Letters for Sunday, March 8

Emergency assistance to immigrants

On Feb. 24, the Spokane City Council allocated $100,000 to assist immigrants, an admirable effort, one that in principle I support.

However, there are Spokane citizens who are not immigrants, but who truly need assistance, who are at the “ragged edge” or over it, who would say that they too or their family members are without health care, are food insecure, or lack reliable transportation. But they do not receive emergency financial assistance, and wonder why, and resent that reality.

This dichotomous reality – aid to immigrants but not to our own citizens – is being effectively used by white nationalists to drive a wedge between us who are not at the ragged edge and those U.S. citizens who are. When policy actions like this emergency assistance are planned and taken, we must also consider how we can assist our citizens; they do matter and they vote.

John Ludders

Spokane

City Council throwing away traditions and legitimacy

The recent dismissal of tradition by Spokane council members Paul Dillon and Kate Telis, as reported by The Spokesman-Review, reveals a troubling disregard for the foundations of our governance. Councilman Dillon’s quip regarding the 114th anniversary of the Titanic sinking may have been intended as a joke, but his assertion that traditions “don’t necessarily hold value” is no laughing matter.

Tradition is the backbone of American society. Our entire legal framework is rooted in common law, which derives authority from precedent and long-standing custom. This continuity provides legislators with the legitimacy to act. When a politician suggests these foundations are valueless, they undermine the stability of the very institutions they serve.

We see the consequences of this “tradition-be-damned” mindset at the state level as well. The Washington Legislature is currently attempting to upend decades of established legal tradition by proposing an income tax – a move that ignores our state’s constitutional history and the repeated will of the voters.

Governance should be a social contract between generations, not subject to the fleeting whims of the present. We deserve leaders who recognize that while change is healthy and necessary, it must be balanced with a reverence for the customs that have sustained our civic life for over a century.

Chris Bell

Spokane

Crapo’s non-answer on the SAVE Act

I’m not normally what you’d call “politically active,” but I recently wrote to Sen. Mike Crapo urging him to oppose the SAVE America Act. The bill would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. My letter made a specific, evidence-based case: Noncitizen voting in federal elections is statistically nonexistent; Kansas passed a nearly identical law that was struck down as unconstitutional in 2018 after suspending over 30,000 legitimate voter registrations; and 69 million American women whose birth certificates don’t match their married names would face disproportionate burdens under this law.

Sen. Crapo’s response didn’t mention any of it. He cited noncitizen voting in local elections – which is legal, rare and completely unrelated to federal elections – and invoked the need to “restore Americans’ faith in our electoral system.”

That framing deserves scrutiny. The erosion of faith in our elections was deliberately cultivated by politicians who are now using that manufactured doubt to justify laws that make voting harder. Sen. Crapo is an original co-sponsor of this legislation. He knows the evidence. He chose not to engage with it.

Idahoans deserve a senator who will defend every citizen’s right to vote, not construct bureaucratic obstacles in pursuit of a phantom problem. His silence on the evidence speaks for itself.

Ben Schulzke

Coeur d’Alene

Baumgartner bringing ag to the forefront in D.C.

I am a farmer in Washington’s 5th Congressional District , represented by Michael Baumgartner. Our district has a long history of representation by individuals that understand agriculture and have represented all of the district’s citizens well.

It is particularly important to agriculture to have a representative that understands farming, agriculture and its importance to the economy of the area. Rep. Baumgartner has done a very admirable job of bringing the current conditions of agriculture to the forefront in Washington, D.C.

I believe that we are fortunate to be diligently represented by Congressman Baumgartner in the U.S. Congress and will support him into the future.

Tom Harding

Sprague, Washington

Community values

I have recently shared in this format my experiences while serving on a jury here in Spokane County. I also shared with you stories about the men of my youth. In both stories I wanted to share values that shaped many of our lives and still bring us together. Members of the jury spoke with one voice and removed a pedophile from among us. The men of my youth, I wrote about, all served in the Second World War. Though each of them had different stories they shared many of the same values. Honesty, humility and a strong sense of community were held close.

Today, I wish to contrast the actions and words of our current 5th District congressman. He has openly stated that the current president lost the 2020 election. This is a fact that has been verified many times. But to this day we still hear the lies from the current administration that the 2020 election was stolen. As a result of these repeated lies some people in this country have lost faith in our election process. This is the excuse our congressman has made for voting for the SAVE America Act.

Because of these lies the 2020 election was examined for both process and outcome. The results from all around the country have proven the outcome was correct and process sound. Our representative knows this. Rather confront the lie he has chosen to vote for a bill that will remove one of our most important freedoms. He has threatened our right to decide how our state holds elections. He knows our system is sound. It has been examined and tested many times.

Which of our shared values are lacking? Is it honesty? By voting for this bill our congressman is knowingly embracing the lie. Is courage lacking? Holding up truth to power takes courage. Is it a sense of community that is lacking? By voting for this bill he is threatening our community’s choice of how we vote. Let this be a call for both parties. Bring forth candidates that exhibit values that we share. Honesty, humility, integrity and a sense of community should be a requirement for those whom would lead.

Carl Larson

Spokane

Hydropower changes to help salmon

A federal judge’s ruling this week that dam operators need to take steps to mitigate the harm their dams inflict on Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead was extremely welcome news.

Let’s be clear about what’s at stake. As many as 16 million adult salmon and steelhead used to return to the basin. Now, the annual return is under 2.5 million, and the vast majority of them are produced in hatcheries. Many Columbia-Snake River Basin populations are gone forever; 13 of those that remain are listed under the Endangered Species Act.

It is not alarmist to say that we’re running out of time. Thankfully, the federal judge in this case recognized that, as well, noting in his decision that the threats facing salmon and steelhead are “dire and immediate.”

His decision is an important step in the long-running effort to save Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead from extinction. To be sure, much more work still needs to be done. But right now, I want to celebrate a moment of good news in our region’s decadeslong effort to ensure wild salmon survive and recover.

Scott Putnam

Lewiston

First steps in promoting a healthy Snake River

I am an English Channel swimmer who trains in the Snake River at Wawaii near where I live. For a good part of the last two summers, toxic blue algae blooms, a result of the increasingly high-water temperature caused by the lower Snake River dams, have kept me from training. The blooms appear in the stillest parts of the river and if consumed cause severe liver damage to human beings and kill dogs.

I am deeply encouraged by the decision of a U.S. District judge last month that required federal dam operators to take emergency measures to protect our Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead as well as citizens who use the Snake for recreation. The injunction requires increased spill over eight federal dams in the spring and summer.

This increase in water going over the tops of dams is critical to out-migrating juvenile salmon, enabling them to get past the dams without going through a gauntlet of lethal turbines and lowering the water temperature to prevent toxic blue algae blooms. Without this policy change Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead, particularly those that return to the Snake River to spawn, are in dire straits.

Ultimately, all of the lower Snake River dams need to be removed to prevent the growing threat of extinction to many iconic fish species and to promote a healthy river for all. For now, I’m celebrating the court decision that takes the first steps of providing much-needed relief for an unhealthy river.

Amy Mazur

Moscow