Letter to the Editor: Jimmy Carter’s visit to Spokane
Jimmy Carter’s visit to Spokane
In early April 1978, I had been newly hired by Spokane Mental Health to work in Child and Family Services as an outpatient therapist.
The Spokesman-Review ran a contest to find 12 people to ask President Jimmy Carter a question at his town hall meeting. I thought, ‘Well I’ve never spoken to a president before,’ so I entered the contest.
Surprisingly I was informed I had been chosen to ask him one of the 12 questions from the audience that day. When I arrived, they told me I’d be questioner No. 10. My question since I was working at Spokane Mental Health at the time, had to do with my knowledge of his wife’s interest in mental health issues in the U.S. and I was wondering what was his present agenda about mental health issues and the future of funding for mental health in the U.S.
Mr. Carter seemed pleased that I referenced his wife’s interest and was optimistic about the future of mental health spending. When I got back to work, the executive director of SMHC, Mary Higgins, called to thank me for asking such a great question and, by the way, “Who are you”? We both laughed because I had literally only just started my job two or three weeks earlier and she really had no idea who I was.
Interesting though how relevant my question remains 46 years later. It is the only time I have ever spoken with a president of the U.S.
Steve Balberg
Poulsbo, Wash
Action begets results
Emry Dinman’s Dec. 27 article “Efforts to curb crime downtown continues” is an exhaustive history and current -day saga that shows Spokesman-Review readers the many years’ failure of city officials to actually reduce and control criminal activity. Alcohol impact areas and drug paraphernalia bans are fine and dandy, but they do nothing systemically to make law abiding citizens safe while visiting downtown.
Absolute and real solutions are difficult and probably require a more macro (state and federal government) lead to make a difference. I’d challenge smoke-and-mirrors Mayor Lisa Brown and her compliant council ideologues to lead the charge by proposing moving the criminal magnet (known as the downtown STA terminal), aggressively patrolling downtown and enforcing existing laws and prosecuting every single crime.
Action begets results, rhetoric enables the status quo.
Ed Walther
Moses Lake, Wash.