"Why not let the lawbreakers pay for the items identified in Proposition 1?"

Sound voting

For future reference, Redmond can look up Robinson for mayor

Editor, The Times:

As a former chair and member of the Redmond Planning Commission for nearly a decade, I know both candidates for Redmond mayor and have concluded that Jim Robinson is the clear choice. His superior leadership ability and experience, gained from years in the trenches, are assets that the city needs.

More important is his vision for the city. He has demonstrated time and again that he believes the quality of life in Redmond should be placed ahead of special interests; that open and transparent government is not a campaign phrase, but a fundamental ethical belief; and that the tax burden should be shared equitably between people who live and who do business here.

Unlike many of our local politicians, Jim always does his homework and thinks before he speaks. He is committed to open, transparent government, not only in principle but in action. He will never propose a budget behind closed doors and will never underfund police and fire to force a property-tax increase for basic services.

Jim doesn't just talk the talk. For 16 years, he has walked the walk and proven through action rather than promises he deserves to be mayor.

— Martin Snodgrass, Redmond

Dimmer by scandal-light

In "Improve Seattle Council" [endorsement, Oct. 7], The Seattle Times claimed that there were "few burning issues or miniscandals" in this year's council races. But what then do you call Position 1 incumbent Jean Godden's oversight of City Light and her support of City Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco?

During her tenure as head of the committee responsible for its oversight, City Light severely mismanaged the response to last year's windstorm, and City Light employees testified to many levels of management incompetence back on Jan. 3. Disturbingly, and despite Godden's promises to the contrary, City Light employees were retaliated against for speaking out.

Last month, The Seattle Times reported, in "City Light management doesn't shine in employee survey" [Local News, Sept. 5], how the majority of City Light employees still do not have confidence in the management and its leadership.

Instead of exercising her responsibility to the public to oversee City Light, Godden has spent her time advocating for expensive boondoggles like the mayor's tunnel project and giving breaks to profitable nonunion companies like Nucor and developers like Vulcan, which also contribute substantially to her campaign.

Isn't this at least a "miniscandal," and a reason to prefer her challenger, Joe Szwaja?

— Manu Saxena, Seattle

No. 1 place to live

The King County Medic One service is a world-renowned medical-response system, this year celebrating 30 years of service and support from the voters ["Emergency services seek boost in budget," Local News, Oct. 19].

In 2006 the EMS system responded to more than 166,000 calls to 911 (53,000 for advanced life support), an increase of 6.9 percent, and still maintained a steady response time of 7.5 minutes. The cardiac-attack survival rate as discharged from the hospital alive was 41 percent.

This is outstanding when you consider this rate for major cities across the country is from 5 percent to 30 percent. And to add to that statistic is the fact that our Medic One does the job with fewer paramedics and dollars expended for Medic One units of equal or greater size.

King County's Medic One outstanding service record continues to lead the country, indeed the world, in quality of emergency life support. Medic agencies from around the country and the world continue to come here to learn and emulate our EMS/Medic One department.

I urge everyone to vote this November and to vote "yes" for Medic One to help keep this wonderful service to our citizens funded for the next six years.

— Wayne Corey, Enhanced Public Safety Committee, Des Moines

No wrong answer

"Activist who promised scrutiny now accused of micromanaging" [Politics, Oct. 8], on the Seattle School Board District 1 candidates (Oct. 8), was a thin disguise of The Times' position on ousting incumbent Sally Soriano and replacing her with a new slate of "leaders" willing to close schools.

Sure, Soriano took a stance (signed an affidavit) against closing Martin Luther King Elementary and her opponent calls it a weakness. Turns out, the school is now being sold to a private school, so who was right?

Her opponent is for closing more schools but offers no plan for what to do with them. Will the property end up like Queen Anne High School, which was converted to condominiums and sold at 40 cents on the dollar, in violation of state law minimum of 75 cents?

At least with Soriano's campaign slogan of "keeping public school public," voters know she stands with the public in fending off both charter schools and the land developers.

— Ellen Fitzgerald, Seattle

Doubled indemnity

Referendum 67 is as close to ideal as a government bill can get.

It appears that if one votes for the bill, the lawyers would fall into a mother lode of litigation at the expense of the public, which would see increases in insurance bills.

If we vote against it, anyone who has a claim will probably have it disallowed, thereby stiffing the claimant, saving the insurance companies a fortune in the long haul.

So, no matter which way we vote, we lose and the only winners will be either the insurance companies or lawyers. Essentially a perfect bill.

— A. George Elliott, Oak Harbor

So help me greed

The negative advertising being spewed out in opposition to Referendum 67 is blatantly dishonest.

The reality is that if this becomes law, there will be fewer lawsuits, not more.

In my 29 years as an active litigation lawyer in Michigan, most of the suits I filed could have been settled between the claimants and the insurance companies, if the requirements of this proposed law had been met. Simple fairness. And if it had been offered to the claimants, I'd never have seen them in my office.

The true basis of the opposition to this law is greed. Don't let them fool you. Vote Yes on Referendum 67.

— Norman Marsh, Darrington

Go directly to guilty

Rather than tax those of us who are already taxed enough, why not let the lawbreakers pay for the items identified in Proposition 1 [the "Roads & Transit" proposal]? Install high-resolution digital cameras at overpasses, well-used side streets and intersections. Electronically ticket HOV violators, light-runners and speeders. If they can't pay the ticket, confiscate their vehicle for public auction.

Reduce traffic, remove violators, increase revenue, increase mass-transit riders, enforce existing laws — all with no new taxes.

— Mark Lanz, Bothell

The perfect storm

If the state Department of Transportation no longer pretended to "solve" congestion problems with concrete and instead acknowledged that congestion here is worse than terrible and likely to remain so, perhaps those projected millions of new residents would decide not to relocate in the Puget Sound Area.

That, along with spreading the word that the weather is horrible, might do it.

— Arlene Bell, Seattle