Letters to the editor for Friday, Jan. 9

Triway doesn't care a fig for neighbors

The story, "Triway abandons West Bay plan," quotes company representative Jeannette Hawkins saying they are withdrawing their applications to raise heights and damage residents' views because, "After talking with the ... neighborhood, we've decided that we'd like to work with them and not against them at this point."

If Triway cared a fig for the neighbors, they would have decided against building 90-foot condos on the isthmus. Hundreds of people turned out at meetings to object to that; maybe 50 people complained at the recent meeting about raising West Bay heights.

Perhaps there's another reason. The main legal argument in the state's review of the isthmus rezone Council members (Jeff) Kingsbury, (Joan) Machlis, (Rhenda Iris) Strub, (Mayor Doug) Mah and (Craig) Ottavelli voted to give Triway will be that an "overriding public interest" in getting downtown housing justifies damaging views.

This August, Hawkins wrote the council: "When members of the public state that Triway should move Larida Passage to another location, as if there is one, and as if 2.3 acres are available elsewhere, their suggestion is without merit."

But once council members voted, Triway unveiled this West Bay clone of its isthmus project — 150 waterfront condos with offices and retail in "the heart of Olympia," as their Web site says. That makes it hard to argue legally that there's no place else for housing and an "overriding public interest" requires building on the isthmus.

Once the isthmus rezone's settled, rediscovered needs for the heights they're abandoning "at this point" may well override Triway's sudden neighborly concerns.

Thad Curtz, Olympia

Applauding act of moral leadership

I thank Dr. Marc Stern for his professional courage in choosing to resign from his post as medical director for the Washington State Department of Corrections. His refusal to participate at any level in Washington state executions is an act of moral leadership that we all can admire and appreciate.

Dr. Stern's resignation brings to mind a similarly courageous act of refusing to participate in a system of criminal justice that sanctions capital punishment.

In 1995, Justice Robert F. Utter resigned from the Washington State Supreme Court because of his belief that no matter how often execution procedures are reviewed, the death penalty is inherently fraught with "arbitrariness, unreason, and injustice," and that the death penalty "squanders the legal and moral resources of our nation ... ."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun made a similar observation in 1994, when he declared, "From this day forward, I no longer will tinker with the machinery of death." He went on to predict that eventually the court would conclude that "the death penalty must be abandoned altogether."

Only when enough of us refuse to participate in the killing will we be able to pull out the supports from under the misguided and unethical practice of capital punishment.

Alice Curtis, Olympia

It's not that difficult

It is challenging to keep discussion of snow removal in Olympia from getting buried by invective, spinning into satire, or sliding out of control, so to speak.

In a neighborly spirit, I suggest this: get a plow. Lower the plow until it stops moving, push forward. Once you see the road again, dump salt and sand on it.

Otavio Lima, Shelton

Taxpayers got a real snow job

The city's decision to go cheap on snow equipment has cost the taxpayers plenty. It has cost business owners (like myself) revenue and caused lost wages to those who could not get to work.

There has been road damage from impact of vehicles bouncing around like some monster truck rally and damage to public transportation, too. Many now have to pay the cost of personal vehicle damage caused by trying to get to their jobs. Bills don't take snow days.

I'm hoping that Olympia's city managers have learned a lesson with the recent weather events. I was baffled when I saw snow plows not clearing any actual snow until I learned that they were "rubber tipped" plows. Then I was dumbfounded. Really?

Rubber tipped? Ever try to dig a hole with a rubber shovel? I grew up in New England, so please excuse my sarcasm. I do commend the hard working people of the city who did their best with substandard gear.

As a taxpayer and constituent I expect to see a better plan for our future winter weather events by acquiring and using proper equipment and de-icer. Your vote may depend on it.

Greg Hilchey, Olympia

Hibernate, don't try to negotiate roads

I ask the critics of the snow-removal efforts in December, "What part of rare and historic event did you not understand?"

Did you really have to be out on the roads? Or did you get a case of cabin fever? Could you have asked one of your many neighbors with a SUV to transport you? Of course, plenty of SUVs end up in the ditches, too. The possession of the equipment is not de facto proof of one's ability to use it. No doubt a large share of the frustration stems from the fact that your average South Puget Sound citizen is just not accustomed to driving in the white stuff.

For those of us experienced with it, this event was only mildly challenging. I drove every day during the storms from Tumwater to Tenino and back in my pint-size, 2-wheel-drive pickup without chains.

So in a decade or two when we next experience such an event, please accept the limitations of the snow-removal crews. This isn't New Hampshire. Thank them for not destroying your lawn and your car with salt and for saving on expensive road repairs by keeping rubber blades on the plows.

And admit your limitations. You don't know how to drive in the snow, and the hilly, pedestrian-laden environs of Olympia are a bad place for you to learn. Keep your pantry stocked and prepare to stay home. It's winter. Hibernate.

Jim Belli, Tumwater

Israel does not want peace

There are hardly words to describe the atrocities taking place in Gaza.

Israel, with weapons we provided, have killed hundreds, injured thousands, and destroyed schools, universities, police stations, mosques full of worshipers, private homes and government buildings. They are conducting this rampage on a population of 1.5 million people imprisoned within a small strip of land, guarded on all sides to prevent their escape.

This is not simply a case of Israel defending itself against Hamas terrorists who are firing rockets into Israel.

Palestinians have suffered 60 years of anger and frustration for having been forced from their ancestral homes and villages by European Jews in 1948.

Receiving noncompensation, many Palestinians have since lived in refugee camps — poor and landless.

You and I would be angry to see Israelis living large upon lands they stole from us.

We might even elect militant leadership like Hamas; the docile Mahmoud Abbas certainly failed to deliver peace and justice for the Palestinians.

Israeli leaders say they want peace but continue to seize Palestinian lands in the West Bank where they construct "Jews only" settlements and build roads across Palestinian lands that Palestinians are forbidden to use.

Israel's actions don't demonstrate a desire for peace but a desire to further to dispossess the Palestinians. There is natural gas off the Gaza shoreline.

It's likely that is what Israel really wants. Tell our politicians to shut off the billions to Israel and demand a fair resolution of Palestinian grievances if Israel really wants peace.

Carol Wilson, Olympia