Hans Dunshee

Property sale letter was misleading

I have no problem with people whose opinions differ from my own. As long as we are all stating the facts.

If you are going to take the time to write a letter the the editor with the opening line “Learn the facts before condeming purchase” as Karen Lowe of Mill Creek did, I would encourage her to research her facts as well.

She’s correct that we inquired about purchasing this substandard lot in 2005 when we purchased our home. However, the seller’s asking price was $85,000 for a lot public records stated was worth no more than $10,000. The city of Snohomish confirmed for us this lot did not meet the minimum size requirements to make it buildable before we made our offer on our home. Her statement regarding the seller telling us they had plans of developing this unbuildable lot or selling it to a developer is simply untrue. The seller advertised the home having a “beautiful view of Blackman’s Lake” (per their own MLS listing). The view was included in the asking price. If what you are saying is true, the seller’s MLS listing misrepresented the home. How can someone sell a home with a view and then sell the land in front of it with the same view?

She stated a sign was posted on this piece of property until fall 2006. Anyone who lives around or walks by this substandard lot can tell you there hasn’t been a sign posted on this lot for the last year. Why else would passers-by on their walks or bike rides ask us if that lot is for sale?

She stated the option of Hans Dunshee purchasing this sliver of park land came from the city planner. Per Snohomish City Council minutes dated Dec. 5, 2006, the proposal came in the form of a letter passed out by Hans Dunshee – not the city planner.

In closing, I would like to echo Lowe’s closing statement: “It’s important to know all the relevant facts before making judgements on complex situations.”

Jodi Costello

Snohomish

Red light cameras

Cameras an invasion of personal privacy

The proposed use of cameras at stoplights to catch red light runners is a dismal idea, and a questionable use of city funds. With monthly operating costs in the $4,000 range, how many citations will be written just to meet a monthly quota? How will the police department answer for lack of revenue? Will an officer spend his day reviewing the tapes, or will a person be hired and paid a yearly salary just to be watcher?

Cameras will not eliminate poor driving habits, and a ticket will not teach good judgement. As with all activities that require individual responsiblity and judgement skills, a person’s level of training and experience has the greatest influence on their ability to perform well.

Skip the cameras, and launch a public awareness campaign. Post inexpensive signs on those problem corners encouraging people to slow down and stop. Publish it in the papers, run a TV ad showing the intersections, the accident stats and the cost of emergency services. Educate the public about the problem and the easy solution. Drive smart and drive safe. Education and awareness are far preferable to the “us versus them” mentality of watching and being watched by your neighbors. This is a friendly community, not communism in the making; let’s keep it that way.

While the intent of the cameras may seem reasonable now, there will be eventual changes in the city council and the police department, and the law could easily be changed in the future resulting in further invasion of personal privacy. Do we want cameras watching our every move? We must be vigilant about the ever-increasing loss of our personal rights and freedoms. The word “safety” is being used constantly to take away our freedoms, supposedly to protect us from an assortment of real and imagined problems. Life is not without risk, and it is our personal responsilbility, not the government’s, to assess and decide how much risk is appropriate for each of us. We must scrutinize each situation and any potential loss of freedoms, and tell our elected leaders what we are willing, and not willing, to sacrifice in the name of “safety.” Living free means taking responsibility for our actions, and acting on our responsiblities.

Rebecca Desmon

Mill Creek

Schools

Letter writer wrong about Jackson principal

My name is Tal Anderson. I am a teacher at Jackson High School. I am also the adviser for the student newspaper that printed the article on the negative behaviors in the bathrooms at Jackson.

I am writing in response to David Martin’s Feb. 16 letter. I certainly respect Martin’s decision to remove his daughter from our school. My fellow staff members and I are also concerned about the behaviors described in the student newspaper. However, there is one major point that Martin included in his explanation that I believe is patently off base. Martin wrote that “principal Terry Cheshire will not do anything about this behavior.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

Martin used Cheshire’s quote, “There’s not a lot we can do. We need to rely on students” to illustrate his point. In the article, Cheshire talks about the fact that administrators are monitoring bathrooms as best they can. He certainly never says that the administration will not do anything about the problem.

Cheshire was expressing his disappointment that students are not coming forward to let administrators know when the small minority of students who are acting out in the restrooms are doing so. His point was that we need to work together to deal with this issue. Additionally, at the end of the article, Cheshire is quoted describing a couple of steps that could be used to help with this problem.

Cheshire is a terrific principal who has worked hard to make Jackson a place we can all be proud of. Student involvement in rigorous college in the high school and Advanced Placement classes continues to grow. Students participating in extracurricular clubs and service activities is at an all-time high. At the same time, to his credit, Cheshire does not try to sweep problems like drug abuse and other issues under the rug. The fact that this article appeared in our paper is a testimony to the fact that students know Cheshire wants to get Jackson’s issues out into the open so we can work on solving them. We are fortunate to have a principal willing to do so.

There are issues at Jackson and every high school. It is my hope we will continue to identify those issues and work together as a community to address them.

Tal Anderson

Bothell