Letters for Oct. 29

Vote for Kate Telis

There are several qualities that are important when considering a candidate for public office. First among them are honesty and integrity. Kate Telis is a longtime public servant and exemplifies both.

Alejandro Barrientos has no public office experience and fails both. Barrientos has been called out by the director of El Mercadito for being dishonest in his statement in the Voter Pamphlet about volunteering for El Mercadito. Barrientos also demonstrated lack of integrity by not respecting voters enough to prepare for the KSPS candidate forum and not knowing the names of current Spokane City Council members.

This lack of knowledge about even the most basic details about a major public office he hopes to hold is disqualifying.

Barrientos also shared in a Range Media forum that Larry Stone, one of his main campaign contributors, was one of the most ethical people he knows. Perhaps he doesn’t remember Stone taking millions of taxpayer funds to warehouse unhoused people in an industrial area initially without adequate water or toilet facilities, raising the rent and declining to sell to the city at the appraised value.

Looking at campaign finance reports, it is obvious Larry Stone and local and regional developer and Realtor organizations selected a candidate without any public service experience, who is dishonest and who doesn’t respect voters.

Kate Telis is a highly qualified candidate with years of public service experience, is honest, and who will serve her constituents, not special interest groups.

Vote for Kate Telis.

Sylvia Oliver

Spokane

Vote for Lynden Smithson

I’m asking for the citizens of Spokane to make a change, and elect Lynden Smithson for municipal court judge, Position 2.

The sitting judge seems to work from the misplaced altruistic premise of the same soft approach for the same offenders, over and over again. These decisions from her bench are not good for the defendants or Spokane. The defendants do not receive enough supervised time to ensure the chance of a treatment program to take hold, leaving the defendants unchanged and addicted. The city of Spokane is then left to pick up the pieces, both financially, and with great social cost.

The people of Spokane have a right to know the recidivism rates in her courtroom. But to date, she has not released those numbers.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with Mr. Smithson for many years on several projects, including the Domestic Violence Unit and the Community Re-Licensing Project. Lynden Smithson will bring sound experience to the bench. While he comes from a place of compassion for the situation, he also knows that sometimes you have to use other tools to accomplish the goal. This goal, as a judge, is to bring justice to the situation.

Lynden Smithson will do just that.

It’s time for a change.

Debby Kurbitz

Spokane

Zack Zappone support

Please join us in our support for City Council District 3 representative Zack Zappone.

He is a committed public servant, a dedicated teacher and a proud family man. He is a fighter for working and middle-class families – not special interests. Also, we respect him for running a clean campaign.

Bill and Jeanine McKinney

Spokane

Support Arlene Fisher for Liberty Lake Council

Arlene is a natural to be on council. She knows budgets and the intricacies of city finance, what you can do and what you can’t do with certain funds. She was deeply involved in the creation and financing of the Union Gap City Library and Senior Center. She cares about people, safety and logical growth.

Vote for Arlene Fisher for Position 6.

John Hodkinson, City of Union Gap Mayor

Union Gap, Wash.

Support for parks and levy bond

As the CEO and board chair of the University District Development Association, this letter expresses strong support for the combined parks levy and school bond.

Spending on both can be deprioritized in sobering economic times, leaving them critically and chronically underfunded. The cumulative effect has a pervasive negative impact on our neighborhoods and quality of life.

Nobody likes to pay taxes, but this is an unprecedented collaboration and a historic opportunity to invest in Spokane’s future. By working together vs. in silos, our combined investments will save money, use existing resources more efficiently, and vastly improve: Youth Wellness (programs and facilities that encourage physical activity and reduce screen time); Healthy Neighborhoods (upgraded schools and parks to strengthen community connections); Economic Impact (new job creation through construction projects and regional events); Public Safety (enhanced security with more park rangers, better lighting, improved maintenance); and Education/Workforce Development (modernized schools, expanded career and technical education, and new outdoor learning environments).

