There is an unmistakable and disturbing Chicken Little quality about the recent Spokane City Council decision to declare an emergency and pass legislation mandating a doubling of fire personnel required for responding to emergency calls. Refusing to await the facts, as requested by the fire chief, the council majority chose to legislate based on anecdote, appeasing the desires of the politically connected and influential firefighters union. In an election season, this is no way to set responsible public policy.

Having already suffered an embarrassing lapse in ethical judgment by leaking confidential attorney-client information contained in a city legal memo to the head of the Spokane firefighters union on another matter, it would have been prudent for council President Ben Stuckart to avoid even the appearance of conflict or legislative favoritism on a matter affecting the firefighters union by holding a full public hearing on this important public safety issue before acting.

Declaring a phony emergency and ignoring the request of the fire chief for an opportunity to present the facts reminds an observer of the “verdict first, trial later” standard from “Alice in Wonderland.”

Tom Keefe

Spokane