Opinion A11
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THE DAILY HERALD
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WWW.HERALDNET.COM
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Our water won’t be going south plan by inserting a rider into legislation that would have required any feasibility studies sought by the federal Bureau of Reclamation to have the approval of Congress before advancing. But credit Shatner with at least raising the issue. California, without question, is suffering under one its most severe droughts on record. But the same weather system, a “ridiculously resilient” ridge of high pressure, that has significantly contributed to drought in the Southwest U.S. has also brought record low snowpacks this winter to Washington state. A report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service found that statewide snowpack is only 22 percent of normal, much lower than the previous record in 2005 of 33 percent of normal. A
spokesman for the service said 74 percent of its snow-monitoring sites reported record snowpack lows. California Gov. Jerry Brown has instituted mandatory water-saving measures there. And Washington will have to take its own steps to confront the lower flow we will likely see in state rivers this year. Gov. Jay Inslee has reconvened the state’s committee on drought and water supply and has declared a drought emergency for 24 river basins, including the Stillaguamish and Skagit rivers in Snohomish County. A full supply of water is expected for those with senior water rights in the state, but those with junior water rights may have only a 54 percent supply. Northwest meteorologist Cliff Mass has said he doesn’t believe this winter’s record low
snowpack is a result of humancaused climate change. But Mass has said that the Northwest can expect more winters like this with similar precipitation but less snow as climate change advances in the decades to come. Grand schemes are unlikely to solve our water woes. Each state, down to each watershed, will have to find ways to live within its means in terms of water. California, for starters, can seek to stop Nestle from bottling water from springs, using permits that expired more than 20 years ago. With apologies to the starship captain, Washington will need every drop of rain and every flake of snow as we seek to balance an increasingly precious resource among demands for agriculture, salmon, hydropower and what comes out of our taps.
■■RECYCLING
experience for current and future generations. LWCF has funded many projects that our membership enjoys, including close-in opportunities for nature, like the Mount Si Conservation Area, as well as wilderness- based projects, both very important to our human-based recreation community. If LWCF is not reauthorized in essentially its current form, critical lands and outdoor recreation sites all across the country will be at risk. Protecting special places in the Pacific Northwest is imperative to the future of conservation and growing the outdoor recreation economy. The Mountaineers and our partner organizations appreciate Sen. Maria Cantwell’s leadership as she works to ensure LWCF is reauthorized and maintained.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ■■MONROE SCHOOL
Giving back by voting ‘yes’ We are retired. We have no children or grandchildren attending schools in Monroe. We do have health and mobility challenges. In spite of these issues we are very happy living in Monroe. We have had amazing support from our friends and neighbors who help us, and constantly reinforce our belief that Monroe is a wonderful, caring community. One way, we feel, we can say “thank you” to our friends and neighbors is by voting “yes” on the school bond. The bond will not increase our tax rate, but it will make our school buildings safer better places for our community children to learn. We are unable to volunteer in the schools, as some of our neighbors do. We have already added our two “yes” votes. Please join us by mailing or taking your ballots to the ballot box at the library before April 28. John E. Herrick and Rosemary D. Herrick Monroe
■■SPECIAL EDUCATION
Public has right to see report A recent letter to the editor asked The Herald to obtain a copy of the special education investigative report of the Everett Public Schools Special Education Department. (March 12, “Where’s report on school district?”) I would like to go on record to second this request! As a 25-year school psychologist with Everett Public Schools, I have spent my entire career advocating for special needs students, those with no voice. During the course of the special education investigation (September to December 2014) over 60 employees (psychologists, teachers, speech and language therapists, occupational and physical therapists and clerical staff) came forward to meet with Dr. Tony Byrd, associate superintendent, or Mr. Bill Bue, a private investigative attorney, approved by Superintendent Dr. Gary Cohn. Multiple pages of documentation were provided by staff; many related to the rights of specific students as well as district special education practices that were illegal and unethical. The contents of this report remain “sealed” by Dr. Cohn. The district recently hired a new executive director of special education and formed a special education task force to bring about positive changes within the department, both steps in the right direction.
Have your say Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 250 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Daily Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Have a question about letters? Call Carol MacPherson at 425-339-3472 or send an e-mail to letters@heraldnet. com.
