Letters

Appreciated

I read your recent article explaining the maintenance problems at the Colfax Cemetery - it was very much appreciated! Kudos, too, to the elected board members who have volunteered their time to correct the problems.

I hope and pray that the new caretaker will be competent in his care of the improvements to the watering system recently installed.

Rev. Russell D. Clark,

Newport

Dark money

Last September not one Republican senator voted for a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Republican-leaning Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision and allow Congress and states to limit the amount and secrecy of money raised and spent in elections. Although a majority of 54 Democratic or Independent senators, against 42 Republican senators, voted to advance the amendment, it failed to garner the two-thirds vote needed to pass the Senate.

Prior enactment of such an amendment would have greatly limited the obscene amount of money spent on political campaigns in the last election, particularly the “dark money” spent by Republican organizations that refuse to reveal the identity of their wealthy donors.

We have long criticized other countries that try to buy elections. At least they do it with a lot less money than we do.

Norm Luther,

Spokane

Myth Or Fact?

(Steve McGehee’s first letter was not published as it was a preamble to a continuing series of responses to a recent editorial and his activities in Palouse. This is his one response.)

Gordon Forgey wants me to state my case regarding alleged misdealings at City Hall in Palouse, and I can’t think of a better way than to lay out a few of the facts and let them speak for themselves.

FACTS From the Council minutes of August 26, 2008, Mayor Echanove urged the consideration of “a web program set up by the city of Spokane Valley called “Myth or Fact” in which citizens are encouraged to submit questions to city hall regarding the validity of topics or rumors they have heard.” Sounds good ... how did this play out in practice?

On July 4, 2008, long-time Palouse resident and WSU Professor Charlotte Omoto was involved in an altercation with a new hire patrolman, Brian Dentler. She would go to the emergency room in Pullman, and he would be sworn in four days later.

Rumors immediately began to circulate that Dentler had been fired by his previous employer, the City of Pullman, and before a week passed, hints reached my desk that Police Chief Jerry Neumann had also been fired by his previous employer, the City of Brewster. I found this hard to believe since, at the time of his hiring, I not only sat on the Palouse City Council but had been appointed to the hiring committee charged to make recommendations. I can state categorically that the committee was never told by the mayor about the firing or the year-long lawsuit against Brewster filed by the Teamster’s on Neumann’s behalf.

I believed in the responsibility of a small town newspaper to clear up rumors and put “Fact” in place of “Myth”... particularly over a hot button issue like Omoto. Accordingly, as editor of The Boomerang, I first wrote the mayor on July 5 to clear up the issue. There being no reply, I wrote again on July 17. By then I had newspaper confirmation from Brewster but no supporting documents. Here is the verbatim email transcript between myself and the mayor dated September 21, 2008:

—Question: Did Canfield & Associate’s report to the city on the proposed hiring of Jerry Neumann contain the following information? That he had been terminated, that he remained off the force for thirteen months and was reinstated at a reduced rank only after over a year of arbitration between the city of Brewster and the Teamsters Union?

—Echanove: Canfield & Associates provided a complete background check and report as well as a recommendation for hire for Chief Neumann. Chief Neumann was interviewed and work history was discussed with the search committee which was made up of Council members Rick Wekenman, Jeff Snook, and Steve McGehee. Chief Neumann was very forth coming regarding his work history. ...Canfield was the carrier for both Brewster and Palouse and was able to provide firsthand information that proved to be exceptionally valuable. Within Neumann’s employment history with Brewster it shows no record of termination.

—Question: Did Canfield’s report on Brian Dentler before he was hired include information that there may have been a cloud over the circumstances of his leaving the Pullman Police Dept?

—Echanove: Canfield & Associates provided a complete background check and report as well as a recommendation for hire for Officer Dentler. Officer Dentler was interviewed, his work history was discussed (and) Dentler was very forth coming regarding his work history and his background.

I was no closer to my questions being answered. I was left with non answers that would have made Dick Nixon proud and there remained only one available option: public records requests.

