Letters - Oct. 21, 2010

Maintain

We believe Cathy McMorris Rodgers is the same common sense candidate we had at the time of the primary election.

Nothing gained or lost by the absence of the canceled debate.

We urge the voters to maintain the three to one margin exercised in the primary - a good way to say "Thank you, Cathy."

Gerald Druffel, Carol Druffel, Clarkston

Remember

If our economy is bad, you might notice it is getting better and that’s because the GOP is no longer in the driver’s seat driving us into the ditch. As our president so aptly put it, his administration has got the car back on the road and driving in the right direction.

To help him keep it on the road Patty Murray needs to be re-elected to the Senate,n and Daryl Romeyn needs to replace our present "say no to all stimulus legislation" representative. As you vote, remember who put us in this situation in the first place.

Joan Harris, Pullman

Smears

Esther Wilson repeatedly states there is a smear campaign against her. We feel every time Esther opens her mouth to a radio interview or an interview with the local newspaper(s) she is smearing every office within the Auditor’s Office. We would like to state the facts and not the opinions of Esther Wilson concerning the Election Department.

1. Esther, a ballot resolution cannot be in an election if the resolution is not received. It has been recommended to all the taxing districts to send their resolutions by certified mail. This would be proof that a resolution had been sent and received.

2. Esther, you refer to the Oakesdale ballots, two people living at the same residence; one receives their ballot the other does not. It proves the ballots were sent. You state Eunice Coker is responsible for the ballots once they have been mailed. Explain to us how you would handle this situation? Would your idea be to hand deliver them? The Spokane Post Office, Colfax Post Office and Oakesdale Post Office all looked into the situation and no explanation could be given.

3. Esther, you state the computer hacking is a smear campaign. Just because there is no written policy within the county does not make computer hacking legal. I’m sure if the shoe were on the other foot and Michael Largent hacked into your computer you would not be so understanding. You state in the Whitman County Gazette article there is no evidence proving you did this, the police report taken after the incident states differently. If you feel you have being smeared this is of your own doing.

4. Esther, you also are always stating the finance department is in such a mess and you blame the Auditor for this. You worked in finance which is not the Auditor’s office. So, if the finance department is in such a mess, I believe you are part of the problem, not Eunice.

5. Esther, you also refer to the Colfax School District’s ballots having to be re-issued. You are correct, a mistake was made and we did our best to remedy the problem. You mention the cost, but if you look at how much money has been spent in the Finance Department not only on county employees but also having to out source the work it has cost the county thousands and thousands of dollars for the last few years.

6. Esther, you have never been in the Election Department to ask any questions you have written about. We would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have, instead of you getting information from other individuals who have never worked in elections.

Debbie Hooper, Karen Bafus (Hooper and Bafus serve as elections supervisor and technician, respectively, in the auditor’s office.)

Another top 10

The Mayor of Palouse doesn’t dislike Mr. Farr, though he certainly has good reason to be exasperated by him. Really, who doesn’t like a guy who uses bullying, intimidation and harassment to try and further his cause? But Mr. Farr shouldn’t sell himself short. Nearly every other resident of Palouse who has heard or read about his actions recently has good cause to dislike him. Here are my top ten:

10. He can’t seem to advance a property development project by following city code, the WA State Dept of Health requirements or, frankly, good ole common sense.

9. He has attacked every city leader and staff member that has tried to help him, sometimes with abusive language and personal attacks.

8. He attempts to recruit others to advance his cause to abuse our Mayor by weaving elaborate fabrications of wrongdoing.

7. He felt the need to sic one of his minions on our Mayor’s employer to make sure he was punished for spending a little time caring for the community he loves during his workday. The community responded by throwing the mayor a party to compensate him for his lost wages.

6. He thinks it’s appropriate to intimidate city leaders by threatening to bring a gun to city council meetings as a "visual protest against the workings of the city."

5. He feels compelled to harass other property developers, who know what they are doing, for no apparent reason.

4. He continues to badger the city over fill material placed on what is now his property by a former property owner. The WA State Dept of Health has no problem with that, by the way.

3. He had one of his toadies devote their time to maintaining a website to attack the Mayor. That website is now defunct, thanks to the many responders who would not allow the attacks to go unchallenged.

2. He continues to submit copious amounts of non-specific public records requests, often on the same topic, already asked and answered. This action has further made the case at the state level that abusers need to be dealt with to protect the government, press, and public from people that are plugging up and overburdening the PRR system for their own personal vendettas.

1. And the number one reason we have to dislike Mr. Farr? He is causing all these problems for our fair town and a PO Box is his only official tie to Palouse...that’s right, his actual residence is 5-6 miles outside our town limits. And let’s not forget that at this moment in time he doesn’t even own any of the property he is making such a big stink about. He is acting on behalf of someone else who prefers to hide in the shadows and let someone else do her dirty work.

Tracy Milano, Palouse