No, They're Not All in Moscow

As a reminder that we have our fair share of "living wage," "Hillary Care" left-wingers in Pullman as well, a letter from today's Daily News:

City has anti-worker stance

The pending brouhaha over Pullman’s need for maintaining its costly aquatic center has become too acute to be ignored. Lost in all the discussions is the fact that originally four entities were to be responsible for ongoing costs but two bailed out, leaving the city and school district to split all maintenance and operations bills.

In a May 3 Daily News article, Council member Ann Heath prefers contracting out for a part-time, cheaper, position, while Council member Bill Paul makes an excellent case for a full-time city custodian, with benefits, rather than “custodial minimum wage labor.”

Living in an era of the chamber of commerce pushing for the old plantation model (as they always do) and supporting our greedy, globalized corporations, privatizing has become a mantra for the smug and self-satisfied who could care less that an honest day’s work is deserving of a living wage.

It never ceases to amaze me that bright and caring residents will continue to support the chamber of commerce’s platform and its anti-worker stance with their hard- earned money. Perhaps they’ve never heard Tom Donahue (National Chamber of Commerce president) spouting his venom at various business symposia.

If Pullman thinks benefits, such as health care, are too oppressive to hire regular city employees, may I suggest they begin lobbying Congress for our long overdue “single payer plan” to cover everyone in America, as they already do in more enlightened parts of the world.

Joan Honican, Pullman

What a riduculous rant. I'm not aware of any "anti-worker, plantation" mentality on the part of the Pullman Chamber of Commerce. How is the Chamber even involved with the Aquatics Center "brouhaha"?
And just what "greedy, globalized" corporations" os the Chamber supporting anyway? Inquiring minds want to know.

As far as Ann Heath goes, she is only trying to be a good steward of the taxpayers' money. The money is just not there to hire a full-time custodian.

In a story in today's Daily News, it was reported:

The council opted to hire someone to work 30 hours per week with the option to increase to 40 hours when it adopts a 2007 budget. The city staff proposed hiring someone full-time starting in August, but Heath was concerned that would stretch an already thin budget.

A full-time custodian will cost the city between $35,000 and $45,000 per year, including salary and benefits. That will mean cutting something else out of the budget, said Finance Director Troy Woo. No initial estimates were available for the cost of a three-quarter time employee.