It took nearly two weeks to get the information from the City Attorney’s offices of Pullman and Brewster. When it finally arrived, I had a much clearer picture. The rumors were true. Still unanswered was the question of what the Mayor knew and when he knew it. He stated in his email “as always, I am open to providing any additional information you may need,” I took him up on his generous offer and sent the following email on October 7.

Question: My intention this time around is to make my questions as specific and value neutral as I can: —Were you informed-prior to hiring-that Jerry Neumann had been terminated from the Brewster Police Department in November of 2001 ? If so, by whom were you informed?

—Were you informed prior to hiring that Chief Neumann had remained off the force for thirteen months during arbitration between the Teamsters and the City of Brewster? If so, by whom were you informed?

—Were you informed prior to hiring that Brian Dentler had been terminated from the Pullman Police Department? If so, by whom were you informed? Were you made aware that Dentler’s behavior was described by Chief Weatherly as “egregious conduct”?

By October 28, three more weeks passed, and I had no reply. I gave up on the mayor’s “Myth or Truth”.

What wasn’t cleared up was why, if Canfield didn’t report what was front-page news in their own backyard, they weren’t forced to explain this somewhat amazing lack of thoroughness. Or, if the evidence was sitting on the mayor’s desk, why he didn’t share it with the committee?

While the Police department brouhaha still simmered, I was notified of possible improprieties with the newly installed sewer extension into Breeding’s Addition. When I saw what property owner Jim Farr was facing, I suggested he might find some answers the same way ... as is guaranteed to all Washingtonians by the Open Records Act. He took me up on it in a big way.

There is an irony to this story. If Palouse’s mayor had simply followed his own recommendations and spoken openly and honestly, I would never have taken the path of public records requests ... nor, may I say, would Farr.

Finally ,. while separating Myth from Fact is fresh in our minds, a recent editorial and news article printed in the Gazette contained a long list of misstatements of fact, the correction of which may put my efforts to restore transparent, responsive government to Palouse in a different light.

FACTS:

I have not “taken to driving around town in a truck with signs attacking the mayor.” Someone is, just not me.

I don’t own the truck in question, didn’t drive the truck, and didn’t design, order, or pay for the signs.

I did ride twice as a passenger for a short while to express my approval of Jim Farr’s right to protest in this manner.

I was never a professor although I did teach American Government at WSU.

I do not now, nor have I ever seen myself as a “knight on a white horse”. I am quite aware of my failings and take full ownership of a host of mistakes over the years. A scoundrel perhaps, a knight definitely not.

I would also appreciate if Gordon could point to any “new assaults on the Palouse City Council.” I am aware of none made by me.

So, Gordon. What it is that I want? A transparent, honest, local government that lives within its means and represents all the people and not just a chosen few. Tall order maybe and, if you had given me more than one letter to explain myself, even more interesting questions could be discussed. Perhaps the online version of the Boomerang will prove a better forum to offer the people of Palouse the hard, documentary evidence they will need to develop informed opinions, rather than myths, as to what has been going on in Palouse.

Dr. Steve McGehee,

Palouse

Thorn Hill Halloween

As a Valleyview resident, I have come to love Halloween on Thorn Hill. I enjoy the excitement and energy the crowd of trick-or-treaters brings and the opportunity to visit with my friends and neighbors.

As the father of a school aged child, Halloween on Thorn Hill concerns me greatly. I have often thought the combination of car traffic, blind spots created by cars parked on both sides of the street, and excited children crisscrossing the street creates a dangerous situation. This problem is compounded on upper Southview where it is especially dark due to a lack of streetlights.

This year I was horrified when the ambulance passed and word spread that a child had been hit. Fortunately, the young girl was only “bumped” and escaped serious injury (Daily Bulletin, 3 Nov. 2014). The next child may not be as fortunate.

I have read that Chief McNannay has considered changing the Thorn Hill loop to one way on Halloween (Ibid.). I think this is insufficient. I would propose the following:

1) Install streetlights at the top of Thorn Hill on the Southview side.

