Letters for April 21, 2024

Look for other solutions, Lisa

So, Lisa Brown wants to raise yours and my property taxes. I think we all knew this would be an easy ask for her. That’s the way she is used to problem solving; it’s not her money she’s spending, it’s yours. Her threat is “if you want a safer city, this is your only option.”

Maybe Lisa should look for other options for taking care of these problems she’s facing. I know that in the past couple years everyone’s property taxes have increased, but where did all of that money go? There’s got to be another way to tackle these problems. It’s so easy to say more money. They will never have enough. There will always be a reason that more money is needed. We need to hold these “more money” politicians accountable for spending our money. Consequently, rent will increase to cover that tax increase, which will be blamed on the landlord. In actuality, Lisa Brown is to blame because she’s not looking to other solutions. A vote “no” when this comes to the ballot this fall is a vote to hold politicians accountable.

Laurie Worden

Spokane

Send a Democrat to Congress for restoration

When I moved to Washington in 1968, I worked with my husband to pass Referendum 20, a ballot measure permitting abortions in the early months of pregnancy. The Spokesman-Review endorsed the measure, which passed statewide in 1970 by 56.4% – the first time a state had ratified abortion rights by a vote of the people.

Three years later, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Roe v. Wade, superseding the Washington law and broadening the right to health care and individual choice for my generation and that of my daughters.

Now, a far-right court in the Dobbs decision (2022) has eradicated Roe, withdrawing a major constitutional right for the first time in our history. Former president and serial womanizer Donald Trump is bragging about his role in nullifying our rights. Now, 25 million women live in states that have banned or severely restricted abortion, including Idaho.

Washington is not safe from this catastrophe. The 2024 election could turn us into another Idaho if Republicans seize power and enact a national abortion ban.

The Republican candidates vying to replace Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers this fall are all Trump sycophants and abortion foes. We cannot send any of them to Congress to eliminate our rights to bodily autonomy.

It is essential to send a Democrat to Congress in the 5th Congressional District who understands that reproductive issues should be left in the hands of women, their partners and their doctors – not Republicans intent on policing the bedroom.

Karen Dorn Steele

Spokane

Unfetter our letters

It is a crying shame that The Spokesman-Review has chosen to narrow the scope of the letters section to purely local and regional issues. This year, we face what are arguably the most crucial national elections in more than 160 years. The choices made will affect all of us personally, perhaps far more, ultimately, than provincial topics.

The letters section of major regional newspapers are unique and vital forums for public discussion; there is no other comparable venue in which citizens can express their views to a general audience. To focus on purely local subjects to the exclusion of wider and more existential concerns deprives readers of an essential resource: the opinions of our peers on a manifold of essential matters of national and global importance.

Please unfetter your letters section and let your readers speak their minds on the broad range of vital themes, not just those that originate in our own circumscribed locality.

Dick Warwick

Oakesdale, Washington

Not the paper it used to be

I have to agree with a recent writer’s comment concerning the new policy concerning editorials. I delivered the Review for two years in the early ’ 70s, 365 days a year, now I am ashamed that the paper I delivered then has no semblance to the paper today. Now the editors have censored all letters regarding national issues. Take the southern border migrant issue off the board, although the impact to local health, education and crime policies are directly impacting our local tax rates. When my subscription expires in six months, I seriously will consider canceling after my parents and myself have more than 60 years subscribing. And to think at one point in time, I was proud to get up at 5 a.m. every day for two years.

Steve Hintyesz

Spokane

Religion Reporting Project

Bravo to Tracy Simmons for her column Monday on the Religion Reporting Project.

What must be acknowledged in support of her project is that what we think we know about God and spirit and “truth” is a function of human interpretation. Some of it is said to be inspired, and I believe much of that is true. But those “inspired” interpretations must be examined in the context of personal understandings and cultural constructs. Religions and churches are human inventions created, usually I believe, by sincere people intending to capture the essence of those inspirations and interpretations and put them to use in the world, and there is good as well as bad that comes from those efforts. But, for anyone – from our parents to our pastors to the pope or any other religious guru – to claim that they have an exclusive claim on the truth is perhaps humankind’s true original sin. And using personal belief or dogma to attack and demonize individuals whose beliefs differ from our own is indefensible. For Christians to do so is especially egregious – Christ was all about love, not hate, not creating differences but acknowledging our oneness; about seeking truth not hiding behind dogmatic barriers.

It seems to me that is what Simmons project is all about; more power to her.

Steve Blewett

Spokane

The zeal will sour

My favorite Spokesman-Review sections are Business/The Dirt and “Ask the Builder,” written by Tim Carter. The first shows initiative and enterprise backed by economic strength, which are part of this country’s greatness. The second illustrates the importance of good judgement, experience, skill and stewardship between builders, neighbors, clients and earth itself.

I am concerned with new and planned construction of multi-unit housing, especially about municipal codes and the impact of these when completed, as opposed to just plans. I am favorably impressed with existing neighbor concerns about impacts on the day-to-day life of current and future residents in these immediate areas. I am especially impressed that they do not bemoan change or new neighbors. Rather, these folks are informed and neighborly. They speak out of concern. For example, 111 letters regarding Five Mile were addressed to Spokane’s Planning Department in the SEPA public comment period, which is impressive.

Around our city, many devoted Spokane residents raise concerns about the effects of these new regulations on transportation, the environment, emergency and public services, and water management. There are also concerns about providing tax breaks to developers who encourage resident occupancy and rentals to people who aren’t paying property taxes. Will the budget deficit grow? The zeal will sour for those affected by flooding, snow, inadequate parking and reduced access to employment opportunities. Bonds and levies directed at single-family homeowners won’t help this, either. Let’s pause and listen before the concrete sets.

William Heaton

Spokane