Letters to the editor for Nov. 24
One issue is not enough
Lizzie Carp’s argument to support Bernie Sanders because of his housing policy prompts my plea to expand your vision beyond a single issue when deciding to support a presidential candidate.
When I review candidates, two characteristics “Trump” others. Honesty is one. Can I trust them? That’s essential in crisis. Can they achieve consensus? (Bernie fails.) We don’t need a policy wonk (Elizabeth Warren), rather a visionary who can inspire our nation and global community.
We just elected a President based on unrelated single issues. Check one: gun control, immigration, abortion, economy, drain the swamp. What happened to the psyche of our nation and our position in the global community? Certainly honesty and compromise were ignored as we are so painfully aware.
If I had authority, the aisle dividing our elected officials in Congress and state legislative chambers would be eliminated. Mix up the seating chart so adversaries sit next to one another. Start some civil dialogue. Maybe even develop friendships outside party lines.
A second change would be to have a President on Inauguration Day renounce any party affiliation. You now represent America, not your party. After leaving office, that President remains unaffiliated. They join a club of senior statesmen/women whose counsel is sought, knowing it will not be biased based on party dictates, rather what is best for our world.
Considering my top prerequisites, front runners are Pete Buttigieg and John Kasich, if he runs. Their campaigns would return dignity and meaningful debate to the election.
Message to the state: This is not a parking Issue
The state Department of Enterprise Services (DES) response to homelessness along the Deschutes Parkway is an opportunity for the state to address the realities of the homelessness crisis that cities face every day. Homelessness is not a city-level problem and the state is the appropriate governmental level, not cities, to fund and provide services.
DES, this is not a parking issue, it is a statewide social disaster that needs the resources and capabilities of a state response.
Cities the size of Olympia lack the financial wherewithal and skill sets to run complex medical and social programs. Drug treatment, mental health treatment and facilities, medical care and income inequality are, at a minimum, state issues.
That’s especially true when Olympia offers services and homeless-tolerant policies that its surrounding cities and county do not, and it draws more homeless into the city. A statewide response more fairly funds the costs across the geography of where the homeless come from. Further, the homeless do better when they can remain in the places in which they have a support network of family, friends and neighbors.
This is not a parking issue. DES needs to kick this issue “upstairs” and we all need to urge the state to create a “Homeless Response Crisis Funding Task Force” to act on increasing the resources available and fairly distribute the costs and burdens of addressing homelessness.