Quintrall owed apology

I don’t know Jan Quintrall, but must defend her against ill-researched diatribes by Nicholas Deshais (Jan. 25) and Doug Clark (Jan. 27). A $400 lunch for 12 employees sounds like a lot, but let’s break it down to specifics.

Cost of food and beverages alone appears to be around $325. Add $48.75 tip; $28.28 tax on food and beverages; total bill comes to $402.03. To get a price per meal, divide the food cost of $173 ($325 less $152 for beverages) among 12 (probably 13 if you count Quintrall) lunches equals $14.42 each, well below the Spokane County $18 per diem lunch cost.

Quintrall bears no guilt for this luncheon. This was a six-hour team-building retreat (including room rental), not simply a “lunch.” Rather, two other entities are at fault: Deshais and Clark for their grandstanding headline-grabbing tactics and not digging into the story.

What they wrote was factual but not the whole truth, leaving us with a thoroughly biased portrait of another spendthrift Spokane official. They both owe her an apology.

Elaine Bartlett

Spokane