Opinion Bainbridge Island
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Friday, April 11, 2014 • Bainbridge Island Review
In Our Opinion
Another great year for KHS
S
aturday will mark the annual meeting for the Kitsap Humane Society. Executive director Eric Stevens and KHS’s board of directors are asking the public to come and hear about the nonprofit’s work during 2013. It hasn’t been that long ago that the Kitsap Humane Society was in the news for issues ranging from financial problems to a lack of leadership. But all that changed when Stevens took over. This is the second full year that Stevens has been in charge and for the second time, the statistics show an organization that is working well. Just as in 2012, the Humane Society is doing its job well, caring for animals and caring for the donated dollars it receives. In fact, there has been a significant increase in spay and neuter surgeries, thus resulting in fewer start and unwanted dogs and cats. They performed 17.5 percent more surgeries in 2013 compared to 2012 and the organization also had an increase in the number of low-cost surgeries offered to those with financial needs. The result of that was a drop of 17 percent in the number of stray animals during the past three years. KHS has been able to maintain its euthanasia rate at 5.6 percent. It rehomed 4,200 of the 4,500 animals taken in, about a 94 percent rate. That puts KHS at the higher level when compared to animal shelters across the nation. The shelter also balanced its budget for the first time in three years, financial reports show. That’s a difficult thing to do in an area where there are a lot of charities competing for donor’s dollars. Additionally, shelter operations have improved. Not only has the board and staff added to the facilities with new small dog areas, it has added a part time canine behavior expert to work with dogs, so they are more adoptable. The shelter has added another receptionist so that all callers get quick return calls and in-house surveys show consistent high customer service feedback ratings. KHS has expanded its board of directors to 16 to strengthen its committee structure and add to the number of people working on its behalf in fundraising and it meeting its goals of service to animals and to the public. It saw a 18 percent growth in its annual fundraising auction in 2013. The staff and board has greatly improved its relationships with other Kitsap County governments including cities and the county as well. It’s not easy to come to work every day and stare at the faces of cats and dogs who just want a permanent home. It’s not easy to make hard decisions on whether an animal is healthy enough to be adopted. We owe those who work at the shelter — the staff, the director and board members — a huge thank-you for all they do. And we owe them congratulations for working so hard to turn things around at the shelter and making it a place the entire county can be proud of.
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Letters In response
Community reacts to Supreme Court decision To the editor: If you were in Winslow on Wednesday afternoon you would have seen and heard 15 people walking on Winslow Way and down to the ferry terminal to greet a ferry. They carried signs like “Get Money out of Politics” “Shame on the Supreme Court” “Citizens United and now McCutcheon” and shouted slogans like “Democracy Yes, McCutcheon No”. It was a spontaneous reaction to Supreme Court 5-4 decision which allows individuals to effectively give unlimited funds to political candidates. At the end of this expression of outrage Fran Korten gave them a short briefing on the implications of this decision of the Supreme Court. NORM KEEGEL Bainbridge Island
Thank you
Former mayor deserves applause for flowers To the editor: A standing ovation to former mayor and councilor Debbi Lester for planting the glorious abundance of daffodils at the Waypoint Park on the corner of Winslow Way and 305. Thank you for brightening the park, the spring, and our spirits! HILARY HILSCHER Bainbridge Island
Move to Amend
Help your fellow citizens reclaim our democracy To the editor: Why have I been standing out in the rain on Winslow Way talking to complete strangers on Saturday mornings? Here is why. I think there’s a place in our society for corporations and businesses, but their role should not be to run the government. Currently, corporations are pouring money into SuperPACs which are influencing government to the detriment of our democracy. It seems to me that the votes and voices of ordinary people are getting drowned out by this corporate influence on our political system. The Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court in 2010 removed restrictions on corporate spending on political expression. The majority opinion (five justices) found that the prohibition of expenditures by corporations violated the First Amendment’s protection of free speech. This opinion rested on a former decision that corporations are “associations of persons” and therefore have first amendment rights just like all citizens. So currently in our country, “Corporations are People” and the money they use to influence government is deemed “free speech.” I think this is a distortion of what the Founding Fathers had in mind, and it is having a corrupting influence on our democracy. I agree with the dissenting justices (four) who said that the court has long recognized the importance of the ability of Congress to safeguard against “the improper use of money
to influence the result [of an election]” and to deny that is to deny to the nation the power of “self-protection”. They also said that the prevention of “corruption” is a reasonable goal for legislation. Many citizens in the U.S. have realized that we need to overturn these Supreme Court decisions with an amendment to the constitution that explicitly states that “Corporations are not people,” “Money is not free speech” and Congress does have the power to regulate corporate political expenditures. The larger movement to create this amendment is called the Move to Amend. Already 16 states have passed requests for an amendment. We need 34 states to pass it before it will proceed to the U.S. Congress where it will need a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. After that it will need to be ratified by 38 states. Changing our Constitution should be a long and careful process. In Washington state, this effort is called WAmend. WAmend is a coalition of grassroots groups that has created an initiative (I-1329) for our state to pass to request an amendment. I know that voter initiatives have gained a bad reputation in Washington, but this is an allvolunteer, grassroots initiative that is trying to return power to the voices and votes of people. If you feel that we need to protect our democracy from the undue influence of corporations on our government, please sign the I-1329 petition to get this measure on the November ballot. Help make Washington the 17th state to request an amendment to our constitution. Help reclaim our democracy! PEGGI ERICKSON Bainbridge Island