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Letters to the Editor
5/1/2008
City, Splash out of touch with support for library bond
The resounding defeat of the library bond issue was not surprising to me. Indeed, I have renewed faith in the judgment of our community as a result of it. The large scale and cost of the proposed project clearly overreached fiscal sensibility. And, beyond the library portion of the project, there was no clear vision of what specific purposes the "community center" would serve. The average voter was savvy enough to figure out that if the proponents couldn't articulate a clearer purpose for the structure, then such a purpose probably didn't really exist in the first place. The vocal support for the extravagant expansion of the library and creation of a "public meeting place" came from a very narrow base of city leaders, starry-eyed library patrons, and The Splash itself. It was almost embarrassing to read the local paper each week over the past several months because of the constant drumbeat of articles promoting the library and its significance to the community. It's one thing for the local paper to objectively report and inform the public about community issues. It should not have been the The Splash's role to try to sway the vote on the library issue. The overwhelming rejection of the bond by the voters sends a sobering message not only to the City Council, but also to The Splash. In its advertisement in the April 24 issue of The Splash, the "Libraries of Washington State" shows a young woman saying: "I need … help turning my ideas into reality, ways to help my clients succeed, tips on how my company can go ‘green,' ideas on where to go on vacation." She somehow concludes: "I need my library." Advertisement
 That's funny. I can do all of those things sitting at my keyboard at home in my PJs any time of the day at a much lower cost using the internet. Looks like a lot of us (61.6 percent) are thinking that way. Gregg Held
Liberty Lake
City should consider joining county library system
I wasn't particularly surprised to learn of the defeat of the library bond, but I was very surprised to learn of the possible resentment of "south of Sprague" patrons using but not paying for a Liberty Lake library. As county patrons, we have checked out hundreds of books of every genre, used Value Line and Consumer Reports, enjoyed movies, CDs and books on tape, as well as story hour and puppet shows. Because of our heavy and varied library use, we have been thrilled to be part of the county library system. Our cards with the city library expired, and we were pleased to realize that it took only 10 minutes to renew our city of Spokane membership at no charge to use their computers and resources while enjoying the fabulous river view. Maybe now would be a good time for Liberty Lake to revisit the association with the other two library systems in the greater Spokane community. Carolyn Nutsch
Liberty Lake
Some cyclists still don't use pedestrian bridge to cross I-90
Our community cyclists are not utilizing our pedestrian overpass, which was built for safety purposes. Upon driving across Harvard Road Bridge to get on westbound Interstate 90, I frequently come across cyclists still trying to squeeze their way onto the automobile overpass. Most people know that this bridge is barely big enough for the two cars that are required to fit on it. If the bikers could keep up with the flow of traffic, in my eyes, there would not be a problem. The 5-mile-per-hour cyclist cruising across the bridge at a leisurely pace and even stopping to get a drink of water is unacceptable. Why not use the perfectly good bridge made for walkers and bikers? I do not try driving my car on the Centennial Trail to try to get the mall. If I had a private way for me to get from one place to another, I would defiantly take advantage of it. I know we have a large cyclist community in our city, and I am not trying to be the bad guy here. Many cyclists think that they are a type of vehicle and can keep up with traffic, but why can't they take advantage of the new pedestrian bridge built specifically for bikers, walkers and joggers? No matter how you look at it, it's unsafe for people outside of vehicles to be on the Harvard Road Bridge, whether it's on a bike or even pushing a stroller. You never see someone on a skateboard or on roller blades attempting to use this bridge to get over I-90. Why do bikers believe they have the special privilege? The bikers using the vehicle overpass cause us drivers to risk not just our safety, but also the oncoming traffic's safety, while crossing the median as we try to avoid an accident with the cyclists. I think the bikers need to go on the pedestrian bridge for everyone's safety. Matthew Bruhn
Liberty Lake
Letters Policy
Letters to the editor of no more than 350 words may be sent to editor@libertylakesplash.com or mailed to P.O. Box 363, Liberty Lake, WA 99019.
To be considered for publication, a full name, the author's city of residence and a telephone number must be provided. The telephone number will not be printed, but will be used for verfication of the letter. The Splash reserves the right to edit or reject any submission. Business complaints and endorsements will not be accepted, and political endorsements wlil only be accepted if they interact with the issues of the campaign. For best chance of publication, letters should address local issues that clearly impact the greater Liberty Lake community.
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