Find common ground

After watching the disjointed and poorly handled dismissal of Dr. Bob Lutz - maybe he was the wrong person to get fired - I was extremely dismayed by Mayor Woodward’s response of “…best news all day.” I was concerned that this action against Dr. Lutz came during a time of severe political upheaval. And while I do not have all of the facts that brought our board to their decision, it was good to see this organization take two steps back, to hold a public hearing, and to follow due process and legal protocol.

I would like to emphasize that it was not Dr. Lutz’s handling of the COVID pandemic, nor his decisions to hold off on opening up Spokane that led to his dismissal — something our mayor would do well to remember. While she may have been placed in office by Spokane Republicans, it would be nice to see her follow our president-elect’s example and try to be a mayor for ALL Spokanites.

It is time to leave the politics behind us, and to work together to overcome the devastation and destruction that we have faced as a nation during this pandemic. This is not the time to relax our safeguards, certainly not the time to re-open Spokane. Not when our hospitals are at 99% capacity. Maybe we can all, myself included, take a step back, take a deep breath, and find our common ground here in the Pacific Northwest.

Renate Fischer

Spokane Valley