Politics from the Palouse to Puget Sound

Friday, July 14, 2006

People Really Do Understand the Issues

Transcending boundaries

I was very discouraged when reading the article (Daily News, July 11) in regard to the mutual aid pact.

There are a lot of people that volunteer their time and dedication to emergency services. They are dedicated to saving lives and homes of people in Latah County as well as the surrounding areas and would never allow someone to be in danger because of this pact.

Shouldn't we be thinking about the assistance, caring and consideration for others instead of whether or not we agree that they will have a mall coming in to that area. (Of course we could probably have the proposed mall if it were not for the Moscow City Council deterring it from coming here.)

The focus on personal issues seems to be blinding the council from seeing what the pact is really about. Maybe if the blinders came off and the focus was on what would be good for the surrounding areas and not just what may or may not happen if our volunteers were to assist in an emergency situation. I think that you, as the city representatives, need to focus on being team players and good neighbors. Isn’t that what the pact is all about?

What would you tell those families from our county that may lose someone due to a fire emergency that we could have assisted with and possibly saved that life? What would you do if it were your family member that may have been saved?

Please do not allow your personal feelings about the mall come in to play when working with this pact. There are many people from the Latah County area working in the Whitman County area. I guess I am not clear on how you could hold up something that may save someone you love and care about.

Peggy Benson, Moscow

Not everyone in Moscow is deaf, dumb, and blind. As we see here this Moscow resident has quickly picked on on the fact that Moscow City Council is balking at the mutual aid agreement because of their personal issues over the Hawkins development in Whitman County.

3 comments:

Ray Lindquist said...

Scotty, I also see that Peggy B has hit upon one other thing although she did not state it. The fact that a LOT of people from Latah County work at WSU. She may have been caught in the 'rush' of cars back to Moscow when WSU lets out for the day. That has got to equal a lot of tax dollars for the county in the long run paid into the state as income tax.

April E. Coggins said...

Great point, Ray. If a Moscow resident is in an accident while traveling to or from their work in Pullman, Moscow will refuse to respond because the accident happened on the side of the border that also has the Hawkins development. And never mind that Whitman County and Pullman have responded into Latah County (including Moscow's side of the corridor) many, many times, regardless of Moscow's economic development. Moscow's current leaders are extremely bitter, immature and dangerous.

April E. Coggins said...

And so much for Nancy Chaney's
"regional concerns".
It's very clear that her concern ends when it reaches the border. Nancy won't even send help if a life is danger and especially if the life is a Whitman County resident. Remember all this when you read and hear about "regional concerns" and Moscow.