Seattle Press on Line - Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

Dec 20, 2001 -- Our Invaluable City Council

To the Editor:

I really admire the way the city council handles itself in the face of adversity. With such a tight city budget to work with, they have been forced to do some real number crunching. They had to cut and trim away at services, etc. and they did such a good job they had enough left over to give themselves a nice little pay raise. Isn't that special?

Cathy Dampier

Department of Neighborhoods' Jim Diers a Hard Loss

To the Editor:

It looks like Seattle's new mayor is moving power back to centralized department programming and away from power to the people.

The amazing social invention of the Department of Neighborhoods, led by the most beloved department head in the city, Jim Diers, has been a pain in the backsides for some of the other city departments. Booting Jim may be a shift to bringing decisions downtown again, and away from the neighborhoods. Too bad for us residents.

Jim Diers should be totally proud of the incredible work he has done for our city. It has been a great ride! Neighborhoods like mine on Beacon Hill have received a boost of enthusiasm, projects, and excitement that I never thought we would see in my lifetime. All thanks to neighborhood planning.

I voted for Greg and I hope he won't lose sight of what the neighborhood planning process has contributed. The neighborhood plans have driven resources into badly needed neighborhood projects that the bureaucrats downtown never would have gotten around too, or even known were important. Residents are hanging out together, thinking about their neighborhoods, and getting really involved in civic duty. Most cities would die for that kind of community spirit.

Of course, Jim is the most beloved guy in the city for local residents. Maybe Greg is feeling a little under the shadow. How can he expect to compete for the love of locals with someone whose main duty it is to give away money and resources to neighborhoods? He should know better than to try. He should just join the effort!

Is it that Greg just can't wait to make this little town look more like a real professional bureaucracy (think King County)? I hope he knows not everything in the City is broken. And neighborhood involvement is not the opposite of professionalism.

Or maybe we are just seeing a new mayor grab the reins with too big of a squeeze. I remember when Gary Locke, a former representative in my neighborhood, became King County Executive. He jumped to centralize control and micromanage decisions. Some of us working there kind of laughed as the whole show practically came to a complete bureaucratic halt until he learned to let his employees do their jobs.

It will be a big loss to the city family to not have Jim Dier's smiling face at every local event. I know there will be some serious mourning. I hope Greg gets better advice from his new team on future decisions.

I think many, many Seattle residents won't forget this seemingly small-hearted action.

Frederica Merrell

Communists Among Us

To the Editor:

The King County Council is considering a resolution that would be the first step toward establishing a sister county relationship with a Cuban county.

Cuba is classified as one of seven terrorist countries. Have they not given asylum to plane hijackers in the past? In light of today's war and the aftermath of September 11, 2001, it is unconscionable the extremist on the Council would support such a ridiculous relationship. Yes, King County is actually considering a relationship with a terrorist country.

President John F. Kennedy placed sanctions against Cuba. Those sanctions were just strengthen last July by President G. W. Bush's administration calling them "a moral statement". Yet some King County Council members seek to undermine the federal sanctions in their lack of moral stamina.

Just last month 12 people died, among them children, while fleeing the oppression of Cuba. We may as well establish a relationship with China's Tiananmen Square, remembering the killing of dissident students.

The extreme liberals are showing their sympathies towards terrorists.

Roger W. Hancock

Protect Americans by Nationalizing Health Insurance

To the Editor:

We need National Health Insurance for our National self-defense. The recent spate of Anthrax attacks has clearly demonstrated our weakness to biological attack.

There is no better defense to biological attack than early detection and treatment. With the number of uninsured Americans expected to rise from 43 million to 60 million during this recession, many citizens cannot afford to see a physician or buy medicine. This huge number of uninsured Americans demonstrates a grave national weakness in dealing with biological attack. This weakness is not shared by other industrial nations. Almost every developed nation has National Health Insurance except America. Both President and Senator Clinton tried to correct this weakness. Their efforts were defeated by Republicans in Congress. We are weaker as nation as a result of Republican politicians serving the HMOs instead of the American people.

We cannot get early detection and treatment for biological attack if our citizens do not ALL have the financial means to pay for these services. It is time for the Republicans to put public good before private business interests and support Democratic efforts to provide National Health Insurance. Having so many uninsured puts all Americans at risk. It is time to protect America from Biological Attack.

Stephen Crockett
Co-host, www.democratictalkradio.com

Reader Comments

Discuss this article in the forums!


John Cochrane	Apr 08, 2003	Palm Desert, CA	Editor
You may have an interest in a new free website that provides a one-stop source for daily news on developments in the health care industry. Check it out at www.ehealthcareconnections.net. Best regards John D. Cochrane Editor E-Healthcare Connections jcochrane@ehealthcareconnections.net