Letters: Defund police, statue removal, face masks and more | July 3

‘Defund’ sends wrong message

I have a problem with this “defund the police” issue. I hear people qualifying the phrase with, “It doesn’t mean abolish” or, “It just means reform.” That’s not what many people hear, and it’s not what the past behavior shows. In the past “defund” means to get rid of. There are movements to defund Planned Parenthood and defund Obamacare, and defund medicare. No matter your views on these programs, the intention was to do away with them. The semantics raise red flags for people. If you have to qualify and explain, why not just be clear? We need to reform policing, no question, but we need our police. Judging or penalizing them all because of some bad actors is just as wrong as judging someone because of the color of their skin.

The simple solution, to me, seems to be accountability. The vast majority of these unjustified and brutal incidents with police and people of color have gone unpunished. We have laws in place. Keep it simple. Enforce them. Education, training and accountability, for those who abuse their power or mete out vigilante punishment seems within reason. It would make people feel safe and send a message to police to think before they act.

Don’t put blame on Columbus only

To those white liberals who cheer the toppling of statues of Columbus: Are you willing to donate your homes and other real estate you might own in this hemisphere to the tribes and emigrate to Europe? No? I didn’t think so. Stop vilifying Columbus for putting in motion what was inevitable. If it wasn’t Columbus, it would have been somebody else. Europe and the Americas were destined to clash sooner or later. That is not to excuse the shameful treatment of the indigenous American tribes by the Europeans.

This must be acknowledged, but laying it all at the feet of Columbus serves no purpose. The tribes deserve dignity and respect, and we should certainly strive to do better in this regard. However, seeing statues of Columbus being vandalized and destroyed is deeply upsetting to another ethnic group, Italian Americans, who have also suffered their fair share of discrimination in this country’s history (see for example, https://www.history.com/news/the-grisly-story-of-americas-largest-lynching).

Please stop trying to correct the injustice against one group of people by causing insult and hurt to another. Regardless of his human faults, your homes and the other good things you enjoy in this country were made possible by Columbus’ bold westward voyage.

What to call the Dixie Chicks?

Extra, Extra, read all about it. The Dixie Chicks just changed their band name to The Chicks.

Hey, I have two daughters and I am offended by the word CHICKS. I don’t want some male referring to my daughters as chicks. How about changing their name to The Women? Hmm, the spelling contains the word men. I’m still not sure that this doesn’t somehow connote a transgender nuance. If so, millions more will be offended.

Wonder if they should simply call themselves The Girls. That seems harmless enough. But you know, the word girl does denote a particular sex, and this could be perceived as biased. I give, perhaps their handle should just be US.

Officers needed in Richland schools

I am a retired law enforcement officer, and I have a child in the Richland School District. I am currently employed with a company teaching school safety and Active Shooter Response to school staff and students.

The petition to remove school resource officers from the Richland School District should be a very concerning issue for anyone who cares about the safety of our staff and students. Removing school resource officers only further creates the impression law enforcement is the problem. One common comment made about removing school resource officers is, “The police are only minutes away. We can call them anytime we need them.”

Nationwide, if an armed intruder enters the school, a person is shot every 14 to 20 seconds. In 2018, the Marjorie Stoneman High School was attacked by an active shooter. It is important to remember the actual shooting event lasted only 91 seconds. The entire event lasted six minutes, and 34 people were killed or injured. Law enforcement officers responding from outside the school have an average response time of three to seven minutes. The only sure way to immediately intervene and deter an active shooter is with an armed response from within the school.

Back levy lid lift for District No. 4

I’m a volunteer firefighter with Benton County Fire District No. 4. Our district is asking voters to approve a 15-cent fire levy lid lift in the August election to hire three full-time firefighters. I wanted to share how this will help us better serve our community.

First, it will help us respond to higher call volumes. We’ve had a lot of growth in the area, and our call volumes increase an average of almost 8% a year. We need more full-time personnel to respond. Three will reduce response times, and the cost is reasonable at $45 per year for the average homeowner.

Second, it will allow many volunteers to stay involved in the fire district. A lot of us work full-time jobs and volunteer when we can. Sometimes we feel pressure between our full-time jobs, family commitments and volunteering at the fire district. We want to stay involved and three more full-timers will give us some breathing room.

Benton No. 4 was created by volunteers. It’s important that this program continue, and the fire levy lid lift will help. I hope our community will support the volunteer program in this way.

Some answers for writers to ponder

Conn Clark (June 14 letter to editor) suggested the equation used for staged reopening was flawed, making it impossible to ever reach the goals. The brightest minds around are at PNNL. Have your science reporter visit and let PNNL analyze the workability of the calculations. If Mr Clark is correct,either: A. Tell the state. or B. Tell the state and fully reopen while they pontificate.

Burt Pierard (June 16) asked where have the Conservatives gone; unfortunately they did not support giveaway/entitlement programs, but rather some fiscal responsibility; tax system changes that helped individuals and business; help Trump to develop and institute: Opportunity zones in impoverished black neighborhoods; funding for historical black colleges; and to provide full employment for all Americans regardless of sex, race, creed or national origin. The result, they got voted out in our most liberal, progressive states. States burdened with debt, crime, racial unrest and income inequality.

Brenda Sartoris (June 16), Mattis got it wrong and is more akin to Mr. Arnold, than Mount Washington.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Progressivism (Communism). We will soon be miserable together under the totalitarian, despotic rule of the mob! Liberte! Egalite! Off With Their Heads! Let’s go eat cake.

Outline forecast for Twin Bridges

With the growth and development in West Richland/Richland between Keene Road, Ruppert Road, Demoss Road, and Harrington Road — (a) 10-phase home project approved by West Richland (Tri-Cities Business Journal) — studies from Benton County in 2016 showed over 2,400 people traveled the Twin Bridges Road.

As there is already backed up traffic on Twin Bridges Rd (Hanford traffic peak hours), what does the future hold? … (also) the Richland Horn Rapids Industrial Park is expanding and the Horn Rapids homes are expanding to Twin Bridges Road.

Back in the 1990s, it was discussed (building) another bridge at the Horn Rapids in the Growth Management Plan to accommodate the growth. Is this still in the projection or is it going to be another 20+ years?

Love to hear what our elected official leaders are discussing for the people, as we expand in the sleepy town of West Richland.

Let your shirt say you don’t care

People who refuse to wear masks or respect social distance could wear T-shirts that say on the front, “I don’t believe medical facts and don’t care if I infect people and they might die” and on the back, “I don’t believe economic facts and don’t care when businesses reopen or if they go bankrupt.”

This story was originally published July 3, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Letters: Defund police, statue removal, face masks and more | July 3."