Letters for June 4, 2024
Madsen changing readers
Sue Lani Madsen’s May 30 column, “Selective outrage undermines U.S. Supreme Court” is a breath of fresh air, laced with the truth. Yes, we are a nation in distress, suffering from rampant inflation, sham trials and a Congress that is bankrupting America. Hope lies in the truth and The Spokesman-Review has allowed Madsen to challenge your readers. Keep it coming!
Ed Walther
Moses Lake
Balancing the bias
I appreciated Sue Lani Madsen’s column regarding the nonissue of flags flown by the wife of a sitting Supreme Court justice. Compared to the earlier pieces regarding the same issue it was nice to see some balanced reporting and a differing opinion than all the mainstream media. Sue Lani is a great addition to The Spokesman-Review and I especially appreciate her willingness to balance what I consider The S-R’s left-leaning bias with some reasonable opinions based on facts.
Chan Bailey
Colbert
Staffing and funding of county prosecutor’s office
As a candidate for Congress in Washington’s 5th District and a former deputy prosecuting attorney at the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office, I am writing this letter to create awareness for the staffing and funding issues at the office.
The Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office has attorneys who are carrying at least double the industry standard caseload for prosecutors. In March of this year, there were seven attorney positions open because the office cannot offer competitive salaries. The salary gap between the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office and other counties or agencies has widened over the past year.
The problem is worse for support staff. The office cannot retain support staff due to salary levels and unreasonable workloads. Any skilled paralegal or legal secretary can likely take another job for much better pay. Meanwhile, the support staff at the SCPAO handle caseloads that are often double the industry standard. They’re doing twice the work for substandard pay due to insufficient funding.
This leads to constant employee turnover which creates problems. These problems include an increase in inter-office movement as people are moved to different units to fill in gaps and an inordinate amount of time and resources spent training new staff.
The situation is unsustainable. It is bad for the community. The Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office is like 911 dispatch. People don’t think about it until they need it. I don’t envy the county commissioners who are faced with fixing this situation, but a solution must be found. It is urgent. Crime victims deserve better.
Matthew Welde
Liberty Lake
Noncynical centrist me
Call me weird but I support efforts by Michael Baumgartner, Al French and Lisa Brown.
Treasurer Baumgartner is right about bad Olympia policies hindering law enforcement and the border and keeping our hydroelectric dams while burning less gas to make electricity.
Commissioner French is right about finding solutions for West Plains’ water supply, the airport expansion, attracting businesses to West plains and road and bridge improvements for starters.
And Mayor Brown is right to clean up the Monroe Street bridge. She reminds me of another Brown: the former California governor that let voters decide between a tax increase or less government who also vetoed a further left Sacramento legislature multiple times.
I agree with the mayor on smaller dispersed shelters/transitional housing and the reality the rest of the county may never agree. Maybe Mayor Brown can speak the language of street people and rid downtown of what’s ruining it: shopping cart street tenants. I’m giving her a chance.
But I’m supporting Baumgartner and French too. Call me a noncynical centrist.
Sans extremism. Imagine that.
Mike Reno
Spokane