Letters

Edmonds school levy

Lynnwood needs new high school

Another spring, another school levy. Mountlake Terrace has their bright new school, a credit to the community. Then Meadowdale rang out the old and rang in the new. Finally, Edmonds-Woodway, that bastion of IB education, got its grand new campus, with a clock tower, no less. So, are we done yet? I don’t think so.

There’s a high school on the fringe of Alderwood Mall known as Lynnwood High School. They have National Honor students, football, physics and drama. They have dedicated teachers and some of the greatest kids you’d ever want to meet. So, why hasn’t their rebuid levy passed? I suspect it’s more a matter of benign neglect rather than a desire not to rebuild the tired, unsightly old edifice. A certain percentage of registered voters have to actually turn up in order for these levies to pass. So, let’s get our collective ballots out in May and give these kids a school they can be proud of and which they truly deserve.

SIOUXAN CHRISTIAN

Edmonds

Governor

Rossi right pick

for Washington

 It was getting late, the group of over one hundred committee officers had been there since 8 am, and should have finished their business by noon when the last resolution came before them. The two resolutions before this had gone down over petty disagreements without much enthusiasm.

Then a member was asked to rise and read her resolution before the group. She just wanted the group to keep in mind their reason for being there, not to pick people to warm seats at the state convention, although that was part of it, but by helping to elect people who would make a difference in their daily lives.

Dino Rossi received unanimous “appreciation for his candidacy” with a resounding “Aye.” The resolution noted that he has a proven record of being business friendly and an opponent of using general tax increases to solve budget problems. It gave him credit for his work to unite the parties in Olympia, one of the few who can talk them into doing what is best for the state.

No one in the past four election cycles has been a “complete package” candidate like Rossi, even the Wall Street Journal found him noteworthy. Recognizing the need for a change in Olympia, you’ll be seeing ROSSI bumper stickers from a cross section of citizens who are catching the enthusiasm from the party activists.

 

MARGARET R. WIGGINS

Bothell

Politics

Inslee playing partisan on issues

While President Bush is attempting a “new tone” in Washington to unify and give power back to the people in cutting burdensome taxes, rules and regulations that shackle the economy, it was apparent that U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee hasn’t bought into leaving the partisan plantation whose home base is the Democrat party.

His statements advocated power over the people by government with higher taxation, redistribution of wealth all based on class warfare. The obvious conclusion is that the Democrats are the intolerant, divisive party that is set on “divide and conquer,” the country be damned.

The “coffee talk” displayed overtly partisan attacks by Inslee and the “open” hostility by the mostly partisan “choir” towards President Bush. It was not about how to make the country better, it was, “we’re going to swallow the Kool-Aid program” being fed to us by Inslee. He continually called for the expansion of government programs, protect trial lawyers and other special interest groups while hammering businesses that provide employment; and somehow this is supposed to help the economy?

It amounted to an absolute embarrassing display by an elected representative that it was better to undermine our resolve in the war on terror and domestic issues than come to mutual agreements across party lines. His flippant statements berating our current actions in Iraq displayed contempt for those who are risking their lives for America is akin to an undercurrent of disloyalty that would not have been accepted as patriotic during WWII. Disagreement over national security has its place amongst his colleagues, but to air it out in public, disrespects his office, his constituents and the leadership of this nation.

Inslee should apologize for his childish antics of extreme partisanship and intellectual dishonesty to his audience at the expense of our national desire for unity for his party’s desire for power.

DAN KESSLER

Edmonds

Bush is taxing, talking cuts

George W. Bush likes to talk about tax cuts. But the truth is since George W. Bush took office, families have been taxed far more than ever before – they are paying higher college tuition, higher health care costs, and higher prices for gasoline – and they are receiving lower incomes. They are also paying more in state, local, and property taxes.

NICOLE MORRISON

Lynnwood