Letters

Traffic safety

Red-light runners are posing a hazard

I know that this is not the first time you have had letters complaining about the current traffic issues in our community, but what are we actually going to do about them?

Last night as my husband, daughter and I traveled from Edmonds to the Alderwood Mall, we watched as a white pickup truck drove through a four way stop without so much as a pause. When we made our way home at the intersection of 44th Ave. W. and 188th, not one, but two cars ran a solid red light when we already had the green light to proceed!

I know that the police cannot witness all these infractions and when they do monitor intersections and roads everybody drives as they should!

I am a parent who has a 17-year-old in his first year of driving independently and this is stressful enough. Witnessing the drivers who choose to ignore the rules of the road and it becomes downright frightening!

Perhaps we need more unmarked police cars effectively hidden to catch traffic light violators and an increased presence of police cars effectively hidden to catch traffic light violators and an increased presence of police at intersections well known for drivers who run red lights. As we wait for an effective method of monitoring intersections I hope that we can make this as much of an issue as the campaign to wear your seat belt!

CATHERINE POWERS

Edmonds

Mayor vs. fire chief

Council president supports fire chief

This letter is in support of the Fire Chief and the Fire Marshals here in Lynnwood.

Chief Meador has honorably served Lynnwood for over 30 years as well as three mayors. He, along with the Firefighters and Fire Marshals, have done an outstanding job of fire prevention, saving lives and property through great proactive intervention.

What Mayor McKinnon did was wrong! McKinnon put Chief Meador on a leave of absence so that he (the mayor) could circumvent the system and let a business have a permit that our experts denied. This was after Fire Marshal Conderman, Assistant Fire Marshal Reimer and Fire Chief Meador would not approve building plans without a fire lane. They refused to do something that they believed was wrong.

After suspending the Chief, McKinnon appointed himself as acting Fire Chief for no other reason than to sign off the building plans. Again, that was wrong. McKinnon has absolutely no credentials to be fire chief.

McKinnon was acting Fire Chief for a few hours for only one reason. The only official act he did as acting Chief was sign buildings plans as a favor to someone.

I support the Lynnwood Fire Chief regarding this incident. This is no way to treat our employees. We cannot have a hostile environment for our city employees to work in. I hope others will let the mayor know that this behavior is not acceptable.

JIM SMITH

Lynnwood

City Council President

If he’s not at fault, bring the chief back

After reading about the placing of the Lynnwood Fire Chief on “administrative leave.” I feel that some explanation from the mayor is in order.

I have known Chief Meador for 30 years, from the time he joined the fire department as a firefighter, through the ranks of company officer, assistant chief and fire chief. In this time I have observed him closely and have found him to be above reproach in his honesty, devotion to duty and professionalism. Therefore I am surprised at the mayor’s action.

If laws or ordinances have been broken by the Chief then it should be the public’s right to hear of it. If not, then lets get the Chief back to work, as it is the right of our community to have their Fire Chief on the job. After 30 years of devoted service to his community, he should be allowed to retire with honor and dignity. Congratulations, Chief Meador and my admiration for a job well done.

ALAN M. DILLON

Lynnwood

Brightwater

Leaders don’t trust local communities

Sixty percent of Brightwater sewage hookups (about 300,000) will be in south Snohomish County. That is perhaps a million new people.

Investments to match will be needed in each and every community in the range of tens of millions to billions for roads, water mains, electrical lines, schools and other infrastructure that inevitably follows sewage capacity.

A serious problem with an argument focused on what one man (Ron Sims) wants, is pre-emption of an all-out, no-holds-barred discussion that should be had by community people actually participating in basic decision making. Snohomish County will undergo the most profound period of change in its history. Is Brightwater more cause or effect? Is it wise at all?

For example, why are we not looking at 21st Century treatment technology? Tertiary, the hightest state of the art, associated with local scale and decentralized facilities, would seem to be a smarter way to go.

Perhaps the real issue here is that top-down executives don’t trust local communities, and citizens must mobilize to change the governance pattern before this large scale billion dollar expense creates a large scale disaster as the wrongful product of a lack of trust between citizens and public leaders.

STUART HEADY

Edmonds