane?

Robert Lawrence

Spokane