Gulf spill a global catastrophe

I am disgusted by our politicians’ and our U.S. media’s narrow, provincial views of the BP oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.

They continually speak and write about the catastrophe’s impact on the fishing and tourist industries in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. This isn’t just a regional catastrophe, or a national catastrophe, it’s a global catastrophe.

The seawater and ocean life in the Gulf of Mexico do not stay there. The Gulf of Mexico is just an arbitrary name which we ascribe to that area of the global ocean.

Hydrocarbon-based toxins from there will circulate in the Gulf Stream to the northern Atlantic and beyond, poisoning everything. We need help from all countries to plug that hole and separate the oil from the seawater.

Public, get busy demanding that the oceans be cleaned.

DUANE KING; Olympia

Forget west side community center

Recently the West Olympia Community Visioning Group, an off-shoot of the West Olympia Business Association, announced plans to transform west Olympia by creating a community center, including a public plaza, park and other amenities, with the purchase of a 27-acre site off Cooper Point Road and Harrison Avenue. The group said it will eventually seek $3 million in city, state and federal funding to complete the project.

Recently, the city parks director recommended the City Council add the following statement to its parks plan document: should an opportunity occur for the city to take ownership (of that 27-acre site), it should be strongly encouraged.

Really?

A whopping 2.5 miles away from this supposed town center sits our diamond-in-the-rough downtown. It is a true city center, blessed by the presence and proximity of arguably the most beautiful Capitol building in the United States, by the Olympics, Puget Sound, Capitol Lake, Percival Landing, and the Farmers Market, by dozens of charming historic buildings, by an array of popular parks, by a vibrant cultural presence, including soon a major children’s museum, and last but not least, by scores of unique (and unfortunately, too often struggling) businesses owned and run by some of our community’s hardest-working citizens.

When our city has an extra million or so in its capital budget, I’d prefer it be used for a full-throttled revitalization of Olympia’s current downtown rather than a project that would further erode it, to the particular benefit of a relatively small group of Westside developers and speculators.

KRIS GODDARD; Olympia

City employees can take the bus

I think that the planners of Olympia City Hall downtown did a great job by forgetting about parking.

After all, City Hall is on or near a number of bus lines. Olympia has the best small-city bus service in the country, according to the pins they give out and anyone can access it from a park-and-ride lot.

It’s a win-win – less annoying traffic downtown and car-emission pollution is kept to a minimum. So, why the fuss? Take the bus.

DIANE MARTIN; Olympia