Letters to the editor — April 18

Voters cannot let the children down

It’s not always that one is given a second chance to do the right thing. Yet that is exactly what the voters in the North Thurston Public Schools district are being given May 20 — a second chance. The voters cannot let our children down as they did with the early 1990s levy failures. I watched as many valuable programs were cut and my own grandchildren moved from NTPS because of the reduced services.

If the levy fails, the district will have to cut $17.5 million from the budget. Such cuts will have a far-reaching affect on our community. Not only will it mean less programs and services for our children, there will also be many livable wage full-time teaching and support staff positions permanently lost.

North Thurston is asking for a replacement maintenance and operations levy which means that it is NOT a new tax, it’s a continuation of what we are all paying now. Property owners will not see a dramatic increase in their taxes.

I urge my fellow voters to do the right thing and vote “yes” for the North Thurston Public Schools levy!

James Echtle, Lacey

Abortion is always morally wrong

Twice during the past year, dedicated men, women and children of all faiths participated in the 40 Days For Life campaign outside Planned Parenthood in Olympia praying for an end to abortion. Every Friday, a group continues to gather to pray.

I participated in the 40 Days campaign almost every Saturday and at no time were we ever vocal, except in prayer, despite the fact that people going by on foot, in cars and on bikes would often swear at us and one group of young, “greener-types” performed a crude choreographed dance and threw glitter-filled condoms at us. We did not make any comments to them at all but kept praying.

The signs that we displayed during the 40 Days Campaign promoted adoption and life. We handed out replicas of unborn babies at 12 weeks showing what the unborn LIFE looks like at that point. We are far from misguided as Timothy McLeod indicated in his letter.

Praying to God to end the unnecessary killing of innocent children can hardly be considered useless. Members of our groups do support organizations in support of low- income, single parents; we foster and adopt all types of children, healthy and with special needs; we provide homes and support for unwed mothers; we provide the truth about what an abortion does to the unborn child and to the women who undergo one — something Planned Parenthood does not do.

Abortion might be legal, but it will always be morally wrong.

Paula Towne, Olympia

Blame gravity for the December floods

Many people seem almost obsessed with trying to understand why the Chehalis River flooding occurred this past December, and, more importantly, who is to blame for it. They also want to know who is responsible for preventing it from occurring again.

Well, as to blame, I place my vote with gravity. Rain falls from the sky and flows downhill to the lowest areas in the landscape. The more it rains, the more water flows downhill until valley floodplains begin to FLOOD when rainfall becomes excessive.

Intelligent people should understand there is nothing that can be done to prevent this natural phenomenon from occurring. Expecting the federal government to build dikes to protect us from floodwaters is exactly why we have all of the floodplain damage from flooding in the first place. Sure, the dikes work fine until they eventually fail, and then everyone that got baited into living in the floodplain suffers as the waters rise and everything gets destroyed.

Instead of building dikes to control where floodwaters go, it would be much wiser to build mounds that would elevate things of value above the height of floodwaters. People on every floodplain farm should construct two such earthen mounds, one for livestock to temporarily flee too, and one where motorized vehicles could be parked.

All floodplain buildings should also be placed atop elevated mounds, or built on pilings, as should the freeway. The old idea of trying to force floodwaters to go where they do not want to is just that — an old idea.

Steve Shanewise, Olympia

Olympia should impose a bag tax

Our family tries hard to bring canvas bags when we go shopping at the grocery store and we actually feel guilty when we forget and come home with 20 or so of those cheap plastic petroleum products that cashiers hand out like it’s a contest to see who can get rid of them first.

We often feel like outcasts when we check out and quickly throw our own canvas bags before the cashier is able to score a few new points. However something happened recently that made me feel like we are not as alone as we thought.

I don’t know, maybe it was the afterglow from the news reports about the recent Seattle bag tax initiative. Seattle grocery stores will begin charging for those environmental earthsores, and the money collected will support environmental initiatives. But at my recent trips to two grocery stores on the west side, one cashier actually thanked me for bringing my own bag, and at another the customer before me had her own canvas bag. At both stores, we all discussed the issue and agreed Olympia should follow in Seattle’s footsteps.

Let’s not let the afterglow of the media coverage fade. Let’s use the enthusiasm in the grocery store checkout lines to pass our own bag tax in Olympia.

Let’s use the money collected to enhance local green projects that will offset our petroleum and paper bag footprints.

Robert Kam, Olympia

Lacey has become a populous wasteland

I would have to agree with the letter “Lacey is a greedy city.” This community is growing like a cancerous tumor and is consuming everything in its path.

It is so sad to see a community with a small-town atmosphere explode into a populous wasteland. Trees are plowed under in a blink of an eye and cars are backed up in traffic as far as a person can see. I will have to agree that growth within a community is essential because stagnation can only lead to decay but it must be painstakingly planned to control its pace and detail.

Before too long we will hear, “Bad boy, bad boy, whatcha gonna do — Cops in Lacey, Washington.”

Why can’t we all enjoy a slow growth while preserving the trees, the natural beauty and small town atmosphere that was once here?

Brian Cooley, Lacey

Woodland Creek Park should have area for dogs

Past citizens of our area had the foresight to set aside areas for the common good for all of us. Often they had to take risks and work hard to accomplish that goal.

For example, Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia was slated to be a parking lot but instead it stands now as a sylvan jewel amid an urban jungle.

I ask that we now use foresight and set aside off-leash dog park areas and specifically plead that an area of Lacey’s Woodland Creek Park now used by many dog owners unofficially be designated officially safe for us to let our pets do what comes naturally — romp.

Rules can be much more easily enforced in such an area. Those of us who have raised children now have our beloved pets we wish to favor. Dog owners network as a community in the same way parents of young children do as they watch them play.

Say yes to dog park space.

Gail James, Lacey

Rural residents need voice on flooding

As a three-time flood victim, I’ve experienced more than $100,000 damage, I’ve kept my peace and now, it is time to speak.

We sit between the Chehalis River headwaters and Pacific Ocean. Every paved driveway or parking lot contributes to more runoff into our house. The urban litter floats away and heads our way. We had a lot of surprises in December 2007.

Now about this flood district.

The members will be cities or a tribe. But the majority of people in this watershed live rurally. Who will really represent the repeatedly flooded rural residents of Thurston County or Lewis County?

Who decided the Chehalis Tribe can represent Oakville?

A case in point: Many locals objected to raising the casino road. We hired an attorney to battle this action by the Chehalis Tribe. We lost and it cost us. Will they really speak for us or Oakville or Thurston County?

No city crew or county department has repaired our road, no one will remove the waste and trash which floated in from the urban areas, or the highway gravel which landed on our land, or the downed trees — which all have to be removed at our expense.

Yes, I think rural land owners are entitled to more voting power. We pay taxes based upon our acreage and we will be assessed by this flood district the same way.

Shame, shame on those who want to limit our right to vote.

Dave Palmer, Oakville