Good ideas that caught our eye
Published 3:33 pm Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Benevolent efforts and good ideas too often go underappreciated. Three that caught our attention:
n A volunteer effort is under way to save Snohomish High School’s popular Marine Corps JROTC program, a victim of tight budget times.
Doug Roulstone, a retired Navy captain and local businessman whose dedication and cajoling skills were instrumental in creating the school’s richly-supplied and much-envied machining program, is leading a drive to raise $110,000 by June 15 to keep the JROTC program alive for another year. It’s been around since 1967, offering countless teens the path they needed to get their studies and lives on a more responsible track.
Raising that much money in less than a month, in this economy, won’t be easy. With Roulstone at the helm, though, it seems possible. Success would carry the added bonus of encouraging similar private efforts to support other endangered but valued programs.
n City of Everett officials propose having parking fines fund the next phase of downtown street improvements, creating a logical connection.
When complete, stretches of Rucker and Hoyt avenues between Everett and Pacific avenues will have the same pedestrian-friendly look and feel now enjoyed on the upgraded portions of Hewitt and Colby avenues. Hoyt and California will have new bicycle lanes. The neighborhood, which is undergoing a surge of apartment construction, is becoming more and more livable. That’s important as urban areas become more densely populated so sprawl and pollution are minimized.
We also applaud the city’s plans to stop offering 75 percent discounts on parking tickets if fines are paid within 24 hours. When you can get $20 ticket reduced to just 5 bucks, why even worry about overtime parking? Fines should be stiff enough to actually discourage parking scofflaws.
n Honchos at the state Department of Natural Resources will have to travel like the common folk, thanks to Gov. Chris Gregoire’s refusal to let them keep their eight-passenger airplane.
With budgets being slashed throughout government, this was a luxury that couldn’t be justified. The Legislature, which ordered the plane sold, and the governor were right to hold firm.
Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark pleaded with the governor to let the department keep the plane, which has been used in previous years (with a different commissioner in charge) to fly instead of driving between Olympia and Everett to meet with public officials and editorial boards.
A car will have to do now. May we suggest a fuel-efficient hybrid?