However, parents and the general public (including all the taxpayers who funded this very lengthy, expensive investigation) have the right to know the findings of this report as well as district practices and administrative decisions involving their children’s rights to a free and appropriate education (FAPE). Once this report is publicly acknowledged and reviewed, the district can move forward to build a new special education department, one that is centered on ethical and legal practices, honest communication, trust, transparency and genuine advocacy for the rights of all students. Laurie Filzen Psychologist, Everett Public Schools
Where to drop off LED bulbs? The Everett Herald has covered recycling quite a bit in the last week. Unfortunately, nothing has been published on where to recycle LED light bulbs. I have a number of failed LED light bulbs and so far I have been unable to find where to drop them off. Can you publish a list of locations in Snohomish County that accept LED light bulbs? Jim Person Snohomish
■■PUBLIC LANDS
It’s imperative to renew LWCF Thank you for your excellent Tuesday editorial, “Keep our public lands public,” urging Congress to reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). We at The Mountaineers consider LWCF to be one of our nation’s most important conservation programs. Losing this program would mean disinvesting in parks and public lands, and thus disinvesting in the ability of our children to experience the outdoors. Congress needs to act swiftly to reauthorize LWCF before it expires in September. The Mountaineers, founded in 1906, is a nonprofit outdoor education, conservation and recreation organization whose mission is “to enrich the community by helping people explore, conserve, learn about and enjoy the lands and waters of the Pacific Northwest and beyond.” Based in Seattle, we have more than 13,000 members and guests working to protect the outdoor
Josh O’Connor, Publisher Jon Bauer, Editorial Page Editor Neal Pattison, Executive Editor Carol MacPherson, Editorial Writer
THURSDAY, 04.23.2015
IN OUR VIEW | Quenching California’s drought
Next to using the Starship Enterprise to beam an iceberg to California, “Star Trek” actor and Priceline spokesman William Shatner’s proposal to crowdsource $30 billion to build a water pipeline along I-5 from Washington to California is just a tad less loopy. Even loopier is Shatner’s assumption that such a pipeline would be doing us a favor because “there’s too much water” in Seattle, as he told Yahoo! Tech’s David Pogue. History is not on Shatner’s side. His idea was actually proposed 50 years ago, as SeattlePI.com’s Joel Connelly wrote Tuesday. Federal and California officials proposed channeling water from the Columbia River or other Northwest rivers to the Golden State, until Everett’s Sen. Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson threw cold water on the
Editorial Board
Martinique Grigg Executive Director, The Mountaineers Seattle
■■ POLITICS
Sadly, Hillary has already won Here is some news that is probably not a breaking news story for anyone who follows politics closely. Like it or not, the next President of the United States will be named Hillary Clinton. There is no one with their hat in the ring from either party that has a prayer of beating her in an election. Sadly, because of the verbal lashings and scrutiny we are willing to throw at anyone with the courage to run, there will be a lot of great candidates who will not throw their names in the hat as they are not willing to put their families through the process. Dean Zevenbergen Marysville
If money equals free speech, tell us who’s talking
W
hen postal worker Doug Hughes landed his gyrocopter on the West Lawn of the Capitol, he wasn’t worried about being shot down, he says. He must be a believer in miracles because he might have been shot down — and probably should have been. Horrible as this would have been in retrospect, he could as easily have been carryKATHLEEN PARKER ing a dirty bomb as 535 letters to members of Congress. Setting aside for now the debate about security, let’s turn our attention to his proclaimed mission of shining a light on our corrupt campaign finance system and his urgent plea for reform. We tried that, Mr. Hughes, and it created an even bigger mess. Today’s salient political adage goes like this: Behind every successful politician is a billionaire — or several. Most everyone running for president — that would be Hillary Clinton and perhaps 19 others — will likely be asked about this travesty, but Clinton already has made transparency a key issue in her campaign. What rich cake. The former secretary of state who purged her private server of 30,000 “personal” emails — and who is otherwise known as one of the least transparent politicians in American history — promises campaign transparency. This tells us two things: Transparency polled well in focus groups; Clinton is adept in the art of political jujitsu. Campaign finance reform is indeed on many minds, if only in greater America. Beyond the Beltway, people like Doug Hughes choke and spit when talking about politics and politicians. The notion that a few rich people can determine who leads this essential nation is a sour, cynical-making joke that borders on the criminal. There’s nothing free about paid-for elections — unless everybody knows where the money came from. Ever since the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, generally known as “McCain-Feingold,” our two-party system has been on life support. If in pre-reform America, too many wealthy people were donating large sums to candidates, at least we usually knew who they were. In post-reform America, too many are still giving large donations — but in the shadows. As one philanthropist put it to me, “Money will always find a way.” And so it has, which usually puts people in mind of The Koch Brothers. Contrary to public perception, the Kochs aren’t just two rich guys. More aptly, the brothers are a political bank into which many other wealthy people deposit large sums to be spent wisely. And though Democrats and liberals love to demonize the Kochs, non-transparency and mega-bucks are hardly unique to Republicans. The Clinton machine raises money like no other, from Wall Street to Hollywood to, who knows, Chipotle? It will be fun to see that list! But billionaire backers, much as we’d all love to have one, bring troubles. Among them is the fact that an endowed candidate who hasn’t a chance of winning can remain in the race far longer than his candidacy warrants. This leads to the sort of death by a thousand insults we witnessed in 2012 when Republican candidates seriously damaged Mitt Romney before Democrats got their aim straight. Additionally, as outside groups gain dominance, political parties are withering. This spells doom for political comity. As much as we enjoy taking sides, the parties themselves have to meet in the middle within their own organization. Super PACs, which tend to form around extreme ideas and whose donors get to remain anonymous, are accountable to no one. Graver still, mega-donors rob candidates of control over their own campaigns. Who really is calling the shots, nobody knows. Hughes may have been irresponsible and “off” when he flew his crazy bird into restricted airspace. But he was also exercising his right to free speech — transparent to within an inch of his life. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spoke to this idea during oral arguments in 2010’s Doe vs. Reed, saying that it takes a certain amount of “civic courage” to run a democracy. With his remarks, Scalia provided a glimpse at what would be the best system: Let anyone give as much as he wants to whomever he wants — but out in the open. It takes courage to stand where you put your money. Or to deliver your letter to the U.S. Congress in person. See Mr. Hughes? Your stunt worked. Kathleen Parker’s email address is kathleenparker@washpost.com.