District needs upgrades

An open letter to the Citizens for Responsible Taxation:

Our community members have put their names and faces to their actions. This is lacking in the case of your organization.

The district last passed a bond in 1978. That’s 34 years since the last major construction/remodeling. Our facilities are consuming a disproportionate amount of maintenance and operation dollars, thus diverting funds that could be used toward teaching and learning in the classroom.

The facilities designers at the time didn’t foresee the Internet age. Our heating and cooling systems woefully lack energy efficiencies. Under current legislation, upcoming graduation requirements will become a challenge in the future. The district is lacking the physical lab spaces needed for student instruction.

A quote on your own website, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Needed improvements are energy conservation, safety and security, renovating infrastructure and improved technology. The time is now for the passage of the Reardan-Edwall bond issue. There is no better legacy for the generations to come than to show them you cared about their education and opportunities.

Terence E. Teaford

Reardan-Edwall board chairman

Reardan

Item on ballot too soon

Who were the ones responsible for wasting tax dollars on this latest ballot I received in today’s mail? Instead of printing and sending out ballots almost 22 years before it would come into effect, I’m sure they could find space on a future ballot to include this measure. Maybe, say by 2030 or so.

Lewis W. Johnson

Spokane Valley

Vote against Measure 1

Call me a curmudgeon, but I am voting against Measure 1. I can no longer support ballot measures that do little to improve the lives of our everyday residents of Spokane. While Disability Lifeline and other services for those in need are being cut to the bone; we are asked to support a $65 million bond. The Convention Center operates at a loss, but is boosted by the Veterans Memorial Arena and INB Center to make up the difference.

Let’s spend the $5 million to upgrade the Centennial Trail, Arena, (the profit makers) and forget the rest.

Ironic that we are willing to spend $65 million for visitors to our fair city, yet will not pass a bond for $5 million for kids, or even house our homeless until it is 5 degrees. And the reality is, we will have good-paying construction jobs for a few years, but are really supporting long-term dead-end service jobs.

The Convention Center also gets a $2 million rebate. Let’s use that rebate to support our most vulnerable citizens and the over 50 percent of children in Spokane who receive free and reduced lunches. It’s time to help those in need, not visitors.

Louise Chadez

Spokane

The creator knows best

The March 30 front page article regarding the City Council jumping on the bandwagon by sponsoring an upcoming resolution supporting gay marriage caught my attention.

Mike Allen’s quote, “The Constitution says all are created equal” as his basis for support of this resolution is interesting. It is a fact that people are created either male or female. Furthermore, our creator defined marriage as the uniting of a male and female (just since the beginning of time, mind you).

I guess Gov. Chris Gregoire, Jon Snyder (who is sponsoring the resolution) and Mike Allen know more than the creator what is in the best interest of society! Maybe they should stick with the issues of running our city!

Sue Bruscia

Medical Lake

Hands off initiatives

Last month, Councilwoman Amber Waldref proposed a nonbinding resolution supporting a constitutional amendment to reverse the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling. It’s a nonpartisan issue. Unlimited, anonymous, corporate and millionaire donations to candidates will kill our democracy. It’s unfettered buying of politicians.

Republican council members couldn’t bring themselves to support it. They agreed it was problematic, but wouldn’t go on record saying corporations are not people and money is not speech.

Last Monday, the same Republican members held a briefing. The subject was their intent to remove the direct citizens initiative process. They initially said Spokane needed to be in line with the state initiative process. By the end of the standing-room-only meeting, they admitted they weren’t required to fix it.

No other city or municipality in Washington has done it. No one spoke in favor. Someone read a 2009 Mike Fagan quote, in which he opposed state plans to do the same thing he now wants to do to us.

On April 16, they could vote to remove this path to democratic participation. They would eliminate the voice of real citizens but not challenge the “voice” of corporations: money.

Rene Torrence

Spokane

Shame on Deer Park district

Shame on Deer Park School District. They have reduced this levy vote to a cry for sympathy for our schoolchildren.

Please educate yourselves on what is really happening with the money the schools receive. Go to the Washington state superintendent website for the facts – http://www.k12.wa.us/safs/reports.asp – and look up some of the pay and budgeting information for area schools.