2) Block off Thorn Hill to non-resident traffic on Halloween and discourage residents from parking on the street.

3) Create a “park and ride” at the school or Schmuck Park and bus trick-or-treaters up and down the hill throughout the evening.

I don’t want to discourage children from enjoying their Halloween on Thorn Hill. However, I do want to make sure it’s safe for everyone.

Brian K. Menke,

Colfax

Appalled

As a veteran, I am appalled at the number of county residents that do not exercise their responsibility as a citizen and vote.

The turnout for this last general election was about 55 percent.

I think that is abysmal.

In my opinion, there is no acceptable excuse for not voting in the state of Washington with the mail-in ballots.

I believe the turnout should be 100 percent.

Most men of my generation served in the military and many died protecting the right to vote.

I have voted in every election since I became eligible at age 21.

I know my vote matters because one contest was settled by one vote and I have always believed my vote put that candidate over the top.

If you fail to vote you fail yourself and your country!

How can we increase the percentage of voters?

In Australia, any registered voter that does not vote in an election is automatically fined. The fine amount increases with each election they miss. Australia has about 98 percent or 99 percent participation in their elections.

In one precinct in Michigan a couple of years ago, an academic study sent out letters to the registered voter in one precinct with the title “Attn: Taxpayers” on the envelope. The letter contained no tax information but alluded to the fact that since the names of all registered voters and if (not how) they voted in the last election is a matter of public record, the non-voters names would be published in a newspaper. They had a ten-fold increase in the turnout (1,000 percent).

In both cases, fear is a great motivator.

How do we increase the participation of citizens in our Whitman County election process and get them to assume their responsibility as citizens of this great country? Should we make it mandatory and fine anyone who doesn’t vote? Should we publish the names in the Whitman County newspapers of all registered citizens who did not cast a ballot in the last Election?

Now we get to the politics of the solution. One national political party doesn’t want high voter turnout and the other party doesn’t like to coerce voters to vote. In some states there is movement to restrict voter participation by added ID requirements. In Texas a Veteran ID will not qualify as ID for a person to vote but a concealed weapon permit will. (Go figure!)

Do the citizens of Whitman County want a larger participation in their elections? If so, what will increase the vote in Whitman County?

Carl M. Ogren,

Colfax

Flag display

I am writing regarding the U.S. flag patch worn by our soldiers. They are displaying the flag backwards. I feel that they do this because the Dept. of the Army pamphlet (DA-PAM 670-10) has been written wrong. It is backwards from the description of how to properly display the U.S. flag in both the U.S. Code Title 36-10, subsections 175, 176 and U.S. Army regulation 840-10. The blue field and stars should always be in the place of honor at the top left as you are looking at it whether the flag is displayed horizontal or vertical, that position being “the flags’ own right.” It is the same whether it is on a staff, wall, pole or uniform sleeve.

Look at firemen and astronaut uniforms. Imagine if the Apollo Mission astronauts landed on the moon and the U.S. flag on their uniform was backwards. Would anyone care? Would anyone notice? Would anyone even say anything? I care, and I have talked with local veterans, and I contacted the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars). I have emailed the state congressmen and senators, the Deputy Chief of Staff, The Joint Chiefs, the Secretary of Defense and the Vice President. I feel that as a veteran and citizen of the United States it is my duty.

I draw your attention to photographs of WWII soldiers at Normandy. The U.S. flag is on the right sleeve and it is properly displayed with the blue field at the top left corner. I think that if General Patton was alive today, even though retired, he would fly over there with his entourage in tow and camera rolling, rip that patch off the first soldier he saw, curse him and fine him $100 for displaying the flag wrong and not following U.S. Army regulations. Maybe he would even slap him.

Bear in mind that both U.S. code 36-10 and U.S. Army regulation 840-10 supersede DA-PAM 670-10 or any other DA pamphlet. It takes an act of Congress to change how to display the U.S. flag. We need to respect the flag.

Timothy Thompson,

Endicott