A 2015 New York Times article about a Stanford University study found that walking through nature for a short time – even in a city – changes the brain’s chemistry and improves one’s mood and outlook. Research also points to the economic value of open space, indicating that protecting parks raises property values, reduces health care costs, attracts spending, and creates jobs.

Let’s capitalize on this momentous opportunity and meaningfully boost the trajectory of our regional academic and urban environments for years to come.

Juliet Sinisterra

Spokane

One state is stronger

Rob Chase, 4th district representative, held a Town Hall on Oct. 20 at the Spokane Valley Library. His purpose was to educate his voters about House Bill 2085 which would create two “autonomous regions” within Washington. I asked Rep. Chase if he had considered the effects these autonomous regions would have on rural Eastern Washington hospitals which rely on state assistance to remain solvent. For example, RCW 74.60.150 Hospital Safety Net Fund, is providing East Adams Hospital in Ritzville $800,000 this year, keeping their doors open a little longer.

I also asked Rep. Chase if he voted for the safety net bill. He responded that he didn’t know and then added that he has a relative who is a hypochondriac and goes to the doctor more than necessary: “Maybe people just need to go to the doctor less.”

Aside from being flippant and seemingly unaware of the current worsening state of rural health care, Chase’s remark is indicative of the widespread lack of awareness and concern about the deteriorating financial health of a vital resource.

It is a long, expensive ambulance ride from Chewelah to Spokane when St. Joseph’s can’t afford to operate due to ongoing assaults against Medicare/Medicaid payments.

Rep. Chase , rural hospitals and clinics across the state are barely hanging on and the current politics offers them little hope for survival.

Splitting Washington, may appease your fans, but it will not solve the many problems facing smaller communities.

Patricia Dempsey

Spokane Valley

The role of public schools

An essential purpose of our public education system is ensuring that we have a well-informed citizenry. In order to sustain our system of government, Americans must be educated on their role as citizens in our democracy and their responsibility to make decisions that determine the future of our nation. Nationally, students should be learning civics and government and the concepts and principles that underpin our democracy. As future voters, these students should be prepared to fulfill their roles as citizens when they graduate.

In order to accomplish the goal of having informed citizens in K-12 public education, schools should be focusing on comprehensive civics education, including understanding rights and government, promoting critical thinking, and developing skills for civic participation. One way this can be achieved is by teaching democratic principles, encouraging student engagement in the classroom and community, fostering respect for diversity, and developing the ability to make informed, thoughtful decisions.

Mark Bitz is the right person to work with the Central Valley School Board to help bring this about.

Robert McGinty

Liberty Lake

Our streets are not for sale

Trinity Catholic School has petitioned the Spokane City Council to vacate Cedar Street between Montgomery and Carlisle. The reason they are giving is for the safety of the children and employees crossing the street.

Cedar Street is in the middle of a residential neighborhood, with the usual low -volume traffic that we neighbors use all of the time. We have 51 neighbors on Carlisle and Montgomery that have signed a petition that is in opposition to this street vacation. The city has already placed a calming roundabout at Montgomery and Cedar where the children and employees cross the street. Apparently, these children, under adult supervision, in front of a calming roundabout and a 10 mph sign can’t safely cross the street in a marked crosswalk. I thought that I had never heard anything so preposterous in my life, until we found out the real reason. Trinity Catholic School wants to build a 5,775 -square-foot day care building. Under their current master campus plan they didn’t have enough property to qualify under the FAR Building regulations. So under the guise of children safety this City Council is considering selling our publicly owned street to satisfy their FAR building regulation requirements. We the neighbors find this proposal to be outrageous. We urge all concerned citizens reading this article, to contact your City Council at testimony@spokanecity.org by Oct. 29, 5 p.m. to voice your opposition. You can also send your emails to citycouncil@spokanecity.org before Nov. 3 to have your voice heard. This is our neighborhood and these are our streets and we want to keep it that way!

Mel McGinnis

Spokane

Election letters deadline has passed

As announced at the beginning of election season, Monday was the deadline to submit and confirm letters to the editor in regards to the election. Beyond today’s paper, we will no longer run election-related letters to the editor. To all of those who wrote us this election season, we thank you.