You will find that Deer Park has a superintendent paid well over $100,000 per year and five principals paid in excess of $90,000 per year. This may seem OK until you consider that every school district in this area (there are 11 nearby without even going into Stevens County) all have the same bloated high-paid upper-level administrative staff.

If these schools are serious about managing costs why don’t they consider merging districts, stop duplicating services and utilize the ability to purchase supplies in larger bulk?

Washington state is required to fund basic education, and the school districts just want more, so instead of the high-paid administrative staff taking reductions in salary, they just threaten to cut student programs and teaching staff.

George Bacon

Clayton, Wash.

Club made tough choices

Regarding the April 2 article in The Spokesman-Review, “Layoff a shock after a lifetime of work.”

In these financial times, it’s not business as usual – not for employees or for employers. All businesses face challenges, including the Spokane Club, where reorganization and sacrifices have been made at every level of our organization in order to ensure membership retains its value to our members.

Last year, the club was compelled to restructure our catering department in order to remain financially competitive and stable. Unfortunately, this process included cutting some positions and restructuring others, including compensation. To be fair to our employees, we created an application and selection process for the new positions. We received both internal and external applications, and all internal applicants were hired.

One employee chose not to apply. We respect that choice. Contrary to the article, the club does not and did not “appeal unemployment filings.” As we do with every departure from our organization, we supplied the appropriate information to the state, which ultimately granted benefits. We are pleased with that result.

John Pilcher

CEO, Spokane Club

Spokane Club earns support

As the subject of the April 2 Spokane Club article, I would like to state a couple of thoughts in the interest of fairness.

Although the way the club has shed dozens of long-term employees over the past couple of years has been sad and sometimes handled in a way that is difficult to comprehend, it is true that management has been dealing with difficult problems. Historic buildings call for constant, expensive maintenance. Membership is down. Competition is fierce.

Believe me, the club is not some elitist, snobby bastion of Gilded Age excess. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know hundreds of members and board members over the 18 years that I worked there; so many kind, gracious and generous people. Employees knock themselves out daily to provide a safe, welcoming and beautiful environment for families to unwind, entertain friends and relatives, do business, and get healthy.

Management teams come and go, but the Spokane Club has been here for over 100 years and is a local gem, with a variety of fun activities for both members and non-members. The staff is wonderful and caring.

Don’t take my word for it. Check it out for yourself.

Linda Hall

Spokane

Masters control energy agenda

Why doesn’t America have a national energy policy that provides affordable fuel for transportation? Don’t look to President Barack Obama, the secretary of energy, or our congresswoman for answers. “Drill baby drill” isn’t going to send cheap gasoline to the pump because expensive technology is required for production. No corporation is going to flood our market with cheaper gasoline and sell it below the cost of production.

Why are we still driving cars that weigh over 4,000 pounds and have 300-horsepower engines? It’s because both government and corporations benefit from wasting gasoline. The more we waste; the more the government collects in fuel and vehicle taxes, as many license fees are based on weight and the sales tax is based on price. More expensive and larger cars provide more profits and increase fuel sales for businesses.

If cars are redesigned and become more fuel efficient, the taxes and profits from transportation would decrease. No government or corporation wants conservation. They want consumers to spend and waste, and that’s why we don’t have a national energy policy of conservation.

Saving one gallon per day would mean $1,500 per year for each car owner, but lower profits and taxes for our masters.

Pete Scobby

Spokane

Censorship is censorship

I agree with Tim Hamm’s statement (March 31) when he says “discussions are good.” I also agree with his assertion that censorship prevents important discussions from occurring. I find it hypocritical that Hamm thinks that religious freedoms end beyond a church’s front door. Isn’t the idea of muzzling religious people, once they step out of church, censorship?

Apparently, Hamm and others who agree with his line of reasoning have not read our Constitution. The First Amendment reads, in part, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech. … ”

If Hamm is serious in his line of reasoning, he will not want to limit or censor any kind of speech, even that which he finds offensive or disagrees with.

Tony Caruso

Spokane