Letters for Sunday, June 21

‘Right to cooling’ could hurt the people it’s trying to help

I represent the Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium. We are a member organization representing the agencies in Spokane that build housing for our city’s most vulnerable citizens. We want to be clear that everyone has the right to live in a habitable environment and not suffer the consequences of a heat wave. What happened during the last heat dome should be a concern to everyone.

But the current “right to cooling” ordinance may hurt those people it is trying to protect. It puts the entire onerous of complying on the landlord. Our current providers of low-income housing can only charge a set amount of rent. If extra charges are required or a tenant withholds rent to purchase an AC unit, these funds must come from somewhere. In some cases, the electrical upgrades required will make it financially impossible to continue to operate buildings for our most vulnerable. The result is that we will either see deferred maintenance (hurting quality of life), a decrease in services (hurting quality of life) or buildings sold because they are not able to fund operations (hurting quality of life).

No one wants to see people suffer, but we ask that the City Council work with Avista and community partners to fund and upgrade housing across our city to reach the goal that the next time a heat dome occurs everyone is taken care of. Just please don’t do it on the back of nonprofits in our city who are already struggling to keep people housed.

Ben Stuckart

Spokane

Womack for Congress

Like so many people, I’m incredibly frustrated with Rep. Michael Baumgartner and have had my eyes locked on the midterms for the better part of two years. I was on team Carmela Conroy when we started down this road. Even then I asked myself if I was supporting her because she was the right fit, or simply because she was the only option available at the time. I spoke to many others who felt the same way, people who were desperate to rally behind someone but weren’t sure their support was based on genuine enthusiasm rather than a lack of alternatives.

As time went on and more candidates entered the race, I found myself gravitating toward David Womack. I see somebody with integrity, decades of relevant experience to address the issues we face in Eastern Washington and an ability to work with people from all sides. He listens carefully to what people have to say, he speaks honestly and he doesn’t make promises lightly. He understands that public service is exactly what it sounds like, serving the public. It’s not about recognition … or status … or scoring political points. It’s about showing up for people, doing the hard work and putting the needs of others first.

He’s a community -focused guy, and I don’t worry about him “forgetting where he came from” like I do with our incumbent or others. Womack has earned my support, and my vote, I hope he has yours as well. Let’s be the change we want to see.

Matt Johansen

Colville

Support dad’s health

Father’s Day is celebratory for many, but a reminder of deep loss for others. How many of our fathers have been lost to cancer and specifically to those types of cancer caused by tobacco?

We can let our dads know we want them to stop smoking so they can be in our lives for years to come, but the grip of addiction is too real for too many. Big Tobacco does all it can to keep as many folks addicted as possible and bring in new customers as well. That’s why cigarette taxes are a good thing. Revenue from the tax can fund and improve our state’s prevention and cessation efforts, which lag woefully behind recommended levels and is badly outpaced by the nearly $85 million in marketing poured into our state alone each year Big Tobacco.

Higher taxes on tobacco products are a good thing on so many levels. All data indicates they make people less likely to buy these deadly products and fund efforts to educate and help folks quit and keep others from ever starting. Our state has not raised the cigarette tax in 17 years and we all pay the price in the form of addiction, poor health outcomes and preventable death to the ones we love.

I ask Inland Northwest lawmakers to make this a priority in 2027 and support a $2 -per -pack tax increase on cigarettes. The lives saved are worth it.

Aliyah Cleveland

Spokane